Miley, a libertarian economist and television analyst who adopted a brash political approach to the presidency, was trying to capitalize on his political honeymoon by quickly reforming as much of Argentina as possible.
Despite the high turnout, popular opinion polls show that Javier Miley has the support of most Argentines.credit: GT
After cutting spending, laying off public sector workers and devaluing the currency, he turned his focus to sweeping legislation that would have consequences for the economy, elections, labor, public safety, the environment, the arts and sciences, health and even how Argentines divorce. . The sweeping bill, a vote on which has been postponed until next week, would also consolidate more powers into his hands.
This sparked negative reactions from the Labor Party. The unions already obtained a preliminary injunction this month against some of Miley's efforts to amend labor laws through presidential decree.
Labor revolts have derailed government campaigns for big changes in Argentina before, but Miley indicates he will take a tougher line against protests that turn disruptive. He has proposed cutting the salaries of government employees who participate in demonstrations, and toughening penalties against people who block roads so they face possible prison time.
He moved quickly too. In his first days in office, Miley made major cuts in federal spending, laid off thousands of government employees and cut the number of federal departments in half from 18 to nine. He also officially devalued the Argentine peso by more than 50%, exacerbating the government's crisis. The exchange rate is much closer to the market measure of the currency – but it also causes prices to rise.
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From November to December, prices rose by 25.5 percent, compared to 12.8 percent in the previous month.
Argentina's annual inflation rate now stands at 211 percent, putting the country of nearly 46 million on par with Lebanon for the highest inflation rate in the world. Prices in Argentina are rising faster than prices in Venezuela.
Miley is also attracting support from conservatives abroad. Last week, he spoke at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, where he said that unfettered capitalism is the only model for reducing poverty and that socialism, feminism and environmentalism threaten global progress by driving government regulation.
“You are heroes,” he told a crowd of participants in Davos. “You are the creators of the most extraordinary period of prosperity we have ever seen.”
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The speech went viral, and was promoted by various conservative and right-wing voices as a clear summary of what is wrong with modern society.
“Good explanation of what makes countries more or less prosperous,” Elon Musk said when sharing a video of the speech. Later, the billionaire posted an edited photo of a man watching Miley's speech while having sex, and the post has been viewed 113 million times.
A Brazilian politician later posted that she had played the speech to her unborn fetus in the womb, and former US President Donald Trump commented on his Social Truth platform, saying Miley was “making great progress” in his efforts to “make Argentina great again.” !
