Javier Milei accelerates towards a 2027 in which he will seek his re-election as president of Argentina. The president praised before businessmen gathered at the Council of the Americas in Buenos Aires the path taken in the last two and a half years and reaffirmed the economic direction forward. In his speech, he insulted without filters those who warn about problems that he denies or minimizes, such as the drop in consumption or the bankruptcy of companies. Among those who put obstacles to his economic program, he cited the Kirchnerist opposition, prebendary businessmen, and the feminism that promoted the legal abortion law. “If a characteristic of growth is the return on capital, what happens in the labor market and the population is also important. We are paying very dearly for the madness of the green handkerchiefs,” Milei said this Thursday referring to the color of the supporters of abortion legalization.
Birth rates began to plummet in Argentina in 2014, but the president attributed the decline in births to the Voluntary Interruption of Pregnancy Law, approved at the end of 2021: “Today, Argentina does not reach a population and birth growth rate that allows replacement. Therefore, that passion for killing children in the mother’s womb also costs us dearly in terms of growth, and I won’t even tell you in terms of the pension system,” Milei added at the luxurious Alvear hotel in Buenos Aires. The ultra president has made his opposition to abortion clear on multiple occasions, although during his administration there has only been so far a fleeting attempt to repeal the current law and re-criminalize it.
“I will not stop”
The Argentine president had one of his most incendiary speeches in months. Although he started with a moderate tone, after a few minutes he began to throw darts at businessmen who oppose the opening of imports or regulatory reforms that harm them. “The prebendary sons of bitches have to go bankrupt,” Milei shot after praising the work done by his minister of deregulation and state transformation, Federico Sturzenegger. “When they see a turd (excrement), a human shit criticizing Federico, it’s because it’s affecting a business. But we are going for much more, I will not stop the way of reforming the Argentine economy,” he assured with a defiant voice. The ultra leader has his eyes set on the coming months, key for next year’s electoral campaign.
Milei emphasized his government’s achievement in reducing the inflation rate—from 211% year-on-year in 2023 to the current 33.8%—and anticipated that he will headline a new concert to celebrate that wholesale prices increased by 0.8% in July compared to June.
The president also highlighted the growth of the Argentine economy and dismissed those who warn that it is a two-speed and very unequal growth. According to the latest official data, in June mining had a 15% year-on-year growth, while manufacturing advanced 2%, and education, public administration, and gas, water, and electricity were in the red. “That stupidity of two-speed growth is of a gross intellectual precariousness, it is not knowing how growth processes are,” Milei ridiculed from the stage.
Read more Mariano takes advantage of Rayo’s doubts in the ‘exile’ of Leganés
No turning back
The offensive language of the Argentine head of state has ceased to surprise many of his listeners, including the businessmen who participated this Thursday in the Council of the Americas. The speech was accompanied by some occasional applause, but also many yawns and glances at cell phones. In the hallways, several attendees said they accepted Milei’s ways as a lesser evil in exchange for the Kirchnerism not returning to power, and the president showed himself convinced that this will be the case: “I have confidence that Argentines do not want to go back to the past and do not want to become Cuba.”
Milei’s positive image has fallen to 30%, but the fragmented opposition has not managed to capitalize on social discontent over the loss of purchasing power and the debts that suffocate thousands of families. The absence of a strong opposition figure is, for now, one of La Libertad Avanza’s assets for presidential re-election.
At the Alvear, there were businessmen who admitted the bad moment many businesses are going through, such as the president of the Argentine Chamber of Commerce and Services, Mario Grinman. In his opening speech at the event, Grinman admitted that “there are companies that are struggling, there are companies that have closed, jobs have been lost,” but he emphasized that this is part of the current change process: “If that is the price we Argentines have to pay to transform our country, so that our grandchildren can live in a normal and credible country, I believe it is worth it.” The support of much of the business elite for Milei is for now assured.
Read more Guatemala received more than 2,000 Mexicans deported from the United States so far this year