Milei hurls insults in divisive speech to Argentina’s Congress

Emboldened by a string of legislative victories, President Javier Milei dedicated Argentina’s annual state of the nation address to hurling insults at his opponents in a return to his boisterous persona on the campaign trail.

Milei sought to energise his voter base with an insult-laden speech Sunday that quickly devolved over nearly two hours into a shouting match with opposition lawmakers. Milei labeled his rivals “parasites,” “delinquents” and “thieves,” whom he blamed for Argentina’s repeated economic crises. Those lawmakers in turn booed and shouted back from the chamber floor.

“Bunch of thieves, ignorant people – social justice is theft,” he said to officially mark the opening of the legislative year in Argentina. “If you hadn’t destroyed everything we would be a great country.”

It was Milei’s first address to Congress since his party pulled off a big political comeback to win Argentina’s midterm elections last October, aided by a financial bailout from US President Donald Trump and the US Treasury. Milei more than doubled his party’s number of seats in the legislature, and just last Friday it flexed its newfound strength by passing his flagship labour reform, marking a concrete victory for his economic agenda. 

During his speech, Milei insisted that his government would introduce a reform package to Congress every month this year, including broad mentions of deregulation, tax reform and property rights. Still, the speech lacked any specific economic policy changes or hints about a possible return to international financial markets this year. 

Milei added he would prioritise a “lasting strategic alliance” with the United States that would include ratifying a trade agreement signed in early February between both countries. Congress approved a trade agreement last week between the European Union and the South American trade bloc Mercosur.

Yet most of the speech centred around Milei’s combative tone, evaporating any signals that he might moderate as he enters the second half of his term.  

“You’re all corrupt politicians,” he said to his Peronist rivals. “You don’t even know how to count.”