"Javier Milei is amazing, said the CEO of the private company he calls Reform. Cutting and slashing doing all the things he's done that's leadership. You may know some of this story, about how a political outsider took power in Argentina. You've seen photos of El Loco, the self-styled madman, in a black leather jacket, with sideburns like hedges and wielding a giant red chainsaw all the better to slash the public sector with."
"Taking over Latin America's second-largest country made Milei the poster boy of the international hard right. Elon Musk: I love Javier Milei. Kemi Badenoch: Javier Milei is the template. Donald Trump: My favourite president. In office, he was lionised by Wall Street and the international commentariat. Milei's economy was declared by no lesser sage than Niall Ferguson as a man-made miracle."
"Yet over the past few weeks, Argentina has gone into freefall. Investors have yanked billions out of the country, and the peso has dropped like a stone. A few days ago Trump was forced to pledge $20bn (15bn) to prop up his friend, in addition to a rescue loan from the IMF. Later this month, Milei faces midterm elections that will serve as a referendum on his presidency and the results are expected to be bad."
Javier Milei rose from outsider to Argentina's president by promising sweeping cuts to the public sector and radical free-market reforms. His theatrical image and combative rhetoric attracted praise from international figures and investors, with some commentators hailing his policies as transformative and miraculous. Early enthusiasm translated into high-profile endorsements and investor interest. In recent weeks the economy deteriorated sharply: investors withdrew billions, the peso plunged, emergency financial pledges were required and an IMF loan was arranged. The government now faces punitive midterm elections amid waning international support and mounting domestic economic distress.
Read at www.theguardian.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]