Following the USA's example, the government of Argentina has also announced plans to withdraw from the World Health Organization, citing that body's mismanagement of the Covid-19 pandemic.
February 5, 2025 - "Argentina’s president, Javier Milei, has followed Donald Trump’s example and announced that Argentina will also leave the World Health Organization (WHO). Milei attributed his decision to the WHO’s management of the Covid-19 pandemic, which he described as a 'caveman quarantine that involved … one of the most outlandish crimes against humanity in history'.
"A self-declared 'anarcho-capitalist', Milei is a prominent fan of Trump, who within hours of his 20 January inauguration signed an order for the United States to withdraw from the WHO, which he also has criticized for its handling of the pandemic.
“'We have decided to leave such a harmful organisation, which was the executing arm of what was the largest social-control experiment in history,' wrote Milei on social media. But critics said that the decision was not Milei’s to make, as such a move would require approval by congress.... Milei’s spokesperson, Manuel Adorni, argued that the decision would not result in a loss of funding for the country....
"Also on Wednesday, the presidential office announced that Milei had taken the decision to ban gender change treatments and surgeries for minors, as well as impose limits on trans women being housed inside women’s prisons. In a press conference, presidential spokesperson Manuel Adorni said the ban would include hormone therapy and followed similar pushbacks in legislation on trans rights in countries such as the UK, Sweden, Finland and the US, and sought to protect children’s mental health.
"The announcement comes days after thousands of Argentines protested in favour of LGBTQ+ rights after Milei made a speech in Davos, Switzerland, in which he questioned 'feminism, diversity, inclusion, abortion, environmentalism and gender ideology”, calling progressive policies a “cancer that must be extirpated'....
"Milei has frequently voiced criticism of international bodies, but many critics interpreted Wednesday’s decision to withdraw from the WHO as an attempt to align himself even more closely with the US president.... Following Trump’s lead, the libertarian has also announced plans to leave the Paris climate agreement and build a 200m wire fence along the border with Bolivia to curb immigration....
"In November, Milei visited Palm Beach, Florida, and became the first foreign leader to meet with Trump after his election victory. The Argentinian was one of three Latin American presidents to attend Trump’s inauguration at the Capitol, alongside El Salvador’s Nayib Bukele and Ecuador’s Daniel Noboa.
"Since taking office, Milei has implemented a series of austerity measures in state healthcare, the latest of which included 1,400 layoffs at the ministry of health in January – among them, 30% of the vaccine directorate staff, and 40% of the HIV, hepatitis and tuberculosis response directorate team."
In a major victory for libertarian president Javier Milei's economic policies, Argentina's economy grew in the third quarter of 2024, ending a two-year recession.
December 17, 2024 - "Argentina has come out of a deep recession in a major victory for the country’s unorthodox President Javier Milei, who has spent the past year enacting sweeping ... reforms in Latin America’s third-largest economy. Gross domestic product grew 3.9% in the July-to-September quarter compared with the previous three months, Argentina’s statistics agency said Monday. The agriculture and mining sectors drove the expansion, with consumer spending also growing strongly. But manufacturing and construction suffered sharp declines....
"The news of the economic rebound comes a year after Milei was elected on a ticket to tackle chronic hyperinflation and overhaul the long-suffering economy. He has slashed government spending, reducing sky-high inflation and helping repair the country’s finances. But these measures have also pushed up unemployment and the poverty rate....
"Argentina’s flagship Merval stock index, which tracks around two dozen of the country’s most valuable listed companies, ... is up 174% [in 2024] as investors have welcomed Milei’s radical reforms.
"Milei inherited an economy in crisis, racked by hyperinflation that reached 211% last December and which was fueled by previous governments’ money printing to fund spending. According to the International Monetary Fund [IMF], the country’s biggest creditor, he has delivered 'better-than-expected results.' The IMF, which approved a bailout for Argentina in 2018, the fund’s biggest ever, sees the economy shrinking by 3.5% overall this year, following a 1.6% contraction last year. Projected growth of 5% next year will ... just about reverse those declines.
"Economists say Milei’s government must lift capital controls, which limit the flow of foreign currency into and out of the country, and free up the exchange rate ... to attract meaningful investment into Argentina. More business investment is key to delivering a sustained boost to economic growth and improving living standards, which will ultimately be necessary for Milei to enjoy ongoing public support and for his party to win a bigger majority in midterm elections late next year."
Argentine president Javier Milei ends his first year in office with a combined budget surplus of $3 billion and an inflation rate that is down by almost 90%. But plenty of problems remain in the country.
December 14, 2024 - "A year after Argentine President Javier Milei came to power, after deep reforms and a drastic reduction in public spending, Argentina had a tenfold lower inflation rate. The controversial Argentine president introduced free trade in the country, and Argentina has a budget surplus after more than a century. President Milei and the government hope that the new laws, which offer investors decades of tax and customs relief, will quickly attract capital and curb the recession.
"Although challenged by the public, Milei firmly advocated for the reduction of public administration, which won the favor of younger voters and won the election with 55 percent of the vote. He fulfilled his campaign promises quickly after coming to power, resulting in a $3 billion budget surplus a year later.
"The peso was devalued, price controls were lifted, numerous public works were suspended, and local government budgets were cut tenfold. It was 'shock therapy' ... that initially led to many unemployed people and a huge recession. Many Argentines were skeptical about these changes, and many world media outlets wrote that Milei would further set Argentina back. However, the number of poor people is lower than a year ago, and [monthly] inflation fell from 25 percent in December last year to 2.7 percent.
"Although this looks good statistically, ordinary citizens still can't feel any significant improvement. The country is in deep problems that have been accumulating for decades due to poor economic strategy and debt....
"Milei and the government hope that the new laws, which offer investors decades of tax and customs relief, will quickly attract capital and curb the recession. However, large global corporations and investors are still waiting for the new laws to stabilize in Argentina, and the number of foreign investments is only slightly higher than last year. The IMF does not expect the Argentine economy to grow this year, but rather to decline by 3.5%....
"Milei needs economic stability both for foreign investment and to reassure the public in a country that is facing such significant changes for the first time in decades. The initial adjustment has hit the working and middle classes hard because historically the largest part of government spending has been concentrated in these segments. However, some changes for the better for the Argentine population can already be felt, and [one] is the fall in [inflation] compared to December last year....
