News of Agustino Fontevecchia

Agustino Fontevecchia

Agustino Fontevecchia

Tales of the blue (dollar).

POLITICS – ANALYSIS

Tales of the blue (dollar)

29-03-2025 06:11 Milei and Caputo have promised to lift the 'cepo' currency controls. It won’t signal the end of the 'blue,' but it should reduce its importance and the wild fluctuations that voraciously mint millionaires and, at the same speed, erase their fortunes.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

Milei: Ringleader of the circus.

POLITICS – ANALYSIS

Political hegemony turning to pathetic circus

22-03-2025 07:14 Market jitters have pushed the government into a defensive posture, in which Economy Minister Luis ‘Toto’ Caputo appears to have involuntarily flamed the fans of devaluation.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

Violence and institutional informality.

POLITICS – ANALYSIS

Violence and institutional informality

15-03-2025 07:29 There are serious questions as to what happened on the streets outside Congress, but it clearly helped to distract the attention away from what was going on inside Congress and in the troubled port city of Bahía Blanca.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

The political “iron triangle” that run the show.

POLITICAL ANALYSIS

Challenging Milei’s ‘iron triangle’

08-03-2025 06:00 The Donald holds the keys to Milei’s future.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

Hayden and Javier.

Milei feels the heat of the $LIBRA scandal

01-03-2025 07:18 Milei is doubling down. Not only does he deny any wrongdoing, he’s also trying to push forward with his own agenda.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

$LIBRA is Milei’s black swan moment.

‘Cryptogate’ scandal

$LIBRA: Javier Milei’s black swan moment

22-02-2025 06:59 The case is scandalous from all angles and while Milei will probably manage to survive and even thrive in its aftermath, the reputational damage is done.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

Milei and the money.

POLITICS & ECONOMY – ANALYSIS

Milei’s week of fury

15-02-2025 06:05 The market has doubts as to whether Milei and Caputo can sustain what is clearly a super strong peso, forcing them to come out publicly to defend their policy choices. The level of aggression with which they have defended their position suggests that the risks to their strategy are real.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

Big Trump, little Javi.

Politics – Analysis

Milei the copycat

08-02-2025 06:06 Pegging Argentina’s foreign policy to the United States is a risky strategy.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

Dead Kennedys.

OPINION & ANALYSIS

Milei and Trump: On Nazis, outsiders and politicians

25-01-2025 06:21 Trump’s re-election blows wind into the sails of the new right, which is seeking to absolutely dismantle progressivism.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

Milei's Marxist culture wars.

POLITICS – ANALYSIS

Milei's Marxist culture wars

18-01-2025 06:33 The rise of characters such as Donald Trump in the US, and Milei here in Argentina, is directly tied to their level of political incorrectness and they’ve become equally savage in pushing culturally as far as they can in the other direction.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

Zuckerberg and Trump.

OPINION & ANALYSIS

What the heck is going on with Mark Zuckerberg?

11-01-2025 06:56 There are few doubts that the Silicon Valley elite would benefit from a US president who will ease the regulatory pressure at home while supporting them in their overseas endeavours, particularly one like Trump who has gone on the offensive against the EU.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

A+ for Javier Milei?

POLITICS – ANALYSIS

Is Javier Milei an outlier, or just another normal politician?

04-01-2025 06:35 My read is that Milei is not so different as we’ve led ourselves to believe. While he is eccentric and has a bizarre relationship with his sister and his “four-legged children,” ultimately he will converge toward more or less the same avenues of behaviour as his predecessors. His perfect armour will begin to exhibit chinks at some time, and his infallibility will become exactly the opposite. It’s a matter of time.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

Javier Fernández de Kirchner.

POLITICS – ANALYSIS

Milei’s ‘we want it all’ moment

21-12-2024 05:07 We’re early into the experiment. But Javier and Karina, along with star political advisor Santiago Caputo, are already imagining the “Milei era,” which should last at least eight years and include control of the Casa Rosada, Buenos Aires City and Buenos Aires Province.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

A busy week for corruption.

POLITICS – ANALYSIS

A busy week for corruption

14-12-2024 05:37 Edgardo Kueider’s situation is explicit, bombastic. But not uncommon in Argentine politics.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

YMCA Milei.

MILEI'S FIRST YEAR

Milei’s self-congratulatory maiden year

07-12-2024 00:36 A year in, Milei is surfing the wave of popularity, feeling invincible as he receives the constant attention of the international media, which in turn feeds his ego even further.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

The ecstasy of the chainsaw.

POLITICS – ANALYSIS

The ecstasy of Javier Milei

30-11-2024 05:48 Things look rosy for the libertarians at this juncture, encouraging them to become even more ambitious.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

Beavis and Butthead (Milei version).

POLITICS – ANALYSIS

‘Fat Dan’ and libertarian childishness

23-11-2024 06:00 The childish attitudes of Milei 'troll army' come as the government has regained momentum in opinion polls.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

Milei’s sub-aquatic flatulence.

