Despite a belligerent speech, the populist head of state addressed the country's parliamentarians and political leaders, although he cannot implement his program.
Published on March 2, 2024 8:17 am
Reading time: 1 min
Argentine President Javier Milei during his first State of the Nation Address at the Congress in Buenos Aires, Argentina, March 1, 2024. (JUAN MABROMATA / AFP)
Argentina's ultra-liberal President Javier Milei said in his first state of the nation address on Friday, March 1, that he was committed to pushing forward his reforms “with or without” political support. “We will change the country forever (…) with or without the support of political leaders, with all legal means of the executive,” he declared in an insulting speech to parliamentarians who reversed their reform package in early February. “If you look for conflict, you will have conflict,” he told them.
But for almost three months, the head of state has reached out to the entire political class to forge a “new social contract” for the country based on ten liberal principles: Fiscal balance. Non-negotiable”, “especially inviolable” private property, reduction of public spending to the “historic” level of 25% of GDP. At the social level, Javier Milei called on Argentines to be “patient and confident”, despite the impact of the first austerity measures (devaluation of more than 50%, price liberalization, end of many subsidies), which would cause problems in the short term, which would increase inflation and lead to a lead to a decline in economic activity.
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