The Misery of a Wreckless Man: Javier Milei

Last Monday, June 30, Argentine President Javier Milei announced a 10% cut in the health care budget. He indicated that this path will be followed by other social services. He called for continued repression against the thousands of people who, for the first time in decades, are sleeping on the streets—more than 4,500 in Buenos Aires alone, the capital.

The long-haired president, always associated with the worst (Trump, Netanyahu, Bolsonaro, etc.), had recently proclaimed that he “helped 20 million Argentines escape poverty,” with his plans to exterminate public services. In favor of the private sector, ignoring the fact that the record number of unemployment benefits was reached due to its policy of abandoning the most needy and attacking the majority middle class.

Its plan against healthcare comes at a time when, for example, tuberculosis has increased by 38% and is unstoppable due to the lack of vaccination, timely diagnosis, and adequate treatment.

The truth is that, although it doesn't have the connotation of the beginning of the year, the explosive rise of people living on the streets since Javier Milei took office has turned cities like Buenos Aires, which boasted of its resemblance to European cities, into just another Third World capital.

In the major Latin American cities, the wealthy neighborhoods of the Creole oligarchies have always contrasted with the misery experienced on their streets. Buenos Aires seemed like an exception in this story. Argentina's capital was always portrayed as a parallel to the great European cities, and poverty was displaced to the outskirts, outside the historic center and traditional neighborhoods.

A significant number of middle-class neighborhoods also made this possible, but today, marginalization invades every street in downtown Buenos Aires. Therefore, the police, effective in their repression, have been very active in expelling those sleeping on the sidewalks of the main avenues, even in the neighborhoods in the northern part of the city, traditionally the most affluent.

The economic crisis, exacerbated by the arrival of Javier Milei to the government, has explosively increased the number of people living on the streets, as the homeless are euphemistically called. This increases the workload of the military, which is also tasked with arresting members of organizations who come with blankets and some food to help those abandoned by the State.

Lately, we've begun to see an increase in unaccompanied children and adolescents living alone on the streets, as in Fito Páez's classic song "11 and 6."
Horacio Ávila of the Proyecto 7 organization, which has been working on housing issues for 20 years, stated in an interview with the newspaper Página 12: "We anticipated this would happen at the beginning of Milei's administration, when he signed the decree that deregulated rents. The increase in all prices, the worsening of poverty and homelessness are having these consequences."

In this context, the Central Bank reported a deficit in May and June, and travel abroad largely accounted for the loss in the trade account, as nearly $2.8 billion was consumed above revenue. Few provinces reported significant income from tourism, where the absence of millions of Brazilians is felt.

WHAT'S LOOMING AHEAD

Last Tuesday, July 1st, saw the increase in agricultural taxes, even higher than those in effect before the temporary reduction. Soybeans had a 31% tax rate before the reduction, but it's now being raised to 33%. Therefore, the liaison table announced that they WILL NOT LIQUIDATE exports until at least November.

With the above data, the IMF would have to grant a triple waiver and sever relations from here on, resulting in a sharp decline in this financial plan.

On the street, there’s a country risk that remains at around 700 basis points, and pressure on the exchange rate, including cryptocurrencies, is mounting, and it’s suspected that the drop in reserves is also partly due to the "helping hands" system being implemented with companies owned by the administration's relatives. But above all, with the working population deeply in debt, empty credit cards, and the increase in late payments as a result of having dollarized public services and not salaries, as promised in their election campaign.

CRISTINA, A WHIP

Meanwhile celebrating the house arrest of former president Cristina Fernández, the victim of a judicial farce, the Peronist leader lashed out at the long-haired man from all sides, pointing out the flaws in his debt policy, understanding that economic management "is heading towards a dead end: you no longer have to adjust."

She emphasized the outflow of dollars and the decline in reserves.

"In 45 days, $4 billion, a third of the IMF loan, vanished," warning him that "you're keeping money that belongs to the provinces. You have half of Argentina that can't make ends meet and goes into debt to eat, and up front, the numbers don't add up. Not even in dollars."

He then continued: "From what we saw in last week's debt auction, not even in pesos. You had to pay a rate above inflation, and 42% didn't renew your loan. Will the carry trade begin to flee?" From there, he said that "they can lock me up and ban me, but the economic model of structural debt, flat wages, and dollars as always is going to fail. We've already experienced it."

Che Milei, "economist expert in growth with and without money"... You can scream like a madman, swear in Aramaic, and threaten to put "everyone in jail"... but brother... THE DOLLARS LEAVE AND THE INVESTMENTS DON'T ARRIVE... And you, being a Bilardista, know very well what the RESULT IS...

The media outlet Ámbito further broke down Cristina's arguments by listing a series of observations: "In May, the non-financial private sector took $3.226 billion abroad, a record since 2003 and higher than the monthly average for 2018 and 2019 when the debt taken on by your minister Toto Caputo, in his Macri version, exploded in the mafia-style right-wing government," was the first of them.

In his second point, he stated: "If we add that the same sector took $5.247 billion in April, dollars, that is, in 45 days, they took 44% of the 12 billion dollars the IMF gave you in April. Much more than what I had said on June 18th in the Plaza."

"Do you still think that those who took the dollars abroad "were heroes against the caste"? he asked, adding: "Look, now you're the President, and they keep taking it anyway." "The 25.921 billion dollars accumulated in the trade balance between December 2023 and May 2025 went through outbound tourism (10.476 billion USD) and debt interest payments (15.737 billion USD). They weren't even enough to cover both items, and you're down 292 million USD."

Another of his analyses criticized the fact that "foreign direct investment since you became president has a negative balance of $1.5 billion. Your RIGI, "the best president in history," is a failure." He asked, "Do you really still think that Argentina's problem is only the public sector?"

He also referred to her recent statements at an event where he admitted, "I'm cruel, you filthy kukas," to which the former president responded:

"WE ALREADY KNOW YOU'RE CRUEL. WHAT WE CAN'T BE, BROTHER, IS STUPID AND NOT REALIZING THAT YOU'RE HEADING UP A DEAD END."

Translated by Amilkal Labañino / CubaSi Translation Staff