Argentina's Milei, singing Elvis, targets Cuba UN vote 'traitors'

By Lucila Sigal

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - Argentina's showman libertarian President Javier Milei sang along to Elvis Presley on Monday even as he took aim at officials he called "traitors" for defying him in a vote on the economic embargo of Cuba at the United Nations.

In a colorful interview with Ciudad Magazine, which included a lengthy talk about music, Milei opened up about the abrupt removal of his foreign minister, Diana Mondino, last week after she voted in favor of lifting the U.S. embargo against Cuba.

Milei, an icon of the global far-right, is unabashedly pro-United States and has taken a cooler stance toward leftist trade partners in the region and overseas, including taking steps to distance Argentina from Cuba and Venezuela.

In the interview on Monday, Milei suggested he would look to root out any other officials involved in the vote in favor of lifting the decades-long sanctions regime on Cuba, a resolution only opposed by the United States and Israel.

"All those people who were involved in that decision . I am in favor of kicking them all out. They are traitors to the country," he said. "Foreign policy is set by the president, you cannot vote for just anything."

Milei, a former TV pundit who won election last year often wielding a chainsaw in campaign events as a symbol of his planned spending cuts, sang along to Presley's "Unchained Melody" and "Let It Be Me", adding he had "100 records of Elvis".

The brash economist, who favors small government, has more than a little flair for the dramatic. He has sung in rock concerts while president, lambasted Pope Francis, and once dressed up as a superhero to take on the "Keynesians."

The interview was conducted by Milei's current partner, actress and journalist Amalia Yuyito González, who repeatedly told the president she loved him during the conversation and ended their discussion with a kiss.

(Reporting by Lucila Sigal; Writing by Adam Jourdan; Editing by Sandra Maler)