Buenos Aires, Tuesday, five in the afternoon. Paola Orellana, a 51-year-old hairdresser, dyes the hair of the only client in the store. She turned on the television that she has in the corner, raised the volume and now she warns the second client who enters: “I turned it on to listen to the ads.” Argentina is in suspense waiting for the package of measures that the new Government of Javier Milei will communicate two days after arriving at the Casa Rosada. From the steps of Congress on the day of his inauguration, the far-right said that with him a “new era” began in the country and many want to know what the Argentina that they were promised will be like. The transformation that he intends began this week with a devaluation of the currency that skyrocketed prices, but did not alter the markets, and a protocol to repress the protests that the unions have already begun to announce.
Milei's first week as president started somewhat late. The ultraliberal arrived at the Casa Rosada on Monday for his first Cabinet meeting. That day no significant economic announcements were made and the Central Bank decided on a virtual exchange holiday. Later, Milei participated in the Jewish celebration of Hanukkah and it was the only time of the entire week in which he spoke in public. “We know that the forces of heaven are going to support Argentina and Israel at this moment,” said the new president, who is Catholic, but has studied the Torah for years and has shown his alignment with the Jewish State.
The plan also did not arrive on Tuesday at five in the afternoon as planned. The Minister of Economy, Luis Caputo, appeared two hours later in a recorded message to communicate the first 10 economic measures of the new Government. Some of the guidelines: devaluation of the currency by 50%, paralysis of public works, reduction of energy and transportation subsidies, cuts in the State workforce, increase in withholdings on exports… The decalogue proposes a strong adjustment and the increase in taxes that, according to the Government's forecast, will place inflation at 20 or 30% monthly. It does not contemplate income compensation and improves only two social benefits that reach part of the 40% of the population that lives in poverty.
The most visible consequences began to be seen 24 hours after the announcement. The markets responded calmly. The country risk fell and the dollar blue, which circulates illegally and is a thermometer for the local economy, was quoted at 1,070 pesos per US unit, only 7% more than the previous day. As the days passed, the parallel currency continued to fall and the exchange gap was reduced to 25%. But prices skyrocketed. Merchants across the country began receiving messages from their suppliers announcing price increases of up to 175% in some cases; the material yards for the works stopped selling supplies; a kilo of meat started to cost 40% more; The oil company Shell raised the price of fuel by 37%; Aerolíneas Argentinas, the flag airline, adjusted the price of tickets by 100%.
On the streets of Buenos Aires, prices monopolized the conversations. On Thursday, 48 hours after the announcements, a man sent an audio message to his wife: “There are no prices until the afternoon.” Two women, on the sidewalk, could not agree on the values of the goods. “I bought a sweet bread, two milks, an oil, a bag of sugar candy and an alfajor, and I spent 5,000 pesos,” one said and the other replied: “It doesn't seem like that much compared to what I spent at the perfumery.” A woman vented to a merchant: “It's abuse, it's distressing.”
The provincial newspapers also echoed the news. In Río Negro, in Patagonia, it was reported that “1,230 homes and 26 planned schools” would stop being built. In Misiones, in the tropical northeast of the country, it was said that the tourism sector, one of the most important in the province, remained “on alert” in the face of the announced measures. In Córdoba or Santa Fe, in the center of the territory, agricultural businessmen were divided between criticism and support.
The Minister of Economy, crowned by the media as the person of the week, gave his first television interview to offer some details about the package, because there were – and still are – missing details. In the following days he also warned that dollarization and the closure of the Central Bank “continue to be flags.” The rest of the Government remained practically silent. Milei continued without saying a word in public, although she shared positive reactions to the guidelines on social media. Minister Sandra Pettovello, head of the Ministry of Human Capital, also did not speak out when the first questions about the adjustment appeared. She is the only minister who will have an “open wallet” to “provide containment.” [apoyo] to the fallen,” according to what Milei said during the campaign.
Between worry and hope
Milei warned during the campaign that if he came to power he would make a strong adjustment and on Sunday he reminded his followers who were listening in silence to his inauguration speech. That day, he settled the story with which he justifies his decisions: Argentina is heading towards an inflationary “catastrophe” and “there is no alternative solution to adjustment and shock”. Therefore, many are warned.
