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00:00Here's following in the footsteps of far-right ally Donald Trump, Javier Mele is pulling
00:07Argentina out of the World Health Organization, blaming the UN agency's handling of the Covid-19
00:13pandemic and intervention in Argentina's sovereignty.
00:17We Argentinians do not allow an international organization to intervene in our sovereignty,
00:22much less our health.
00:25Health experts expressed their concern over the decision, stressing that the World Health
00:29Organization simply acts as a coordinator for global responses to health crises like
00:35disease outbreaks.
00:38The WHO is not mandatory. The WHO does not demand anything from you. The WHO proposes
00:44public policies and then the health authorities of each country decide whether or not to implement
00:48them and in what way to implement them. But there's no violation of sovereignty.
00:53Over one year into his presidency, Javier Mele's move projects a strong political alignment
00:58with recently inaugurated far-right ally Donald Trump, who signed an order to withdraw from
01:03the UN organization within hours of taking office.
01:07His decision also casts new doubt on Argentina's future adherence to the 2015 Paris climate
01:13change agreement, which the US also removed itself from.
01:17Despite leaving the WHO, Argentina remains a member of the Pan-American Health Organization,
01:23but former health minister warns that this could have consequences.
01:29If you leave the WHO, the Pan-American Health Organization will probably have something
01:33to say. And with them, we do have agreements to purchase vaccines at a much lower price
01:38for high-cost medicines for critical supplies and technical cooperation programs, where
01:44there would be not only health but also financial consequences.
01:50Argentina's exit along with the US could not only rupture cooperation in global health,
01:55but leave the country isolated in the case of a new pandemic or health threat. The announcement
02:00comes ahead of his trip later this month to the US to attend a right-wing leaders' summit
02:06in Washington.