Milei Wants to Double Again

Argentina is not a blockaded country, nor is it on any list of nations sponsoring terrorism. On the contrary, it enjoys the acquiescence and support of an imperialism that opens the doors to money from the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, regardless of the fact that it’s in debt for life and has to pay by surrendering national sovereignty, something that no one can doubt about the current president, Javier Milei.

Argentina is one of the largest food producers in the world. It produces 10 times more food than it needs and still suffers from hunger.

The world's third-largest producer of honey, soybeans, garlic, and lemons; the fourth-largest producer of pears, corn, and meat; the fifth-largest producer of apples; the seventh-largest producer of wheat and oils; and the eighth-largest producer of peanuts. Yes, Argentina produces a lot of food. And yet, millions of Argentines suffer from hunger.

According to an official figure that many Argentines know by heart, Argentina produces enough food to supply almost 440 million people. And its population, according to several studies, barely exceeds 44 million.

Under Javier Milei, all poverty records have been shattered, but the aforementioned man has already boasted that he has managed to lower inflation and the prices of various products, so that poverty, which once plagued 52.9% of Argentines, is now "only" 38.4%.

It's difficult to know how many of the estimated 15 million poor people in Argentina suffer from hunger; the two variables don't necessarily go hand in hand. Some studies raise the figure as high as seven million people.

Soup kitchens are a symbol in Argentina. Many, especially in the interior, depend on them. But experts say that this is not enough and does not solve the underlying problem, especially when the current government subsidizes nothing and closes the soup kitchens.

But again: no country on this continent boasts of being, or having been, "the breadbasket of the world" like Argentina.

So what's going on? Where does all that food go? Why doesn't it reach the most vulnerable?

Several experts agreed in conversation with BBC Mundo that hunger in Argentina is not due to food shortages, but rather to a lack of income, unequal distribution of wealth, or a lack of generosity.

Although there are countries with greater inequality than Argentina, its economy is one of the most fragile in the region, ravaged by years of uncertain state policies that have ended in traumatic periods of inflation, devaluation, and recession.

Today, much of the production, especially grains, is exported, but there are also other items like meat, wine, and wheat, most of which remain and supply the local market.

Miley blames the governments of Alberto Fernández and Cristina Fernández and doesn't mention Mauricio Macri, who indebted his country for life and whose steps he follows in this nonsense, sanctified in both cases by Donald Trump during his various terms in office.

While Milei and his followers—embracing the libertarian doctrine—repeat that the path to recovery lies in converting public companies into private ones, and that the path of economic freedom and fiscal responsibility is the only way to eliminate poverty, Jorge Tapiales, who subsists by scavenging garbage in the suburbs of Buenos Aires, told a journalist from Página 12 that "there’s great hunger; more and more people are dumpster diving here, gathering (food)."

REPEAT?

Javier Milei wants to be reelected in 2027 and would already have a successor in place by 2031.

According to the website Cenital, Milei told his close associates that after running for reelection in 2027, he plans for his successor in 2031 to be none other than Agustín Laje, the detractor of feminism.

Weary of the domestic conflicts between Victoria Villarruel and Karina Milei, the president is reportedly studying possible candidates for his successor.

One of the names Milei dreams of is that of writer, who is one of his intellectual mentors and who took him around the world a few years before he was elected national deputy in 2021.

Agustín Laje is a far-right influencer, writer, and analyst. He fervently opposes the LGBT movement, maintains that homosexuality is a disease, and vindicates the actions of the last military dictatorship.

Among his published books are The Black Book of the New Left (2016), The Cultural Battle (2022), and Idiot Generation: A Critique of Adolescence (2023).

Milei will attempt to give Laje prominence by placing him as his running mate in the 2027 elections. Those within the presidential circle highly value the writer's intelligence, but consider his low-level knowledge of male adolescents.

Translated by Amilkal Labañino / Cubasi Translation Staff