"Although there was much skepticism at the beginning of his presidency, even among his voters, today Milei has a stable approval rating of 50 percent....
"Most of the reforms implemented in Argentina under Milei — the abolition of price controls, the elimination of subsidies, and the dismantling of import tariffs and export restrictions — are policies the developed liberal world has long abandoned. Milei is trying to create a modern and functional Argentina modeled after Western models of states, after decades of accumulating problems and a complicated system of governance with an overly large state administration."
"We have governed these first six months of the year uphill, managing the worst inheritance in history and without the legislative power or instruments that all governments before ours have had," says Javier Milei.... "And they put sticks in our wheel every single day that we try to govern.... But you know what? All this is proving that the ideas of freedom are stronger."
September 27, 2024 - "During a conference in Buenos Aries sponsored by the Cato Institute and Libertad y Progreso, Argentine President Javier Milei explained why socialism always fails, why big government (the 'State') is criminal ... and why he is a libertarian.... 'My friends, I'm a liberal libertarian' ... said Milei.... The two-day conference (June 11–12), attended by up to 1,000 people, was entitled 'The Rebirth of Liberty in Argentina and Beyond.'
"Milei, the most outspoken and orthodox libertarian elected to the presidency of a major country, took office in December 2023. Although his critics and much of the mainstream media have tried to characterize him as an impractical zealot — El Loco, the madman — so far Milei has implemented a good portion of his agenda.... For instance, since taking office, Milei has slashed government spending up to 30%, fired more than 25,000 federal workers, reduced federal agencies, frozen public works projects, lowered a major import tariff, maintained budget surpluses every month, reduced monthly inflation to 4.2% (August 2024) from 25% (December 2023), and is pushing for currency competition....
"It is not all roses, however, as he explained in his speech because his administration is fighting against 100 years of government intervention. This soft socialism has corrupted the government, the courts, the economy, the culture, the schools, and the people.
“'We have governed these first six months of the year uphill, managing the worst inheritance in history and without the legislative power or instruments that all governments before ours have had,' said Milei. 'Politics, since before we took power, has put sticks in our wheels. They put sticks in our wheel by tearing up the balance sheet of the central bank. And they put sticks in our wheel every single day that we try to govern.... But you know what?' he said. 'All this is proving that the ideas of freedom are stronger because, despite the foul political caste, we’re doing right. We’re beating inflation.'
“There is no doubt that Argentina is facing a turning point,' he added. '[W]e can return to the path of freedom that we should never have wandered from and return to the values and ideas that once made Argentina a global power, resume the defense of life, freedom, and private property, and aspire to be a country at the level of our identity and our history once again.'
"Between 1860 and 1930, Argentina 'grew more rapidly than the United States, Canada, Australia, or Brazil' ... according to Agriculture and Economic Growth in Argentina, 1913–84. By 1913, Argentina was among 'the 10 wealthiest countries in the world,' with a per capita income similar to Switzerland, the Latin American Economic Review reported. That changed with a military takeover in 1930, which introduced statist, big government policies tainted by socialist thinking. Government intervention and economic malaise have characterized Argentina for the last 100 years. Milei is trying to reintroduce the libertarian policies that once made Argentina great.
"'[I]n Argentina we are rediscovering ideas that made the modern Western world the greatest civilizing and economic development achievement in human history,' said Milei. 'We want to be a haven for those who defend and live these ideas throughout the entire planet.' Today, 'Argentina is on the private sector side, not the state,” he said. “On the side of those who work, those who trade, those who strive; on the side of those who take risks, those who invest, who innovate.'
"'As developed countries become bogged down in unnecessary regulations and obligations, we remove the regulations that have bound our people for decades,' said Milei, 'and we invite capital from around the world to cooperate with Argentina because we understand free economic activity as the most natural act of cooperation of the human race.'
"Milei also explained how big-government bureaucrats in Argentina and other countries corrupt the economy with socialist policies. 'As Hayek said, every time the state intervenes, it generates a worse result than if it hadn’t intruded,' said Milei. 'Why? Because state intervention causes distortions in the pricing system. It prevents correct economic calculation and consequently nullifies what Hayek called the correct functioning of the market as a discovery process.' With capitalism and free pricing you have better 'information about quantities of goods or services that are wanted and at what price,' said Milei. Collectivism, however, inhibits the discovery process and 'binds the entrepreneur’s hands and impedes them from producing better goods and offering better services at a better price'....
"Where economic freedom is allowed, there is more political freedom, said Milei. '[F]reer countries have a GDP per capita 12 times larger than oppressed countries. Even the inhabitants of the lowest decile of the free system live better than 90% of the population in the repressed countries. That is, free enterprise capitalism is superior to socialism even on the main task that socialism supposedly does better, which is to help the less fortunate.'
"Social justice, charity for 'those who have the least,” said Milei, 'it is good, but if you do it with your own pocket [money]' and not with money that belongs to someone else. When the state intervenes in the name of social welfare, it confiscates 'assets from a private person, which are theirs by natural right, which means that the state is a criminal and violent organization, as it is funded with a coercive source of income called taxes.' Echoing Hayek, Milei said the more the state intervenes 'the less free the markets are and the worse they work, producing misery instead of wealth.'
"In closing, he said, 'If we manage to remove the state enough for society to flourish, we will have succeeded because free economic activity will lead to benefits for all of society. If we achieve this, it won’t be a triumph of ours but of society as a whole, which will have left behind 100 years of statism and decadence. Therefore, as we travel the road to that new Argentina, I thank you all for being here. God bless the Argentines and may the force of Heaven be with us. Long live freedom, damn it! Long live freedom, damn it! Long live freedom, damn it! Thank you.'"
July 19, 2024 - "Argentina’s economy has surged for the first time since wildcard President Javier Milei took office. Economic activity in the country was up 1.3% from April, Bloomberg reported, well above analyst estimates. Recorded inflation was at 4.6% in June, down from 25.5% at the end of 2023.
"Argentina has the worst projected economic growth of any major economy this year, The International Monetary Fund noted, but the country is projected to rebound in 2025. Milei was elected on pledges to turn around Argentina’s economic woes, and has enacted harsh spending cuts in an attempt to rein in inflation.
