Argentine President Javier Milei is working to organise a summit of right-wing heads of state from across the Americas in Buenos Aires before the end of the year, bypassing existing multilateral regional organisations. The initiative, confirmed this week by Foreign Minister Pablo Quirno, is taking shape against a backdrop of intense diplomatic activity that took Milei first to Quito and then to Cali, Colombia, for a series of bilateral meetings and inaugural ceremonies.

In Quito on Thursday, Milei held talks with Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa at the Carondelet Palace — the first official visit by an Argentine head of state to the Ecuadorian capital in nearly two decades. The two leaders signed six cooperation instruments covering automotive trade, air connectivity, tourism, nuclear energy, cyberdefence, and joint action against illegal fishing. A new extradition treaty, which replaces the bilateral application of the 1933 Montevideo Convention, was also concluded, though it must pass domestic approval procedures before entering into force and will not apply retroactively. Security cooperation was a centrepiece of the agenda: Argentina announced it would designate the Chone Killers gang as a terrorist organisation, the third Ecuadorian criminal group — after Los Choneros and Los Lobos — to receive that classification from Buenos Aires. The move aligns Argentina with designations already made by the United States and fits within the broader Americas Shield initiative, a coalition of conservative governments working to counter transnational criminal networks. Ecuador has become one of South America's most acute security crises in recent years; its homicide rate reached 51 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2025, the highest on the continent, a more than fivefold increase in five years, driven largely by rival gangs involved in cocaine trafficking through the port of Guayaquil.

From Quito, Milei and Noboa travelled together to Cali for the inauguration of Colombia's new president, Abelardo de la Espriella, where Milei was also scheduled to meet Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar. The Colombian stop extended a week of conservative diplomacy that had already included Milei's appearance at the Liberal Party convention in São Paulo, where he backed Flávio Bolsonaro's candidacy, and his attendance at the inauguration of Keiko Fujimori in Peru.

The planned Buenos Aires summit would be held outside established regional forums such as the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) or the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR), bodies that include governments of varying political orientations. Analysts caution against overstating Milei's ability to lead the region's right-wing wave. Argentine sociologist Juan Gabriel Tokatlian notes that while these governments share ideological affinities, each also pursues its own agenda for regional influence. He argues that Latin America is characterised by a leadership vacuum and that the decisive interlocutor for every country in the region ultimately remains the United States — a structural reality that will limit any single leader's gravitational pull, regardless of ambition.