Javier Milei did it. The far-right leader took almost two months longer than he would have liked, but finally at midnight on Monday he got 18 of the 24 governors to sign the Pact of May, a set of medium- and long-term objectives to “bring Argentina forward.” He gave the event a founding spirit, in keeping with the mission he set himself: to put an end to the State, to put an end to the political “caste” and to exterminate any hint of “socialism” in Argentina. He chose for this the house of Tucumán, the place where on July 9, 1816 the South American country signed its independence from Spain. Milei imagines a future inspired “by the founding fathers,” as he wrote in the invitation he sent to governors, former presidents, unionists, judges and businessmen. “The act of 1816 initiated a new order after years of fratricidal wars; In 2024, we announce the starting point of a new order for our country,” said the far-right politician in a long, epic speech before dozens of guests.
The agreement includes among its ten points fiscal balance as a non-negotiable principle, cuts in public spending and the reform of the labor and pension system. According to Milei, these were the principles that, after the Constitution was drafted in 1852, allowed Argentina to “emerge like a volcano reaching the heights of the heavens.” “We have forgotten our prosperous past. It was impossible for leaders to meet for a common goal, like the founding fathers. Today we meet to renew our patriotic vows,” said the president.
The photo at the Tucumán house was taken at midnight on July 9, the national holiday. There were important people present, but also important people absent. Milei tried to bring together all the former presidents, but only Mauricio Macri, his main ally in Congress, and Adolfo Rodríguez Saá, the fleeting president who tried unsuccessfully to steer the corralito crisis in the last week of 2001, attended the meeting. Cristina Kirchner, Alberto Fernández and Eduardo Duhalde, all Peronists, were absent. The absent governors were five, all those who answer to Kirchner, the most important of them being Axel Kicillof, in charge of the province of Buenos Aires, the largest, richest and most populated in the country. The union members of the General Confederation of Labor (CGT) were also absent, arguing that “a photo” would not solve Argentina’s problems. The five judges of the Supreme Court also did not travel to Tucumán.
The call, however, was an evident display of political strength in the face of “the caste,” as Milei considers all the politicians who do not respond to him. None of the governors present are members of La Libertad Avanza, the governing party, and more than one did not even agree with many of the points in the document they signed. He convinced them, in any case, of the economic deficiencies they suffer and their dependence on money from the national government. In addition, of the need to align themselves with a president who, despite the crisis and the consequences of the adjustment, maintains popularity rates above 50% eight months after taking office.
The aesthetics could not have been more evident. The house in Tucumán maintains part of the original 208-year-old nobility and a period air that has been carefully reconstructed. The format of the book where the president and the governors stamped their signatures respected that spirit. The official attempt to satisfy Milei’s desire to emulate the heroes of independence was obvious, as the presidential spokesman, Manuel Adorni, made clear with the post of a historical painting and a current photo on his social networks. Military marches sounded. The governors, standing next to each other, formed a cordon along which Milei advanced wearing the sash and the presidential baton. When they heard their name, they went up to the platform, signed the book on the table where independence was agreed in 1816 and then posed for a photo with the president.
Since Tuesday, Milei has a clearer picture of the support he has: there were governors who embraced him effusively and smiled, others who embraced him without smiling, and those who were clearly uncomfortable just shook his hand. To this he will have to add the message of repudiation from those who were absent, whom Milei avoided calling “rats,” as in the past, but accused of only thinking about defending their privileges and of having “ideological blinders.”
The May Pact was signed in July. Milei could not avoid the delay. When he proposed it in his speech before Congress on March 1, he made it conditional on the approval of the Ley Bases and the fiscal package, two projects for the dismantling of the State and economic adjustment that were finally approved last week. The reluctance of the governors and the so-called “dialoguing” opposition was much tougher than the Casa Rosada expected and the negotiations lasted for months. Once the parliamentary process was completed, Milei announced that the act would be signed at zero hour on Independence Day.
The Act is a non-binding commitment to respect some basic principles that Milei believes are essential to “leave behind the antinomies of failure and embrace ideas of freedom.” The list includes the inviolability of private property, fiscal balance as a “non-negotiable” commitment, a drastic reduction in public spending, tax, labor and pension reform, and the commitment of the provinces to open up to the exploitation of their natural resources. Also included is the opening of Argentina “to international trade,” that is, the elimination of tariffs and a policy of promoting imports.
The list was modified, forced by the opposition that has decided to support the president. The most notable point was the inclusion of the commitment to a useful and modern initial, primary and secondary education. The Government was very careful to avoid the words “free” and “public”. Also left out was the proposal for a “structural political reform, which modifies the current system and realigns the interests of the representatives and the represented”, which was so broad and diffuse that it generated concern among governors and party leaders.
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