"Milei, a self-described 'anarcho-capitalist,' had promised to adopt the US dollar as one measure to curb Argentina’s inflationary pressures — but that plan was quickly shelved. Since taking office, Milei has moved away from some of the more radical measures he suggested on the campaign trail, sources told the Financial Times....
"But analysts believe that voters could run out of patience if Milei doesn’t deliver on his economic promises: 'His support is very ephemeral and very volatile,' the head of a left-leaning think tank told the FT. 'Voters made a bet on him but that bet has an expiry date.'
"The country’s economic prospects may be turning around, but poverty in the nation is high, Reuters reported. Argentines are battling the rapid devaluation of their currency, and triple-digit inflation. Protest movements against Milei’s suggested spending cuts have grown in recent months, as locals who cannot afford to feed their families reject the pull back of government programs....
"Overspending on public services and money creation have fueled Argentina’s financial crisis for decades, the Economics Observatory noted. The country has defaulted on its debt on nine separate occasions, and its inflation rate averaged 190% between 1944 and 2023. Per capita income, meanwhile, has dropped more than 10% on average. 'Milei’s strategy so far has yielded several promising initial results,' the think tank noted. 'But while these measures have steered these indicators in the right direction, they have also imposed a substantial economic and social cost.'”
4 May 4, 2024 - "Argentina has historically been a country of failed governments, economic collapses, and debt defaults. Yet incredibly there are signs that – against all the odds – the bold, free market reforms of its libertarian President Javier Milei are beginning to work. With inflation falling, interest rates coming down, and the peso on fire in one market, Milei is already proving the global Left-wing economic establishment – addicted to bigger government and endless deficits – wrong. Indeed, it may provide a template for other countries to escape from zero growth....
inflation has fallen to 11pc and Milei predicts it will fall further. While a monthly figure (this is Argentina after all), price rises may be coming back under control after soaring above 300pc annually.
Last week, Milei announced that the country had recorded its first quarterly budget surplus since 2008, a modest 0.2pc of GDP, but still an astonishing achievement in such a short space of time, especially for a country that has run deficits for 113 of the last 123 years.
Then, earlier this week, the central bank, which Milei has not yet gotten around to abolishing as he pledged, cut interest rates for the third time in three weeks. While they are still at an eye-watering 50pc, that will start to feed through into the economy very soon.
"Investors have started to notice. According to Bloomberg data, in the blue-chip swap market the peso was the best-performing currency in the world in the first quarter of this year, and the bond markets are rallying as well. It may also get better over the months ahead. With stabilising prices, and a rising currency, investment should start flowing again into a country rich in natural resources and hyper-competitive on wages costs. If Milei can make good on his promise to unlock the country’s vast reserves of shale oil and gas – using technologies that have proved safe and successful in the US – then the economy could even start to boom.....
"On Milei’s election, he was dismissed as a madman who would be removed from office within a matter of months, if not weeks. In proving that narrative wrong, he would show that even after the short-lived catastrophe of the Liz Truss government, free market reforms are far from impossible. So how is he en route to deliver such a massive shock to the stale economic orthodoxy? Fundamentally, he got three big calls right.
"First, even without a majority in parliament, he has been ruthless. Whole government departments have been closed down overnight, regardless of the immediate consequences. The Ministry of Culture was axed, so was the anti-discrimination agency, and the state-owned news service. Only last month, he unveiled plans to fire another 70,000 state employees. Milei hasn’t attempted to cut gradually, to control budgets, or to ease people out with early retirement, or hiring freezes. Instead, he has, as promised, taken a ‘chainsaw’ to the machinery of the state, yielding huge savings in the process.
"Next, he has been bold. The president massively devalued the peso on day one, taking the financial hit upfront, and then tore up rent controls, price restrictions and state subsidies. He pared back workers’ rights, reducing maternity leave and severance compensation, and allowed companies to fire workers who went on strike. He ripped away fuel subsidies, even though it meant a temporary spike in inflation. Sure, there has been some short-term pain, but the results are now becoming evident. Rents, for example, are falling by 20pc a year as landlords, freed from controls, put more supply on the market, instead of withdrawing it as they do in countries where the price is set by the government.
"Finally, Milei has never stopped making the argument. He promotes freedom, liberalisation and a smaller state with a messianic zeal. Many of the measures he has taken might be rough, but the president has never attempted to dismiss that, instead explaining patiently and persistently why the reforms are justified, and how they will create greater prosperity for everyone in the long run.
"Much of the developed world, and the UK in particular, are gradually slipping into Argentinian-style stagnation.... Governments are hooked on subsidies and price controls, trying to buy their way out of every challenge with higher spending. Deficits are allowed to rise relentlessly, with no meaningful plan for ever bringing them down again. A corrupt, crony capitalism is allowed to flourish, killing competition. But the Argentine leader is providing a blueprint for how to break free. The global economic elite keeps lecturing us on why we need more government and a more powerful state despite the painful lack of results. Argentina is challenging it in dramatic fashion. It is just possible that it is starting to work."
Javier Milei's administration achieved a balanced budget in January, its first month of office, the first time the government of Argentina has had a positive balance in over a decade..
February 18, 2024 - "The Argentine government in January saw its first monthly budget surplus in nearly 12 years, as new President Javier Milei continues to push for strong spending cuts, the Economy Ministry announced. January was the first full month in office for Mr Milei, a far-right [sic] libertarian who took office in December, and it ended with a positive balance for public-sector finances of US$589 million (S$800 million) at the official exchange rate, the government said late on Feb 16. The figure includes payment of interest on the public debt....
"Milei has been negotiating with the International Monetary Fund over its US$44 billion loan and has vowed to achieve balance in public finances in 2024 [see video]. 'The zero deficit is not negotiable,' Economy Minister Luis Caputo said on Feb 16 on X, formerly Twitter....
"Following a 50 per cent devaluation of the peso, a lifting of price controls and strong rate increases, Argentina saw an inflation rate for January of 20.6 per cent, with a 12-month rate of 254.2 per cent. The year 2023, the final year of the centre-left government of Mr Alberto Fernandez, ended with a 211 per cent inflation rate. With poverty affecting 45 per cent of the population, Mr Milei has predicted an economic rebound within three months."
