President Javier Milei has hailed his government as “the best in Argentina’s history” and promised that inflation will be a thing of the past by the middle of next year.
But the head of state’s remarks – rather bold, given the nation’s regular struggles with runaway price hikes – arrived as unions began to again ramp up pressure on the government and voice resistance to his “chainsaw” austerity cuts, which they say have left millions struggling to make ends meet.
During a Wednesday speech to investors and economists at the EXPO EFI 2025 event in Buenos Aires, Milei, 54, assured that “inflation has its sell-by date for the middle of next year and now is the time to think of growth.”
“We have concluded the stage of stabilisation,” he told the audience, while adding “that does not mean things are perfect.”
Milei assured the crowd that Argentina’s period of emergency lay in the past as he fired off enthusiastic praise for his administration’s fiscal results.
He also hailed this month’s partial removal of currency and capital controls, which have been in place since 2019.
“The ‘cepo’ is a monstrous tool because it does not permit those of you who want to save and influences the future,” he maintained, using the word to refer to restrictions on the access of foreign currency.
The head of state also highlighted his recent US$20-billion agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), blasting – in coarse language – critics of his government who had forecast that he would never be able to pull it off.
Labour unrest
Just hours after Milei spoke, union leaders led thousands of members onto the streets in protest at austerity measures.
Demonstrators on the eve of Labour Day in a mostly peaceful protest, with slogans against Milei’s austerity policies more common than clashes. Nevertheless, the march ended with 14 arrests, according to local news agencies.
Carrying union banners, anti-austerity slogans and images of the late Pope Francis, the demonstrators marched in a protest organised by the CGT (Confederación General del Trabajo) umbrella union grouping, Argentina’s largest and most powerful labour federation.
The CGT issued a communiqué complaining that the government “does not attend grievances, nor does it listen or engage in dialogue while implementing a grave austerity whose cost is being paid by workers and the unemployed with deteriorating incomes.”
Hours after the march, the UTA transport union announced a bus strike for next Tuesday (May 6) following a breakdown in talks with firms and officials. The government has placed a one-percent monthly cap on collective wage bargaining with the aim of containing inflation, which accelerated to a monthly 3.7 percent in March, in the run-up to the October midterms.
Apart from the 14 arrests for allegedly provoking disturbances, the Security Ministry announced Wednesday that 29 buses transporting demonstrators had been held back “for infractions.”
‘Vaccum’
At the CGT rally, Father Lorenzo ‘Toto’ de Vedia transmitted the support of the so-called slum priests known as “curas villeros.” Denouncing the “indecent wages” and “lack of jobs,” the Catholic leader said that in low-income neighbourhoods “the vacuum left by the state is a space filled by narcos.”
“Nobody can reach the end of the month,” said Gisela, a cleaning lady who prefers not to give her surname at Wednesday’s rally. “There is so much inequality.”
Since taking office in December 2023, the Milei government’s austerity has slashed public spending by 4.7 percent of the Gross Domestic Product, according to data published by the IARAF (Instituto Argentino de Análisis Fiscal) thinktank last February.
This effort helped to lower annual inflation from 211 percent in 2023 to 118 percent the following year. Monthly consumer prices hikes are now running at between two and four percent.
In his EXPO EFI speech, Milei overlooked all this or any reference to the CGT rally, celebrating “a 30-percent reduction in the size of the state.”
In his speech, which was laden with insults for his enemies, he mocked those who “weep over social questions.”
Milei highlighted that “with the motosierra,” or chainsaw, his government has undertaken “the biggest adjustment in the history of humanity.”
But political analyst Artemio López sees “the social situation in Argentina as critical,” saying: “The distribution of income is the worst in the last 20 years.”
The same Wednesday afternoon pensioner organisations staged a new protest outside Congress, snarling traffic in the area.
The protest was escorted by Border Guard and Federal Police officers to ensure that Security Minister Patricia Bullrich’s “anti-picket” protocol was heeded.
– TIMES/NA/AFP
Comments