POLITICS – ANALYSIS

Javier Milei’s obsession with sub-aquatic flatulence

16-11-2024 06:34 Is the economy rising like scuba diver flatulence? It doesn’t really matter, as long as Milei says it does, and a substantial portion of society believes him.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

Move over Javi, the Big Boss is back.

POLITICS – ANALYSIS

Move over Javi, the Big Boss is back

09-11-2024 06:24 The return of Donald Trump, the undisputed 'top dog' of the new right, will consolidate a global movement that, up until now, appeared to be somewhat disjointed.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

Trick or Communist Treat?

POLITICS – ANALYSIS

Zurdos de mierda

02-11-2024 06:52 Language is viral, particularly in hyper-connected urban societies, and is particularly sticky among the youth. Indeed, it is probably the first frontier in trying to permeate the consciousness of a population, and therefore the frontline of the culture war.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

Frenemies.

POLITICS – ANALYSIS

Macri and Milei’s ‘special kind of psychology’

26-10-2024 06:01 Macri knows he’s in a position of weakness. Milei and his libertarian horde swept his electorate and forced the fracture of his Juntos por el Cambio coalition. But despite lending his votes, the former president and his team have been excluded.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

Milei putting on the mask.

POLITICS – ANALYSIS

Veto power! Milei’s ‘caste-like’ adaptations

12-10-2024 06:04 Milei’s libertarians took on two of the most sensitive issues in Argentine politics – our grannies and public education – and successfully came out of the bout on top without sparking an uprising.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

Santiago Caputo: Jester, joker or danger?

POLITICS – ANALYSIS

Laughing and crying at the same time

05-10-2024 05:51 A joker of sorts, Santiago Caputo seems to always be looking for ways to “troll” his audience. One example could be his boss’ recent speech at the United Nations General Assembly, in which multiple paragraphs were “copy-pasted” direct out of an episode of The West Wing.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

Is Milei's star beginning to fade?

POLITICS – ANALYSIS

Is Milei's star beginning to fade?

28-09-2024 06:55 The first economist to become president in Argentina, he is banking on a rebound that has remained elusive thus far. The risks will only increase until people begin to feel the improvement

by Agustino Fontevecchia

Social media.

POLITICS & THE MEDIA

Press freedom in Argentina in the age of Javier Milei

21-09-2024 06:43 Milei, a by-product of the media ecosystem, has taken specific actions to curb press freedom, attacking the industry’s finances and limiting journalists’ access to information.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

Is it raining?

POLITICS – ANALYSIS

Mixed signals

14-09-2024 06:43 It is clear that Milei and his team have the necessary tools to negotiate, when they want to. But doing so exposes them to caste-like behaviour, which is in turn exposed by their opponents.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

Lilia Lemoine and the strange libertarian underworld

POLITICS – ANALYSIS

Lilia Lemoine and the strange libertarian underworld

07-09-2024 05:02 Gossip-worthy scandal in the Casa Rosada just adds fuel to the fire.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

Macri v Milei: Backstabber?

POLITICS – ANALYSIS

Selling your soul to the devil?

31-08-2024 05:40 Macri and Milei are still feeling each other out, much like heavyweight boxers who dance around each other throwing light jabs for fear of being hit with an uppercut. All of which begs the question, who will stab the other one in the back first?

by Agustino Fontevecchia

Milei the filling in a Macri-CFK sandwich.

POLITICS – ANALYSIS

Milei the filling in a Macri-CFK sandwich

24-08-2024 05:57 Once again, when it seemed that the government had things under control, chaos erupts onto the scene.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

The excommunication of Alberto Fernández.

POLITICS – ANALYSIS

The excommunication of Alberto Fernández

17-08-2024 06:35 In Argentina’s hazy political ecosystem, there should be little doubt that bad actors are always present behind the scenes.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

Santiago Caputo.

POLITICS – ANALYSIS

Corruption starts with K

03-08-2024 13:58 Shortly after the restructuring of the spy agency, the Milei administration signed an emergency decree giving it an additional 120 billion pesos, roughly US$100 million.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

Karina Milei, Santiago Caputo and Victoria Villaruel

POLITICS – ANALYSIS

Purist anarcho-capitalist Mileism

27-07-2024 14:03 Past experience isn’t a prerequisite when you have “the strength that comes from heaven on your side.”

by Agustino Fontevecchia

Milei's administration.

POLITICS- ANALYSIS

Treason and betrayal

23-07-2024 14:58 The Milei administration is stuck between a rock and a hard place. It needs to deliver economic results, fast. It risks seeing its public support begin to drop, which would reduce the government’s credibility and therefore erode their capacity to enact policy.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

President Javier Milei.

POLITICS – ANALYSIS

Milei the preacher

13-07-2024 07:24 For now, President Milei retains his popularity, but it seems as if the model is beginning to run out of steam.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

Argentina's litigation risks – graphic prepared by Latam Advisors.