February 14, 2024 - "Shortly after coming to power, Milei dramatically narrowed the gap between the official and the market exchange rates by devaluing the peso 54%. He went on to shut down ministries and public offices and lay off swarms of useless bureaucrats. He also passed an emergency decree with 300 measures to deregulate the economy. Among them are the privatization of all public companies, the elimination of rent controls, an open-sky policy, cutting subsidies to different sectors of the economy, ending import restrictions, deregulating satellite services and many others....
"During the first month of Milei’s administration, public spending decreased by 30% in real terms compared with the previous year and the previous month. In other words, the government is already spending almost a third less than in the same period last year when adjusted for inflation. Needless to say, this is only the beginning of the 6.1 points of gross domestic product worth of deficit spending Milei has to adjust to restore a balanced budget. Most of this adjustment (3.2% of GDP) will affect the public sector by cutting spending, while a temporary taxation increase (2.9% of GDP) will do the rest.
"Despite the harsh measures adopted so far and the challenges some of them face in the courts and congress, Milei’s popularity has stayed at around 60%.... [T]he demonstrations the infamous Argentinian unions orchestrated have not been able to harm the government. If anything, they have contributed to increased public support for Milei’s efforts to fight what he calls the 'caste' of 'parasites' that have exploited Argentinians for so long.
"If he is successful in getting rid of the 'caste\” so he can turn Argentina around, the ideological and political impact throughout the region will be enormous — even more so because he and other free-market advocates have already achieved a lasting change in the mentality and values of millions of young people by replacing collectivist and statist ideas with notions of individual responsibility and freedom."
February 5, 2024 - "Argentine President Javier Milei achieved a significant milestone on Friday after the lower house of Congress approved his sweeping free market reform package, clearing one of the biggest hurdles on his path. After three days of heated debate and amidst opposition pressure to thwart the entire reform package, the lower chamber of deputies approved the controversial legislation with a vote of 144 in favor and 109 against. After a short recess, lawmakers are expected to vote on the legislation article by article, beginning on February 6.
"When Milei assumed the presidency on December 10, he promised to shock the economy out of its economic crisis. The South American country is dealing with the world's highest inflation at 211 percent, as well as a large fiscal deficit and depleted foreign currency reserves. After devaluing the peso by more than 50 percent, cutting state subsidies, and reducing the number of ministries by half, Milei presented a package that encompasses most of his plans to transform Argentina into a free market economy. The 351-page bill proposes to deregulate and modify laws governing fiscal matters, labor, the environment, health, and more.
"Holding just 28 of the chamber's 257 seats, Milei's party, La Libertad Avanza, was able to gain enough support to pass the bill only by dropping a number of key measures. About half of the changes in the original bill survived. Several fiscal measures were dropped, including tax increases on exports ... and modifications to the pension system.
"Milei's government also agreed to reduce the number of state-run companies it promised to privatize. Originally aiming to jettison 41 state-owned companies—including the flagship airline, Aerolíneas Argentinas; the country's largest bank, Banco de la Nación; and the news agency Télam—the revised bill now targets 27 companies. Notably, the oil company YPF and the national mint will remain state-owned, while other entities will undergo partial privatization.
"While the bill was being debated, protesters gathered outside Congress in opposition to Milei's reforms. The protests led to clashes with riot police, as protesters threw rocks at the neoclassical building and the police responded with tear gas and rubber bullets. More than 20 journalists were injured by projectiles, and at least eight demonstrators were arrested. Seven police officers were also injured, according to government sources....
"The approval of the bill comes after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved on Wednesday a $4.7 billion disbursement for Argentina — the fund's largest debtor. 'So far, we have seen a good economic team in place, looking at ways in which the country can move out of this difficulty,' the IMF's managing director, Kristalina Georgieva....
"But it is still too early to celebrate. The omnibus bill will now have to clear its next obstacle: its approval in the Senate, where Milei's party has only 10 percent of the seats."
January 18, 2024 - "Argentina's libertarian President Javier Milei praised the virtues of free markets and warned political leaders about the dangers of collectivism in a speech at the World Economic Forum on Wednesday. 'The West is in danger, it is in danger because those who are supposed to defend Western values find themselves co-opted by a worldview that — inexorably — leads to socialism, consequently to poverty," Milei said in the opening of his keynote speech in Davos, Switzerland, during his first overseas trip as president.
"Milei explained that no other country is a better example of this trend than Argentina. Once a global economic powerhouse, Argentina has spiraled into poverty as a consequence of extensive state intervention in the economy. Two out of every five Argentines live in poverty and the inflation rate is over 200 percent.
"In his 23-minute address, Milei argued that the key to eradicating poverty worldwide lies in adopting free market ideals and capitalism. 'Far from being the cause of our problems, free enterprise capitalism, as an economic system, is the only tool we have to end hunger, poverty, and indigence,' he continued. 'The empirical evidence is unquestionable'....
"The libertarian president emphasized that market failure can only happen if there is coercion by the state, 'which has a monopoly on violence.' He criticized the collectivist approach of dismissing freedom and opting for more regulation to fix a country, which generates 'a downward spiral of regulations until we are all poorer'....
"Since his inauguration on December 10, the anarcho-capitalist president has implemented measures to counteract Argentina's history of collectivist policies, including a substantial devaluation of the peso and a reduction of government ministries. In December, Milei presented several other reform bills to Argentina's Congress, which aim to drastically cut state spending and deregulate several economic sectors. Milei's proposals are currently being discussed by Congress, but his party lacks the majority in both houses of Congress. The proposals also face staunch opposition from labor unions and other protesters....
"'We come here today to invite the other countries of the West to return to the path of prosperity,' Milei told his audience. 'Economic freedom, limited government, and unrestricted respect for private property are essential elements for economic growth. This phenomenon of impoverishment produced by collectivism is not a fantasy. Nor fatalism. It is a reality that we Argentines know very well.'|
"'"Do not give in to the advance of the state. The state is not the solution. The state is the problem itself," Milei declared."
Argentina's newly-elected president Javier Melei has sent an omnibus reform bill to Congress (where his opponents hold a majority) which includes radical downsizing of the state, election reform, strictly limiting protests, and granting him dictatorial powers over "economic, financial, fiscal, pensions, defense, tariff, energy, health, administrative, and social matters until December 31, 2025."