“We are hopeful that a clear idea of where we are going will be consolidated because until now we were not going anywhere,” said Fernando, a 53-year-old merchant, after the announcements. “It will be difficult, it will not be pleasant, but we are happy even if we have to push ourselves,” he assured. Others showed more concern. Like Luis, a 70-year-old retiree, who explained that savings, in his house, will start with food. The pension he receives is around 130,000 pesos — half the value of a basic basket (about 150 dollars) — and he does not know how much he will receive this month. Or Silvia, an employee, 37 years old, who is concerned about the “abysmal” increase in the cost of living because her salary “is not in line.” One of the biggest impacts, he believes, will be seen in the price of public transportation when state subsidies disappear starting in January, as anticipated by the Government.
Among the economists interviewed by EL PAÍS there is consensus that the situation is critical. But they warn of the impact that the measures taken by the Government will have on the population. “This is a classic adjustment that all it does is lower salaries and does not stabilize,” criticizes Florencia Medici, researcher at the National Council for Scientific and Technical Research (Conicet). Leandro Mora Alfonsín, economist and professor at the University of Buenos Aires, also points out the “total absence of a calibration of income policy”: “The prospects for the real economy are bad and for the ordering of macroeconomic variables we are in bad shape. question.”
Unions and social movements also warned that the chosen course will ruin Argentines. The General Workers' Union (CGT), the main labor organization in Argentina, met urgently and issued a statement in which it warned that “the adjustment is paid for by the people” and added that “it will not sit idly by.” The left-wing picketing organizations called for a strike and a “massive” rally in Plaza de Mayo on December 20.
“Let them know that if they take to the streets, there will be consequences,” was the Government's response. The new Minister of Security, Patricia Bullrich, announced a tough plan against the protests and became, after Caputo, another protagonist of the week. The new protocol against demonstrations plans to call on the four security forces that depend on the Ministry of Security – the Federal Police, the Gendarmerie, the Naval Prefecture and the Airport Security Police – to break up demonstrations that block streets and routes. “They will use the necessary and sufficient force, which will be graduated in proportion to the resistance,” Bullrich warned.
To this end, the new minister repealed the rules of police action promoted during Cristina Kirchner's Government to limit repression after the deaths of two people during a police operation in 2010. “Now, more than a limitation on the use of police force There is an authorization to exercise violence against protesters,” criticized the Center for Legal and Social Studies (CELS). The reaction also came from social movements and some sectors of the opposition. The leftist representative Myriam Bregman, who considered that the decision “is absolutely unconstitutional,” was attacked for her position. “Jail or bullet,” liberal deputy José Luis Espert, Milei's former ally, threatened her on social networks.
Meanwhile, part of the new Government's plans continued to be known, such as the imminent publication of a decree of necessity and urgency to deregulate the economy; the reduction of the State's car fleet; the sale of two airplanes from the state oil company YPF; the intention to carry out money laundering; the renewal of ambassadors… The ruling party also managed to appoint the provisional president of the Senate, against the intention of Peronism, in Victoria Villarruel's first session as president of the upper house.
The presidential spokesman, Manuel Adorni, insisted in the morning press conferences that he has established to address the media that this week's measures have been only “the backdrop” for others that will be announced “in the coming weeks” and that will be “really deep.” Mieli continued without speaking in public, although he participated in all Cabinet meetings, according to the latest Government statement, which highlights three points: that Milei reiterated his support for Caputo's decalogue, that he supported Bullrich's anti-demonstration protocol and that this Friday he would raffle his last salary as a deputy.
Buenos Aires, Friday, December 15, at noon. The president records a live video on Instagram from his office. There is his sister, Karina Milei, now general secretary of the Presidency, a notary and an entourage of young people with phones held high. More than 115,000 viewers follow it live. Milei shows the handle of the presidential cane with the faces of her dogs; She says that she works at this table and not that one; She says the woman in the background is her best friend. He also signs the minutes of the draw for his last salary as a deputy of La Libertad Avanza, an initiative that he started two years ago to deliver his salary as an official. “Now I got another job,” Milei warns. For a week now, the far-right has been sitting in the presidents' chair.
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