POLITICS – ANALYSIS

Milei under pressure for the first time

06-07-2024 05:59 If the doubts regarding Milei’s capacity to preside over Argentina were tied to governability risk, Caputo’s are connected to credibility risk: it’s difficult to see how the current policy framework can be sustainable in time.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

From the attempted murder of Cristina Fernández de Kirchner to an attempted coup in Bolivia.

OPINION & ANALYSIS

From attempted murder to an attempted coup

29-06-2024 04:52 Fernando Sabag Montiel is a consequence of an exhausted political and economic system in Argentina, while Milei has emerged as a response to that same failure.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

Inflection point or anarcho-capitalist illusion?

POLITICS – ANALYSIS

Turning-point or anarcho-capitalist illusion?

22-06-2024 05:52 The outsider – who by definition was politically weak – is proving to be more resilient than his more traditional peers. Milei’s emergence in Argentina’s political ecosystem already marks a turning-point.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

Santiago Caputo, Javier Milei, Luis Caputo.

POLITICS – ANALYSIS

Javier Milei and a tale of two Caputos

15-06-2024 06:20 President Milei’s administration has inaugurated a novel political dynamic in Argentina: unleashing an attack against their adversaries, almost breaking down any possibility of collaboration, before agreeing at the last second to concessions.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

Santiago Caputo: the political commissar.

POLITICS – ANALYSIS

The political commissar, the sister and President Milei’s only friend

08-06-2024 05:32 With the expulsion of Nicolás Posse, Santiago Caputo becomes the only non-family member with a say in President Javier Milei’s inner circle.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

Santiago Caputo, Javier Milei and Karina Milei.

POLITICS – ANALYSIS

Milei’s punctuated pragmatism and Karina, the hidden genius

01-06-2024 05:59 Karina Milei has emerged as a sort of Machivellian genius, pulling the strings of the government and the political ecosystem with the apparent dexterity of a pro.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

Plata no hay.

MILEI & THE NEW RIGHT

‘Rockstar’ Milei just loves to travel

25-05-2024 06:52 For the frenetic Milei, there is no time to waste … as long as his public image remains shielded from the vicissitudes of day-to-day life, then the show must go on.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

The Milei paradox.

POLITICS – ANALYSIS

The Milei paradox

18-05-2024 06:08 Rather than fixing what is broken, Milei wants to incinerate it and build anew.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

Javier Milei: in love with the ‘cowboy caste.’

POLITICS – ANALYSIS

Javier Milei: in love with the ‘cowboy caste’

11-05-2024 06:37 There is clearly some sort of infatuation with the President and his Austrian economic ideology, along with Argentina. And the global culture war and Milei’s positioning to the right of the spectrum make him even more attractive.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

Tech entrepreneur Alex Blania is the CEO of Tools for Humanity, the company behind Worldcoin, a cryptocurrency project that pays humans for a scan of their iris.

INTERVIEW WITH WORLDCOIN BOSS

Alex Blania: ‘In the next few years, thousands of humans will fall deeply in love with an AI’

10-05-2024 12:51 The CEO of Tools for Humanity, the company behind Worldcoin, on technology and ethics, Artificial Intelligence and the use of private data.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

Milei’s calculated risks.

POLITICS – ANALYSIS

Milei’s calculated risks

04-05-2024 05:27 It’s not the first time Milei has decided to play ball and look for support beyond the tight borders of his La Libertad Avanza coalition. It shouldn’t be read purely as a strategic change – rather a tactical manoeuvre.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

Leaping through the ring of fire.

POLITICS – ANALYSIS

The first ‘real world’ punch for Javier Milei

27-04-2024 05:00 The government’s response to the march in defence of the public university system was similar to their usual approach, but the impact wasn’t the same – the social agenda appears to have finally sided against Milei on a major issue.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

James Rubin, US State Department Special Envoy and Coordinator of the Global Engagement Center.

James Rubin: 'China is supporting Russia's war in Ukraine and repeating its crazy arguments'

20-04-2024 05:24 China is supporting “materially, diplomatically, and even repeating Russia’s crazy arguments for this war,” says James Rubin, the United States’ top diplomat in charge of battling disinformation abroad.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

Javi and Conan ride to the rescue.

The perfect enemy for Javier Milei

13-04-2024 05:28 The president, his inner circle, and the Cabinet have become extremely selective regarding the outlets and journalists they speak to, with Milei only giving interviews to friendly reporters who lob softballs at him.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

Milei versus state workers.

POLITICS – ANALYSIS

Attitudinal shifts and the risks of upheaval

06-04-2024 06:24 Milei’s “negative rhetoric,” sustained by his synthetic power, is useful in setting the agenda, but it doesn’t put food on the table.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

Javier Milei.

POLITICS – ANALYSIS

The calm before the storm?

30-03-2024 06:07 The depth and severity of the recession that the plan put together by Economy Minister Luis ‘Toto’ Caputo will bring is beginning to reveal its impact.

by Agustino Fontevecchia