December 29, 2023 - "A little more than two weeks after assuming office, Argentinian President Javier Milei on Wednesday presented his most extensive reform bill to Congress aimed at deregulating South America's second-largest economy. The 351-page bill includes 664 articles aimed at deregulating and modifying laws pertaining to several sectors, including labor, commercial, real estate, aeronautics, and health. According to Milei, the omnibus bill contains two-thirds of all of his reform proposals....
"The first measure in the bill calls for the declaration of 'a public emergency in economic, financial, fiscal, pensions, defense, tariff, energy, health, administrative, and social matters until December 31, 2025.' If approved, this would mean that Milei would have both the executive and legislative powers and would be able to decide on issues that are currently only regulated by Congress. The measure can be extended for up to two years.
"An entire chapter of the bill is dedicated to privatizing several state-owned companies in order to generate 'greater competition and economic efficiency, reduce the tax burden, improve the quality of services, promote private investment and professionalize management.' The bill mentions 41 companies it proposes to privatize, including the flagship airline Aerolíneas Argentinas, the oil company YFP, the country's largest bank, Banco de la Nación, the news agency Télam, the water company AYSA, the Argentine mint, and the country's rail system....
"The bill proposes to eliminate the primary elections and switch to a single-ballot system. It also seeks to move the chamber of deputies from a system that determines the number of representatives proportionally with the population to one of single-member constituencies.
"The bill also extends the government's new anti-protest measures, increasing penalties to up to four years in prison for those who use arms to disrupt public transportation and up to five years for those who 'direct, organize, or coordinate a meeting or demonstration that impedes, hinders or obstructs circulation.'
"Another chapter specifically addresses oil and seeks to ensure affordable oil supplies by leaving prices up to the market.,,, The new bill will not allow the executive branch 'to intervene, or fix, prices in the domestic market.' Other measures in the bill include the resale of sports tickets with 'no limit to the number of times such operation may be carried out;' the authorization of self-driving cars for individuals, passengers, or cargo; abolishing price ceilings on rent; easing price caps for private health services; and 'express divorces.'
"The measures will be reviewed by Congress during the extraordinary sessions that began this week and will last until January 31. But Milei's opposition, which holds the majority of seats in Congress, has vowed to not let the decree pass. Meanwhile, protests have sprung up in response to the omnibus bill. Several social organizations took to the streets in Buenos Aires, and Argentina's main labor union called for a general strike on January 24 in protest against the reforms."
November 19, 2023 - "Javier Milei resoundingly won Argentina's presidential election Sunday, swinging the country to the right following a fiercely polarized campaign in which he promised a dramatic shake-up to the state to deal with soaring inflation and rising poverty. With 99.4 per cent of votes tallied in the presidential runoff, Milei had 55.7 per cent and Economy Minister Sergio Massa 44.3 per cent ... the highest percentage that a presidential candidate has received since the South American country's return to democracy in 1983.
"In the streets of Buenos Aires, drivers honked their horns and many took to the streets to celebrate in several neighbourhoods. Outside Milei's party headquarters, a hotel in downtown Buenos Aires, a full-on party kicked off with supporters singing, buying beers from vendors and setting off coloured smoke bombs. Inside, the self-described anarcho-capitalist ... delivered his victory speech.... 'Argentina's situation is critical. The changes our country needs are drastic. There is no room for gradualism, no room for lukewarm measures,' Milei told supporters....
"With a Milei victory, ... a freshman lawmaker who got his start as a television talking head blasting what he called the 'political caste' will assume the presidency.
"Inflation has soared above 140 per cent and poverty has worsened while Massa has held his post. Milei has said he would slash the size of the government, dollarize the economy and eliminate the Central Bank as a way to tackle galloping inflation that he blames on successive governments printing money indiscriminately in order to fund public spending....
"Massa's campaign cautioned Argentines that his libertarian opponent's plan to eliminate key ministries and otherwise sharply curtail the state would threaten public services, including health and education, and welfare programs many rely on. Milei accused Massa and his allies of running a 'campaign of fear'.... In his final campaign ad, Milei looks at the camera and assures voters he has no plans to privatize education or health care....
"Most pre-election polls, which have been notoriously wrong at every step of this year's campaign, showed a statistical tie between the two candidates or Milei slightly ahead.
"The bitterness of the campaign was evident Sunday when Milei's running mate, Victoria Villaruel, went to vote and was met by protesters angry at her claims that the number of victims from Argentina's bloody 1976-1983 military dictatorship is far below what human rights organizations have long claimed, among other controversial positions."
November 16, 2023 - "National populism is increasingly defining right-wing electoral politics in the United States and Europe. But Latin America has chosen a different path — emerging as a bastion of libertarianism on the global stage. "This year alone,
a self-described anarcho-capitalist has become the new face of Argentina’s opposition. Javier Milei earned the most votes in the country’s August presidential primaries and then eliminated center-right candidate Patricia Bullrich in the first round of presidential elections on Oct. 22. Milei is set to face off with Economy Minister Sergio Massa, of the governing Peronist movement, in a Nov. 19 runoff.... Massa finished first in the Oct. 22 election, but ... [t]he right-of-center vote was split between Bullrich and Milei, and Bullrich has since endorsed Milei. So has former conservative President Mauricio Macri. Polling is inconsistent, but Milei leads six national polls in a survey of 10 polls assessed by El Observador.... [Milei won - gd]
On the same day as Argentina’s first-round election, Venezuela’s María Corina Machado and her libertarian party humiliated the traditional opposition in primaries ahead of expected presidential elections next year. Machado, who has been compared to former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, is one of the lone voices in Venezuela’s opposition openly advocating for the privatization of the oil industry.... Her party has also organized seminars celebrating libertarian titan Milton Friedman. Machado herself has shown support for socially progressive causes such as gay marriage, distancing herself from both social conservatism and Keynesian economics.
"In Uruguay, meanwhile, a libertarian party inspired by Milei officially registered with authorities on Sep. 29, saying it seeks to 'go beyond' right vs. left discourse and aims to respect 'everyone’s individual rights.'
