Argentine President Javier Milei rode into power on promises to defeat Leftism and return economic liberty to the people. The levels of poverty and economic misery have reached ridiculous levels, with an estimated 40 percent of the population living in poverty. Like here in the United States, inflation is also out of control. Argentine’s liberals also vilified Milei, but the state of the economy was a major driving force with voters: they saw what decades of left-leaning policies have reaped. It was time for a change, even if it came from a man who whipped out chainsaws at rallies. One of Milei’s promises was to cut unnecessary government departments.
Now in power, Milei faces the herculean task of transforming an economy soaked in two decades of Peronism. The good news is that his omnibus reform package passed the lower chamber of Argentina’s government. It’s not law yet, and there are more talks to hash out the details, but it’s cleared the first hurdle (via Associated Press):
Argentina’s Chamber of Deputies on Friday approved in general terms a reform bill proposed by libertarian President Javier Milei to deregulate the economy, overcoming a hurdle for the sweeping initiative after three days of heated debate.
But the fine print of the omnibus bill’s more than 300 articles, including economic, administrative, criminal and environmental changes, is still subject to negotiations in the lower house. The initiative must also be approved by the Senate.
On Friday, lower house lawmakers approved Milei’s initiative with 144 votes in favor and 109 against. The house goes into recess until Tuesday, when the deputies will begin negotiating the individual articles in the bill.
Milei thanked opposition leaders who supported the initiative, saying “they understood the historical context and chose to end the privileges of the caste and the corporate republic, in favor of the people, who have been impoverished and are hungry.”
Argentina finished 2023 with an inflation rate of 211 percent. The lingering issues over the remaining portion of the package are what you’d expect from a landed political class that went unchallenged for almost a generation. The AP added that deregulation of state-owned businesses, delegating legislative powers to the president, and chipping away at the overall administrative state remain contentious issues. We’ll see how it’s hashed out. Milei had to sacrifice some tax-alleviating measures to get this bill passed by the Chamber of Deputies. The original text had 664 reform items.
