MONTEVIDEO, Nov 8 (Reuters) - Pope Leo heads on Sunday to Argentina on the second leg of a 12-day tour across South America, where the first US-born pope will give a closely watched speech to Argentine President Javier Milei, a libertarian seen as a close ally of Donald Trump.
The address may underscore tensions between the Vatican and Milei, whose austerity agenda has been criticized by the Church for hitting the poorest most and who has strongly supported the Iran war, which Leo has criticized to Trump's ire.
Leo, on an ambitious three-country tour through November 17, is arriving in Argentina from Uruguay, where he urged South American countries to tackle regional issues together and set an example for the value of patient diplomacy over conflict.
The 71-year-old pontiff, who is making one of the most intense foreign trips of a Catholic leader in decades less than a month after undergoing lung cancer surgery, is the first Catholic leader to visit Argentina since 1987 and will tour four cities until Wednesday.
POPE'S SPEECH WILL BE CAREFULLY PARSED
Milei swept to power in 2023 after a run of center-left Peronist rule, campaigning with a chainsaw as a symbol of the deep cuts to state spending he pledged to make to shore up the country's finances.
Leo, who addresses national governments on each of his foreign visits, usually speaks in careful, diplomatic language but has emerged as a more forceful voice on the world stage recently, decrying the direction of global leadership.
He is not expected to directly criticize Milei by name but may refer to national policies or international events in remarks that will be carefully parsed by political observers.
"Any interventions by Leo, particularly on poverty, the limits of markets or confrontational political rhetoric, could be read as implicit criticism of Milei and amplify existing opposition to the government's approach," said Nicolas Watson, a managing director at advisory firm Teneo.
Milei has defended his austerity as the only way to bring inflation under control. Under his economic campaign, annual inflation has fallen from over 200% to 33%.
But surveys show his popularity has slipped ahead of elections next year as Argentines contend with subsidy cuts, public-sector layoffs and business closures linked to squeezed household budgets.
POPE TO VISIT PRISON, DISABILITY CARE CENTER
Over his 18-month papacy, Leo has forcefully warned about the risks of artificial intelligence, urged world leaders to treat immigrants more humanely, and called for action to address climate change, appeals that have put him at odds with Trump and other right-wing leaders.
Fortunato Mallimaci, a sociologist at Argentina's Conicet research agency, said Leo's visit to Argentina will create a sense of unity and energy among those who feel excluded by Milei's economic program.
The pope's itinerary in Argentina includes visits to a care center for people with disabilities and a prison, underscoring his focus on highlighting groups that are often marginalized.
Jorge Silanes, religious director of the Pequeño Cottolengo Don Orione care center that will welcome the pope on Monday, said the visit carried added significance because spending cuts have reduced disability benefits while poverty remains widespread.
Milei was known for piling insults on Leo's predecessor, Francis, an Argentine who never came home during his 12-year papacy. Despite calling Francis "an imbecile," Milei eventually sought to repair relations and visited the late pope at the Vatican.
"Milei doesn't win anything by fighting with (Leo)," said Veronica Gimenez Beliveau, a sociologist at the University of Buenos Aires. "He could gain in showing an orderly country and administration," she said.
(Reporting by Leila Miller and Joshua McElwee, additional reporting by Lucila Sigal, editing by Lucinda Elliott, Rod Nickel and Alistair Bell)
