With his leather jacket and 70s sideburns, Javier Milei looks more like a rock star than a politician. Yet, he has played many roles: economics professor, TV commentator, and actor. An anarcho-capitalist who has sworn to destroy the state from within. Now Argentina’s president, he was present at the inauguration of US President Donald Trump. They have exchanged mutual expressions of support from the start: the newly elected U.S. president invited Javier Milei at his Mar-a-lago residence after his victory, while Milei himself on X vowed to “Make Argentina Great Again”.
Known as El Loco, he rose to power in an Argentina weary of Peronist rule, seen as one of the primary causes of the country’s economic crisis. Years of corruption, tax evasion, and soaring inflation fostered the emergence of “the caste,” the enemy Javier Milei leveraged to win the elections.
The effects of the “chainsaw”
Javier Milei has followed on his promise of drastic economic measures. Entire ministries were shut down or merged, reducing their number from 18 to 8. Culture and Education became “Human Capital,” while the Ministries of Environment and Women’s Affairs were abolished. Spending cuts and subsidy reductions led to a fiscal surplus of $264 million by April 2024—the first in 16 years.
His policies reduced the average monthly inflation rate from 17% to 4%, with a low of 2.7% in October. Despite this progress, annual inflation remains at 193%. Despite being high, according to Giuseppe Blasetti Research Fellow Desk Latin America for Geopolitica.info, it is “a significant improvement from the 210% recorded in 2023, before Milei came to power.” Highlights of his reforms include cutting public spending and devaluing the Argentine peso by 52%. Javier Milei himself described his policies as “the largest budget adjustment in history,” the effects of which will be evident only this year.
However, the decline in economic activity has caused the loss of about 260,000 jobs, both in the public and private sectors. Poverty in Argentina has risen to 51%, with nearly half the population living in destitution. The government spokesperson, Manuel Adorni, stated that if it weren’t for the measures taken by the Milei government, “poverty could have risen to 95%.”
The Argentine people are far from emerging from the crisis, but the government maintains stable support. According to Giuseppe Blasetti, there is little surprise: “His voters chose him with the expectation of tangible change, especially in the long term. For this reason, in my opinion, the second year of his term could prove crucial in consolidating or not the trust that voters have placed in him.”
Argentina wants its place on the world
On the international stage, Milei aims to redefine Argentina’s role in the global arena. He has expressed a strong On the international front, Milei wants to redefine Argentina’s role in the global chessboard. He has expressed the desire to attract foreign investments, presenting Argentina as a strategic partner for the West. “Among the actions that mark this new direction are the decision to block Argentina’s entry into the BRICS group and the numerous official trips made in his first year in office to the United States, Italy, France, and Israel,” emphasizes Giuseppe Blasetti.
At the same time, he has taken a more distant position from traditional Latin American alliances, openly criticizing socialist governments in the region. Javier Milei wants to be at the center of the Latin American discourse. The symbol of a new model of drastic governance, capable of inspiring other countries to undertake radical reforms to tackle economic crises. Including the United States.