In Ecuador, Daniel Noboa — the son of the country’s wealthiest man — recently defeated his socialist rival and is set to continue the pro-business legacy of his predecessor Guillermo Lasso. Noboa’s principles are the most confusing of any of the aforementioned politicians. He defines himself as center-left while citing free enterprise as his priority. In 2021, his predecessor — and now supporter — Lasso earned an endorsement from Ecuador’s Libertarian Movement.
"The political economy of Latin America helps explain why it has become the perfect breeding ground for libertarianism. The rapid growth of the movement, though, should be attributed to a network of libertarian think tanks, leaders, and activists who have long peddled influence — and are starting to see it pay off....
"From 1970 to 1982, Latin America’s total debt levels increased by more than 1,000 percent (from $29 to $327 billion). The lost decade, as scholars now call it, angered millions of Latin Americans... It was then, as popular discontent soared, that the Soviet Union found the perfect conditions to further challenge the United States in its hemisphere, which in turn only reinvigorated U.S. interventionism. Both countries aided Latin American dictatorships that killed hundreds in their respective quests to expand socialist and capitalist economic models. Most notably, the United States backed Chile’s Augusto Pinochet and Argentina’s Jorge Videla while the Soviets supported Cuba’s Fidel Castro and Nicaragua’s Daniel Ortega. The politically motivated decisions of this era accelerated Latin American dysfunction, fostering a reactionary loop of capitalism begetting socialism and vice versa.
"Latin America was then — and remains today—the most unequal region in the world.... [E]ight out of the 20 most economically unequal countries on the planet are located in the region. It is there where socialists found the perfect terrain to spread their ideas, and after they governed, the inflation-ridden and capital-fleeing states they left behind became cannon fodder for the pro-business political class.... But when inequality remained, socialists once again reaped the ideal conditions for their movement to flourish.... Over the past few years, ... Chile and Colombia, which previously resisted the so-called 'Pink Tide,' have elected socialists, while in Argentina and Brazil, conservative presidents failed to win reelection.
"As the left’s grasp over the region increased, libertarians were organizing. Dissatisfied with both socialism and what they viewed as a weak conservative opposition, social media-savvy public intellectuals such as Milei became icons. He was not alone: Less famous members of this cohort include Guatemala’s Gloria Álvarez (who announced that she would run for president even though she didn’t meet the age limit) and Chile’s Axel Kaiser (who founded the libertarian think tank Foundation for Progress)....
"Wealthy Americans, such as the Koch brothers, have played a role funding not only libertarian think tanks in the United States, including the Cato Institute, but have also founded networks with a vast presence in Latin America. The Atlas Network, for instance — which describes itself as a 'think tank that creates think tanks' — has around 500 partners around the world, and its friends include Machado, Colombian presidential-candidate-in-the-making María Fernanda Cabal, and Peruvian Nobel Prize winner Mario Vargas Llosa. In 2018, the network created a Center for Latin America ... and at the time included more than 80 affiliate civil society organizations. Two notable members are Chile’s Fundación Piensa and Argentina’s Libertad y Progreso. The Argentinian think tank also partners with the Cato Institute, the Acton Institute, and the Heritage Foundation.
"Similarly, under the banner of free-market economics, regional alliances have also been strengthened. The Liberal Network for Latin America (RELIAL) was established in 2004. It is the regional organization of Liberal International, which was founded in Oxford, England, in 1947, and has since become the preeminent global liberal organization, with dozens of member political parties throughout the world. RELIAL now includes 42 institutions from 17 Latin American countries, such as research institutes and foundations. Machado’s party is a member.... According to a 2009 Aporrea report by Eva Golinger, the American journalist-turned-Chávez advisor, CEDICE has received direct financial support and strategic advice from the U.S. government since 2001. Golinger, known for using Freedom of Information Act requests to uncover U.S. involvement in Venezuela, has drawn connections between the National Endowment for Democracy, the U.S. Agency for International Development, and CEDICE.... Golinger’s report also points out how the Cato Institute has worked alongside CEDICE, such as via the ElCato-CEDICE University in Caracas, as well as directly with Venezuela’s opposition. Cato granted the Milton Friedman Prize to Venezuelan politician Yon Goicoechea in 2008....
"Russian American writer Ayn Rand has become an ideological sweetheart among Latin America’s right-of-center activists. Groups such as the Ayn Rand Latin America Center have held Ayn Rand conventions in Argentina and Brazil, and Rand’s Atlas Shrugged has flooded Latin American bookshelves following the publication of a translation in 2019. Milei has even called for an “Atlas rebellion.” Venezuelan libertarian activists based in the United States—including Univision’s Linea de Fuego talk show host Franklin Camargo and the Young America’s Foundation’s Daniel Di Martino—showcase the growing influence of those who love Rand’s ideas....
"Latin American libertarians have taken organizing seriously. As new elections approach, don’t be surprised by their success."
October 20, 2023 - "Argentina may be about to leap into the political unknown. The South American country, the region's No. 2 economy after Brazil, will vote in presidential elections on Sunday with a radical outsider, libertarian Javier Milei, in pole position to win, though he will likely face a second round run-off. The wild-haired, chainsaw-wielding economist — who has risen from relative obscurity over the last year — came top in an August open primary and leads all opinion polls ahead of Economy Minister Sergio Massa and conservative Patricia Bullrich.
"Milei, 52, is a poster child of Argentine voters' anger at inflation that may hit 200 per cent this year, rising poverty levels and a sliding peso currency that erases the real-world value of people's salaries and savings. Many blame the political elite and have latched on to Milei's burn-it-all-down rhetoric. He has used the chainsaw throughout his campaign to symbolize how he will slash government spending and waste.... 'Milei is a clean slate. He may be crazy, but at least he says what he thinks,' said Sebastián Pizzo, 33, a restaurant employee in Buenos Aires.
"The vote marks a major crossroads for Argentina, one of the world's top grains exporters, the No. 4 producer of electric battery metal lithium, and a growing shale oil and gas play.... The country is also the largest — by far — debtor to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) with an outstanding $44 billion US loan program, as well as huge international debts with bondholders and a large currency swap line with China.
"Milei has criticized China, pledged to "burn down" the central bank, privatize public sector entities, and switch to the U.S. dollar. He is anti-abortion and anti-feminist. He's the candidate to beat, but the election remains a three-way race, with polls having proven unreliable for the August primary (failing to spot Milei's sharp ascent).... Pollsters generally agree the most likely result is that Milei comes first, but faces a second-round head-to-head with Massa on Nov. 19. A candidate needs 45 per cent of the vote or 40 per cent with a 10-point lead over second place to win outright on Sunday....
