He invites his followers to join the “powers of heaven” and rules frantically through social networks: the ultra-liberal Javier Milei ordered the accounts of Argentina at the beginning of his term thanks to a draconian adjustment that tensed the political and social climate.
“There is no money,” Milei said when he took office as president on December 10. when he promised to fight rampant inflation, destroy the “political caste” and shrink the state with “a chainsaw.”
How is your “libertarian-liberal” experiment going a hundred days later?
Megadecree and setbacks in Congress
This is the essence of Milei’s plan to deregulate the Argentine economy a mega-decree that repeals or modifies more than 300 regulations and an omnibus law that contained more than 600 articles in its original version.
But in these three months, both projects suffered setbacks in Congress, where Milei’s small party is in the minority: the omnibus bill failed in parliamentary debate in February and the mega-decree was rejected in the Senate on Thursday.
These defeats show that the president has failed to express the urgency of his reforms, which he believes are based on the legacy of the previous administration.
“Milei would like to advance his political and economic project at 100 km/h, but the government’s traveling speed is much lower,” Carlos Malamud, senior researcher at the Elcano Royal Institute, told AFP.
Now his program is in the hands of MPs, who will have to review a watered-down version of the omnibus law and make the final decision on the mega-decree, which will remain in force unless it is also rejected in the lower house.
But even if it passes, its constitutionality remains questionable. Political adviser Carlos Fara told AFP that “in the judiciary, a large part” of the mega-decree was “mortally wounded.”
Chainsaw on
Shortly after taking office Milei turned on his “chainsaw”: he stopped public works, did not renew state contracts, reduced ministries by half, freed prices and rental contracts and devalued the peso by more than 50%, leading to inflation of 25.5% . in December, which cooled to 13% in February.
With the devaluation and a price increase of 276% annually from February, the purchasing power of Argentines, especially pensioners, was destroyed.
The economist president’s goal of achieving a zero deficit this year is more ambitious than what the International Monetary Fund (IMF) itself requires of him, with which Argentina has a $44 billion loan agreement.
In those 100 days, Milei rebuilt the central bank’s ailing gross reserves and achieved a financial surplus in January and February, unprecedented since early 2011.
“There is an order,” said independent economist Marina Dal Poggetto in a recent television interview. “The stabilization is working even better than originally thought, but there are questions about governance.”
Milei is now trying to raise $15 billion in funding from the IMF and private parties to eliminate exchange controls that have resulted in different types of dollars by mid-year.
“People realize that we are going through a very difficult time, but they are beginning to see a way out,” the president told Radio La Red.
Social tension
The other side of this “order” is the social tension it fuels Layoffs, price increases and tariffs on public services due to the removal of subsidies.
lThe increase in pharmaceuticals rose 40 percentage points faster than general inflation, resulting in a huge drop in sales. This led to many discontinuing chronic treatments.
“Between eating and buying the medicine, people choose to eat,” pharmacist Marcela López told AFP in Buenos Aires.
While the omnibus bill was being debated in February, thousands of people protested outside Congress and were repressed by police.
They also demonstrated as food deliveries to the nearly 40,000 community kitchens were suspended at a time when nearly 60% of the population is in poverty. According to the government, the aim is to examine the system and provide direct help.
The cuts also affected university budgets, state funding for cinema and research in science and technology.
The president is holding his own in opinion polls that estimate his popularity at almost 50%, and he has accustomed Argentines to his eccentric style: he governs and accuses his opponents of treason on the X network, he quotes the biblical book of Maccabees and he speaks by his team as “The Forces of Heaven”.
Premiere in Davos
As part of the adaptation, Milei flies on commercial routes with a small entourage.
So it made its international premiere in January in Davos, where it captivated the world’s business elite by warning that “the West is in danger” and criticizing social justice and “radical feminism.”
Despite her media sympathy for Donald Trump – whom she admires – and Pope Francis – with whom she has reconciled – appearance was hardly a priority for Milei.with the exception of the suspension of Argentina’s accession to the BRIC bloc.
The exception is Israel, where the president traveled to show his closeness to the Jewish state and his spiritual interest in Judaism.
Diego Giacomini, who co-wrote four economics books with Milei, told the radio that his now-former friend “believes he has a divine mission” that “is to transform Argentina and make it the number one philosophy, which is God.” Liberalism, to lead.” ; and get it out of the philosophy of Satan, which is socialism.”
AFP