I still think he did a pretty good job. For having been in this exact situation several time but in reverse I give him credit.
I find him even more relatable when he called Lareta a dickhead on the radio. I eont know either one of them but that was pretty funny.
You and the author of the article linked above are sympathizing from your experiences as private individuals, and God love you for your kindness, patience, and understanding. Those are wonderful qualities. But there's a difference between being a private individual and being a professional acting in an official capacity. Cafiero is a government minister, representing this country on a mission to a foreign country. Worse yet, he is the Foreign Minister, with all the resources of a government at his disposal, and dealing with foreigners is what he does for a living. Supposedly.
I deal with students from the Gulf States all the time, and in their eyes he made a fool of himself, and made Argentina look bad. The ruling class of the UAE speaks English very well. Their 12-year old sons speak English far better than that bumbling fool. And my point remains the same - half an hour of rehearsal with a halfway competent tutor would have been enough to greatly polish that little speech. But he CBA, and the Emiratis know it, and they won't take him seriously ever again. You don't
get a second chance with those people. Yes, they will be patient, good humored and understanding of your errors if they are meeting you as a private person, but they expect professionals to have their shit together
And he did not call Larreta a dickhead; he called Lanata a dickhead. The former is Jefe de Gobierno of CABA. The latter is a sleazy scumbag
cipayo wannabe-journalist. And a dickhead.
There are not many subjects in this world on which I would dispute with you so strongly, but teaching EFL is what I do for a living, and I'm not an amateur. I was trained at the University of Toronto, and I have nearly a decade of experience. In the last 3 years of teaching online, I have spoken to over 1000 different students from various Gulf States.