The far-right Javier Milei celebrates one hundred days at the head of the Presidency of Argentina with a milestone within his ambitious economic recovery project: the fiscal surplus of January and February – more was collected than was spent -, something that had not been achieved since 2011. However, the other side is its worst criticism, the drop in wages. With inflation that has not dropped below 13% in the last three months, Argentines have lost purchasing power due to the liberalization of prices and the permission of increases to companies. Regarding governance, Milei was involved in fights with governors and frustrations in his two most important restructuring projects.
This Tuesday, March 19, marks 100 days since the far-right Javier Milei assumed power in Argentina. That December 10 involved the arrival to the highest national office of a political 'outsider', who campaigned emphasizing economic recovery at the cost of fierce adjustment.
A hundred days later,Half of the plan is completed, according to analysts, but the daily impact is not felt. There is still no economic recovery – the indices point to the opposite – and a strong decline is felt in the home economy.
With more than half of Argentines below the poverty line – a very high number, but mostly inherited from the previous Peronist (left) government – the measures Milei took in this brief period of office were far from remedy the pocket crisis.
The decisions made by the president, such as the liberalization of prices and rental contracts, affected the economic solvency of citizens, who saw the peso devalued by 50% and prices rose by 276% year-on-year in February.
With dollarization still far on the horizon, the Government is aiming for a difficult mission: zero deficit in 2024, which requires an even more excessive adjustment than that required by the International Monetary Fund.
In that sense, one of Milei's merits was having a financial surplus in January and February – something that had not happened since 2011. He also recomposed a part of the reserves of the Central Bank, punished in 2023 by the drought that deprived the country of the export of oilseeds.
In the quest to organize the fiscal deficit, half of the ministries were closed or reduced to secretariats and public works and the Teacher Incentive Fund (FONID) that contributed from the National Government a fraction of the salaries of teachers in the provinces, two points where tensions broke out with the governors.
In addition, entities such as the National Institute against Discrimination, Xenophobia and Racism (Inadi), the Télam news agency were closed, and there were advances against the National Institute of Cinema and Audiovisual Arts (INCAA).
Governance issues
Among the biggest defects that the Executive has not been able to correct is the lack of ability to achieve consensus in the Chamber of Deputies and Senators. This despite having the Republican Proposal (PRO, conservative) bloc, of which several members joined the Cabinet, such as Patricia Bullrich (Minister of Security) and Luis Petri (Defense), presidential duo of the party in the last elections. .
Possible allies such as Hacemos por Nuestro País and the historic Radical Civic Union decided to turn their backs on the ruling party when its two biggest proposals, the Law of Bases for Freedom for Argentines (commonly called 'Omnibus Law') and the Decree of Necessity and Urgency (DNU) to deregulate the economy, came to the chambers.
The first, criticized by the opposition, did not even have half a sanction in Deputies; while the DNU – whose effects remain in force and cannot be reversed – was rejected by the senators and must wait for the Lower House to ratify its rejection or approve its legitimacy.
To achieve the necessary support for his political programs to advance, Milei announced a meeting with the governors in Córdoba, which he called 'May Pact'. However, he announced that a more moderate version of the 'Omnibus Law' will be sent to legislators for their approval. Otherwise, the meeting with regional leaders in May will not take place either.
Confrontation with the governors
One of the characteristics of these hundred days of Milei were the internal conflicts that opened his own words or, much more frequently, his management on social networks.
The removal of Guillermo Ferraro as Minister of Infrastructure was announced through a 'like' on his X account to a journalistic report. Another event was the announcement of the dismissal of Omar Yasin as Secretary of Labor, when he was notified live during a television interview.
The use without discretion of X also opened controversies. Like when he published a black list of deputies who voted against the 'Omnibus Law'; or with 'likes' on mockery of governors that were repudiated by the political circle; among these, posts about the wife of the leader of Jujuy, Gerardo Morales, or a photomontage of Ignacio Torres – from Chubut – disfiguring his face.
Javier Milei liked an image of Ignacio Torres edited with the features of a person with Down Syndrome. The president today put more than 250 likes pic.twitter.com/fqxzQrjrak
— El Vigía Agency 🇦🇷 (@AgenciaElVigia) February 26, 2024
Torres was the main governor with whom Milei had problems. His reduction in federal co-participation – an amount that the State gives to the provinces – opened chapters of discussion that ended in the Chubut Justice Department.
These disagreements with the regional leaders made it difficult for the ruling party to access the necessary votes in Parliament to enact its macroeconomic restructuring measures.
Foreign policy in the background
Although Argentina's guidelines towards the world have changed dramatically since Milei's inauguration, foreign policy was not one of the priorities at the beginning of his term.
The most dramatic development was the refusal of Buenos Aires to join the BRICS group, as anticipated during the presidential campaign. Although Argentina had been chosen by the members to join, the intention of not getting closer to Russia, China and Brazil prevailed beyond the benefits that the country could obtain.
The turn towards the American sphere was complete, with speculation and open support for the return of Donald Trump to the White House. He traveled to the United States for the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).
Without going to countries in the region, Milei barely traveled to exhibit at the Davos Forum; a tour that included Israel – not as a state visit, but as a personal visit for the president, who claimed to feel close to the spirituality of Judaism –, Italy and the Vatican, to mend relations with the Argentine Pope Francis.
At the South American level, the slights towards Brazil showed an important difference compared to the previous mandate. Relations with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva are tense despite Brazil's relevance to Argentina. The invitation to former far-right president Jair Bolsonaro to Milei's inauguration was a fact that deepened the unrest initiated by the Argentine president's statements.
With EFE and local media
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