New government begins with the objective of containing the rise in inflation and forging alliances in Congress
Javier Milei took office on Sunday (Dec 10, 2023) as president of Argentina, but may face difficulties in completing his term, which runs until December 10, 2027.
The inflationary legacy, the strong Peronist opposition and the lack of a majority in Congress are the main obstacles to be overcome by the Argentine. This is what Carlos Vidigal, history professor at UnB and researcher from Argentina, says in an interview with Power360.
“As Milei will face major economic problems, notably inflation, unemployment and the negotiation of external debt with the International Monetary Fund, he may already have strong reactions from society if he is unable to contain inflation, for example, in the first year of government”explains the historian.
The libertarian assumes leadership of Argentina amid high inflation and growing poverty. The annual rate reached 142.7% in the last 12 months until October, with an increase of 50.3 percentage points in 2023, remaining at 3-digit levels for 9 months.
Furthermore, for the expert, Milei must face strong resistance if she tries to promote changes in the social sector, since “there are many programs that hold Argentine society back”. Thus, Vidigal states that unions and popular movements linked to Kirchnerism will be more likely to carry out protests and strikes than they used to do during Peronist governments.
“It is still too early to talk about concrete measures, but based on statements made during the campaign and, mainly, considering the government's neoliberal approach, it seems that Milei's intention is to provide greater rationality to social programs. This will involve supervision, greater agility and an attempt to reduce the intervention of intermediaries between government programs and popular sectors“, it says.
According to the historian, Peronism has a great capacity to mobilize against Milei. Furthermore, the researcher states that, as there is no majority in Congress, major economic measures will require negotiations. Therefore, the government's response to the economic crisis may be delayed, which would represent a potential “disaster” for the libertarian administration.
Vidigal also talks about the importance of negotiating debt with the IMF (International Monetary Fund), improving the country's foreign exchange reserves, maintaining and possibly improving social assistance programs, and seeking to revitalize the job creation policy. In his words, “These issues represent the most significant challenges” for the government that took office on Sunday (10.10).
Given the unfavorable scenario, the expert recalls that Argentina has a long history of political instability. In the recent period of democracy alone, 2 presidents elected at the polls were unable to complete their terms: Raúl Alfonsín, the 1st president after the dictatorship period, and Fernando de la Rúa. Both brought forward the end of their mandate due to internal and external pressures.
This Monday (Dec 11), Milei will send a text to Congress with the changes planned for his mandate.
The document must contain “all actions to be carried out, including profound reforms in different areas: economic, financial and labor-political”, according to Francisco Paoltroni, the future interim president of the Senate. Furthermore, the expectation is that the text will also include the repeal of some existing laws.
This report was produced by Journalism Intern Fernanda Fonseca under the supervision of editor Lorenzo Santiago.
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