Javier Milei delivered some gloomy news to his supporters in his first speech as president of Argentina. He warned that the country’s economic problems will worsen before a recovery can start since his predecessors left behind a country engulfed in hyperinflation and fiscal chaos.
The self-described “anarcho-capitalist” issued a warning, stating that Argentina’s destroyed economy will not be easily rebuilt following a century of communist control. According to him, early implementation of austerity measures, such as sharp reductions in government spending, would be necessary, and this will make the short-term economic climate even more difficult.
“Today marks the beginning of a new chapter for Argentina,” Milei declared during his inaugural speech in Buenos Aires on Sunday. “Today we begin the process of rebuilding our nation, bringing an end to a long and sorrowful history of decadence and decline.”
According to Milei, “the political class left the country on the verge of its greatest crisis in history.” “Unfortunately, they left us with no choice. We are not seeking for, nor do we want, the difficult decisions that will need to be made in the upcoming weeks.” “No government has received a worse inheritance than what we are receiving,” the speaker continued.
Milei said that the nation owed the IMF $45 billion in debt, had a $43 billion trade deficit, and an annual inflation rate of 143%. He stated the government is broke, just like many of Argentina’s people, and that $10.6 billion in debt payments are due in April. Argentina’s poverty rate is four out of ten, and the country is heading for its sixth recession in a row.
Milei stated, “There is no alternative to a shock adjustment,” and that the short-term outlook for the economy was dire. “There isn’t any money.”
During his campaign, the incoming president made promises to combat corruption, abolish the nation’s central bank, and swap Argentina’s unstable peso for the US dollar. Voters, he claimed, had mandated “change that has no turning back.”
Among the international dignitaries attending Milei’s inauguration ceremony were Vladimir Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, and Viktor Orban, the prime minister of Hungary. The presidents of Ecuador, Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay, and Armenia were among the other distinguished visitors, along with Spanish King Felipe VI, Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen, and former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro.
US President Joe Biden led Washington’s team to the event but did not attend himself; Jennifer Granholm, the secretary of energy, was sent. Marc Stanley, the US ambassador to Argentina, and Juan Sebastian Gonzales, the senior director of the White House National Security Council’s Western Hemisphere division, were among the other US officials present for the inauguration.
