Argentina News and Discussions

[Powers]

Both suck.

[weatheriscool]

Argentina's Milei Devalues Peso by 54% in First Batch of Shock Measures

Source: Yahoo/Bloomberg

Argentina devalued the peso by 54%, overhauled its crawling peg and announced massive spending cuts to eliminate its primary fiscal deficit next year as the first steps in President Javier Milei’s shock-therapy program.

The newly inaugurated administration weakened the official exchange rate to 800 pesos per dollar, Economy Minister Luis Caputo said in a televised address after the close of local markets on Tuesday. It was 366.5 per dollar before the address. The central bank will henceforth target a monthly devaluation of 2%.
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The government will slash spending equivalent to 2.9% of gross domestic product, in a radical fiscal adjustment, according to a senior economic official.
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Other measures announced including halving the number of ministries, cutting transfers to provinces and suspending public works. At the same time, Argentina will boost certain social welfare programs, Caputo said.

Read more: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/argentin ... 52309.html

[caltrek]

Milei Couples 'Total Crackdown' on Protest With Economic Shocks in Argentina
by Julia Conley
December 15, 2023

Introduction:

(Common Dreams) As the human impact of Argentinian President Javier Milei's "shock treatment" to the South American country's economy became increasingly clear with rising prices on Thursday, Security Minister Patricia Bullrich announced what one journalist said were doubtlessly "preemptive" new controls on protests to discourage a struggling population from speaking out.

Bullrich said four security forces—the Federal Police, the Gendarmerie, the Naval Prefecture, and the Airport Security Police—will work together to stop protests that block streets and suggested the protocol is aimed only at ensuring "that people can live in peace" without demonstrators blocking traffic.

But as Progressive International co-general coordinator David Adler and others noted, the measures also include calls for armed forces to break labor strikes, create a national registry of people who organize protests, and sanctions against parents who bring their children to demonstrations.
The new package amounts to "a total crackdown on Argentine civil society," Adler said.

Bullrich's announcement came days after Milei, a far-right libertarian economist who has called the climate crisis "a socialist lie" and has been compared to former U.S. President Donald Trump, announced in the first weeks of his presidency an economic "shock treatment" package including a devaluation of the peso by 50%, from 400 pesos to the U.S. dollar to 820 pesos.

Read more here: https://www.commondreams.org/news/milei

[firestar464]

I thought he was an ancap

[weatheriscool]

I thought he was an ancap

Sadly, this is why I call these people LOSERTERIANS as they are only small government when it comes to helping the lower classes and providing economic support for the society...But at the end of the day they're really a new flavor of fascism that aims to grant the rich, elites and the few all the power to f*ck over everyone else.

[weatheriscool]

[weatheriscool]

[weatheriscool]

[caltrek]

Javier Milei, the President of Cash-strapped Argentina, Starts Another U.S. Tour and Plans to Meet Elon Musk
April 10, 2024

Introduction:

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP via PBS) — President Javier Milei of Argentina kicked off a visit Wednesday to the United States, where he’ll meet with tech billionaire Elon Musk, as his government seeks an infusion of cash to overhaul Argentina’s embattled economy.

The populist president started his four-day trip in Miami, home to one of the largest populations of Argentines in the U.S., where he received an honor from the Jewish community Wednesday at an Orthodox synagogue. Milei will meet with Musk on Friday in Texas, his spokesperson said, where he will also tour a factory for Tesla, Musk’s electric car company.

Milei’s third trip to the U.S. in merely four months as president comes as he reshapes Argentine foreign policy in line with Washington. Standing beside Gen. Laura Richardson, head of the U.S. Southern Command, at the southernmost tip of South America last week, Milei vowed to boost the nations’ “strategic alliance” — underscoring how he sees U.S. support as vital to the economic overhaul on which he has staked his presidency.

Read more here: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/jav ... lon-musk

[caltrek]

Argentina's Milei Meets Elon Musk at Tesla Factory
April 12, 2024

Introduction:

(DW) Argentine President Javier Milei met tech billionaire Elon Musk on Friday at a Tesla plant in Austin, Texas, where they agreed on the "need to free markets."

Musk shared an image of the two on his microblogging platform X, formerly Twitter, with the pair giving a thumbs up. Under the image was written: "To an exciting and inspiring future!"

(See linked article for Twitter feed)

Milei shared a picture of them shaking hands in a conference room with a caption saying, long live freedom.

(See linked article for Twitter feed)

One of the richest men in the world, Musk has previously shown his admiration for Milei's full-throated embrace of private enterprise and his disdain for what he sees as socialist excesses.

What did Musk and Milei talk about?

A spokesperson for the president said Milei and Musk "agreed on the need to free markets and defend the ideas of freedom" as well as the importance of eliminating bureaucratic obstacles to business.

Read more here: https://www.dw.com/en/argentinas-milei ... 68809179