"Whoever wins will face a bleak economic outlook: the central bank's coffers are practically empty, a recession is looming, two-fifths of the population live in poverty and most expect a sharp currency devaluation that could fan inflation further.
"The election will likely split the vote between the top three runners, with a further two candidates polling at under five per cent. That will impact the make-up of Congress, which is being partially renewed and will likely end up fragmented. No coalition is expected [to] have a majority in either chamber, forcing the next president to negotiate across political divides. Frontrunner Milei would have a relatively small number of seats in Congress and little regional government support.
"Many voters, however, appeared resigned to a Milei win — a reflection of how the former television pundit has managed to take hold of the political narrative, leveraging memes and videos online that have resonated with younger voters."
August 14, 2023 - "With 97 percent of votes counted, Javier Milei and his La Libertad Avanza (Liberty Moves Forward) coalition received about 32 percent of the total vote in the national primary election on Sunday. The main conservative coalition (Together for Change) had 29.7 percent, and the Peronist coalition Unity for the Homeland (led by Minister of Economy Sergio Massa) had 28.7 percent. Since voting is mandatory in Argentina, this primary effectively served as a first ballot, though the first round of the general election is on October 22. Pollsters expected Milei to get 20 percent or less of the vote, so his success comes as a shock to many people....
"A relatively unknown economist until about five years ago, Milei rose to fame in Argentina as a TV commentator criticizing then-President Mauricio Macri for not being pro-market. His hot-tempered style and profanity made him popular among young people, and he quickly became the country's preeminent libertarian voice, calling for the elimination of the central bank and quoting intellectuals like Ludwig von Mises and Friedrich Hayek on prime time. When Macri failed to stabilize Argentina's economy and lost his reelection bid in 2019, Milei jumped into politics in a controversial alliance with national conservatives that he has maintained until today. When he ran for Congress in 2021, he received 17 percent of the vote in the city of Buenos Aires, enough to win a spot in the Argentine Chamber of Deputies.
"During the 2023 presidential campaign, Milei's main proposal has been to eradicate inflation by dollarizing the economy — that is, by treating the U.S. dollar as the national currency. He also favors deregulating industries, privatizing state-owned companies, and bringing an end to budget deficits. Milei's social agenda, in turn, mixes libertarian and conservative elements. Unlike any other candidate, he advocates for private gun ownership to counter crime, but he opposes abortion. It is gay marriage, though, where the ideological complexity of his candidacy becomes clear: While he has said government should not regulate any marriages at all, his Catholic running mate has publicly opposed it. Both abortion and same-sex marriage are currently legal in Argentina....
"Political commentators expected Milei's constant insults against other politicians to hurt him. But blaming his rivals for Argentina's problems seems to have been a successful strategy. It's unclear whether his ideas or his temper did more to earn him 30 percent of the vote, but his support is still substantial.
"Milei is by no means guaranteed a victory in October's general election. He will come under attack from all sides: He has taken some unpopular stands, such as supporting a free market in body organs, and he will be accused of not being prepared for the presidency. Because of his alliances, he will also be accused of not being a true libertarian, and he is already called a 'fascist' by his opponents. But his chances are certainly well above zero. One thing is certain: As his campaign song goes, 'la casta tiene miedo.' The system is afraid."
October 9, 2019 - "Argentina needs to make radical changes including trimming back big government and freeing international trade to avoid slipping into disaster, presidential candidate and libertarian economist José Luis Espert told Reuters. The fringe runner ahead of the Oct. 27 election, who won around 2% of the vote in an August primary, said Argentina needed to replace what he saw as a broken political and economic system over the last half century.
“'If Argentina doesn’t detonate what it has done in the last 50 years and do something radically different, then there is no economic plan that will work. Everyone will fail, everyone,' Espert said at Reuters’ office in Buenos Aires.
"Argentina, in and out of recession for decades, is battling an economic crisis amid steep inflation, a volatile currency and mountainous debts that threaten to tip the country into default. Poverty levels, meanwhile, stand at above 35%.
"As elections near, Peronist center-left candidate Alberto Fernández is the distant front-runner ahead of conservative incumbent Mauricio Macri, whose administration has been hit by the economic woes as voters face rising hardship.
"Espert believes that both Fernández and Macri represent parties that have not implemented sufficient structural reforms that the economy needs to get out of its slump. His Awakening Front party has 13 proposals to drive 'real change,' including total free trade, a much reduced state spending to help cut the fiscal deficit, an education overhaul and labor reforms taking power away from powerful unions.
"Espert said that even though he’s likely to make little impact on the final vote this year, it has helped put him on the map and he will run again for a Congressional role in 2021 and in the next presidential election in 2023.
"His prediction for the vote this month?... 'The most likely scenario is that we have a new president on Oct. 27 and that it will be Alberto Fernández,' he said. 'But let’s see'"
February 22, 2019 - "After a century of economic disarray in Argentina, Jose Luis Espert is making the case for radical change. The fringe right-wing presidential hopeful is running on a platform of liberal economic policies never before tried in one of South America’s most protectionist nations. The 57-year old economist and television pundit says President Mauricio Macri’s administration has been tame on trade, fiscal and labor policies....
"Espert brings unconventional ideas to the region’s second-largest economy, which is struggling with a second recession in three years and the weakest currency in emerging markets. Macri, who faces reelection on Oct. 27, has struggled to turn around a country known for capital controls, unpredictability and contempt for foreign investors.
"Running for the Libertarian Party, Espert aims to end 'a century of decadence' through free trade, slashing the public sector and revamping labor laws based on 1940s workers’ champion President Juan Domingo Peron.
"While he’s likely to capture just a small percentage of votes -- by his own estimates he has seven percent of public support -- the self-proclaimed fan of Milton Friedman and the Chicago school of economics says his candidacy will serve to ingrain the need for a political overhaul.
“'I’d feel happy enough if common sense ideas are put back on the table,' Espert said....
"Espert says he can fire 1.5 million government employees, about 40 percent of the public workforce, without facing a backlash. That’s because the private sector, enjoying a lighter tax burden, would step in, he said.
"With many voters disillusioned by Macri but unwilling to turn back to his predecessor, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, other candidates sense a chance. 'A huge distrust in traditional politics has opened the biggest window of opportunity in 15 years,' Espert said.
"Espert, who’ll formalize his candidacy when elections are officially called in a few weeks, will face an uphill battle: He has limited political machinery and will rely on volunteers in a campaign expected to cost as much as $20 million."
August 9, 2017 - "Alejandro Chafuen ... was among friends at the 2017 Latin America Liberty Forum. The international meeting of libertarian activists was sponsored by the Atlas Economic Research Foundation, a leadership-training nonprofit now known simply as the Atlas Network, which Chafuen has led since 1991....
"Chafuen pointed to numerous Atlas-affiliated leaders now in the spotlight: ministers in the new conservative government in Argentina, senators in Bolivia, and the leaders of the Free Brazil Movement that took down Dilma Rousseff’s presidency, where Chafuen’s network sprang to life before his very eyes.... A rightward shift is afoot in Latin American politics [and] the Atlas Network seems ever-present, a common thread nudging political developments along......
"[T]he Atlas Network, which receives funding from Koch foundations, has recreated methods honed in the Western world for developing countries. The network is expansive, currently boasting loose partnerships with 450 think tanks around the world. Atlas says it dispensed over $5 million to its partners in 2016 alone.
"Over the years, Atlas and its affiliated charitable foundations have provided hundreds of grants to conservative and free-market think tanks in Latin America, including the libertarian network that supported the Free Brazil Movement and organizations behind a libertarian push in Argentina, including Fundación Pensar, the Atlas think tank that merged with the political party formed by Mauricio Macri, a businessman who now leads the country. The leaders of the Free Brazil Movement and the founder of Fundación Eléutera in Honduras, an influential post-coup neoliberal think tank, have received financial support from Atlas, and are among the next generation of political operatives that have gone through Atlas’s training seminars.
"The Atlas Network spans dozens of other think tanks across the region.... It gives grants for new think tanks, provides courses on political management and public relations, sponsors networking events around the world, and, in recent years, has devoted special resources to prodding libertarians to influence public opinion through social media and online videos. An annual competition encourages Atlas’s network to produce viral YouTube videos promoting laissez-faire ideas and ridiculing proponents of the welfare state....
"Chafuen intimated that there was more to come: more think tanks, more efforts to overturn leftist governments, and more Atlas devotees and alumni elevated to the highest levels of government the world over. 'The work is ongoing,' he said."
April 4, 2016 - "Over the last few years, the so-called libertarian moment has been given much to talk in the United States — especially after the rise of former Congressman Ron Paul in the 2008 and 2012 elections. His message reached the masses and generated great expectations ... but Donald Trump changed everything.... Trump’s arrival did so much damage to the Republican libertarian movement that Reason Magazine and Cato Institute held a series of debates on whether the libertarian moment was 'dead.'
"Regardless of its downfall or not in the United States, it is certainly alive and well in Latin America.... Latin Americans have grown tired of years of populism and socialism and have begun to demand changes in their respective countries.
"Argentina is the best example right now. The victory of Mauricio Macri in last year’s presidential elections ends years of leftist government.... The new president wasted no time and immediately started implementing pro-market measures, reducing taxes, eliminating currency controls, naming a new president for the Central Bank and negotiating foreign debt payments....
"Last December and for the first time in 17 years, on the election with higher voter turnout, Venezuelans chose an opposition-controlled National Assembly, removing the Socialist Party control of the legislative branch.... The Chavistas still control the executive and judicial branches, but this year Venezuelan opposition will activate constitutional mechanisms to exit President Maduro, ending 17 years of socialist tyranny....
"Millions of angry Brazilians have taken to the streets in recent months demanding the resignation of President Dilma Rousseff.... Brazil’s main topic is the scandal at the state oil company Petrobras, which involves President Rousseff and her predecessor Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Both Rousseff and Lula da Silva are part of the socialist bloc that has ruled in South America for the past decade-and-a-half.
"Another example is Bolivia, where President Evo Morales, who has spent 10 years running the country, ... was defeated in a referendum where the Bolivian people did not approve of Morales running for a fourth presidential term, forcing him to end his mandate as soon as it expires in 2020.
"Though reforms are still at an early stage, the fact that pro-market ideas and economic liberalism are starting to be seen as real, strong crisis alternatives, both economically and socially, is a big step — especially when historically solvent countries like the United States continue to debate whether they should tilt to the left."
November 15, 2015 - "The latest RELIAL conference in Mexico City drew quite the crowd from across Latin America, but it wasn’t the professional political class that caught my eye. Rather, it was a layman who had made the trip all the way from her home in Rosario, Argentina.
"Lucrecia Pellerino, a dentist by trade, was there in late October to join with other liberals in the fight against the false promises of populism. In particular, she did not want Argentina to go the way of Venezuela, which has been the nation’s trajectory of late under President Cristina Kirchner.
"She and I sat down to chat about what had pushed her to take time away from her busy schedule to become a pro bono activist with Fundación Bases. She now organizes events for the educational organization that promotes the “ideas of liberty and an open society.'
"It began in 2002, she told me: 'I was very annoyed with the politics of my country, and I began to participate [with my accountant husband] in the party of Ricardo López Murphy, which was a liberal party.'
"But López Murphy subsequently lost his bid for the presidency in 2003, and the party is now defunct. In 2004, Pellerino decided that the populace needed to be better educated on economic matters before political outcomes would change. She thus helped get Fundación Bases started, and they targeted university students and academics with their programs.
"'I want an Argentina open to the world,' she said, as opposed to closed markets. In her work as a dentist and orthodontist, she feels the pain of hefty tariffs and quotas, since her materials are all imported and simply not made in Argentina. These costs inevitably get passed on to consumers who often cannot afford the inflated prices.
"But taxes on the border are just the start. Business Insider recently reported that Argentina had the highest taxes on corporations in the world, to feed the ever-larger state apparatus and achieve what amounts to a ban on profits. In fact, the central government’s spending grew from 17 to 33 percent of the economy in just the last 10 years, under the late Nestor Kirchner and then his widow Cristina."
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