President Milei is marching in the right direction. GIS
Published January 24, 2024
Argentina lost its once-impressive wealth due to decades of socialist-style government mismanagement. Its new president, a radical economist, could turn things around.
Javier Milei, Argentina’s new president and an economist, presented his free-market agenda at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. He urged global leaders to shift away from socialist, centralized and planned economies with bloated governments and again to embrace market-driven systems and transparent governance. His country’s unending drama underscores Mr. Milei’s radical reform argument.
Argentina was once among the world’s wealthiest nations and could be again. Now its economy is only the third largest in Latin America, far behind Brazil and Mexico. Decades of socialism and centralization – by both democratic and dictatorial regimes – have ruined the country and its society. In the past 50 years, Argentina went through repeated cycles of hyperinflation (defined as when the monthly inflation rate exceeds 50 percent) that rendered it bankrupt and dependent on repeated international bailouts.
The long stretches of socialist and corrupt rule, epitomized by the Kirchner presidential dynasty of Nestor (2003-2007) and Cristina (2007-2015; vice president until 2023), finally prompted voters to opt for radical change. The country has been sinking into another financial morass: inflation reached 25 percent in January and could be headed toward 200 percent by the end of this year. The poverty rate increased to some 40 percent of the population.
Mr. Milei’s election presents a genuine scenario for reversing Argentina’s direction and restoring prosperity through economic realignment.
The Milei cure
A self-declared anarcho-capitalist, he is, in reality, a free-market advocate who champions the power of the private sector, entrepreneurial initiatives, the vital benefits of competition and a streamlined government. Argentina desperately requires this remedy despite the initial discomfort. Its cost-of-living crisis is so acute, and the state’s finances are deteriorating so rapidly that a soft, gradual reform is not feasible. Argentines have little to lose at this point besides the privileges enjoyed by entrenched top officials and their cronies.
READ FULL ARTICLE
SOURCE: www.gisreportsonline.com
RELATED:Not one step back: National general strike in Argentina against Milei’s attacks on workers
Mobilization against Milei on December 27, 2023. Photo: CELS
Published January 24, 2024
Across Argentina millions are participating in a national general strike to protest the Milei government’s widespread attacks on people’s rights
On January 24, across Argentina, millions of workers are participating in a national general strike against the anti-workers laws pushed forward by far-right libertarian president, Javier Milei.
Since he was inaugurated on December 10, 2023, Milei has worked quickly to draft legislation which threatens the hard-fought for rights of the Argentine people.
In response, Argentina’s trade unions, social movements, and human rights organizations have been on the streets to reject these measures, and called for a national general strike for January 24. For the last several weeks, hundreds of trade unions, neighborhood associations, cultural groups, left groups, community kitchens, and social movements have been organizing local and neighborhood assemblies and meetings to mobilize for the strike.
The largest concentration will be in Buenos Aires, Argentina’s capital, where hundreds of thousands are expected to congregate in the center of the city outside Congress. Mobilizations are also scheduled in dozens of other cities across the country like Córdoba, Rosario, San Miguel de Tucumán, Mendoza, Mar del Plata, Bahía Blanca, and others. While basic essential services will not be disrupted by the strike, the majority of the economy and daily life is set to be paralyzed due to the massive industrial action.
Who is participating?
The January 24 national strike is historic, as it is the first time in recent history that the country’s three major labor confederations are uniting for a joint industrial action. The General Confederation of Labor (CGT), the Argentine Workers’ Central Union, and the Argentine Workers’ Central Union (Autonomous) together represent millions of workers and have all called on their affiliated unions to participate in the day of mobilization.
The confederations are made up of dozens of unions representing workers in education, construction, civil service, food processing, healthcare, mining and metalwork, restaurants, commercial transportation (truck drivers, shipping, etc.), public transportation (buses, subway, and provincial trains), state workers, auto industry, textile, real estate, commercial, acting, national companies, the courts, music industry, communications and technology, among others. In other words, nearly the totality of the Argentine working class.
READ FULL ARTICLE
SOURCE: www.peoplesdispatch.org
RELATED: Thousands of Argentinian workers expected to protest Milei’s budget cuts
Argentine President Javier Milei faces the first major challenge to his budget-slashing policies Wednesday as workers are expected to down tools in their thousands and take to the streets in protest.
Members of the Union of Construction Workers of Argentina (UOCRA) attend a protest against President Javier Milei’s economic reforms, December 27, 2023. © Agustin Marcarian, Reuters
Published January 24, 2024
The South American country’s biggest union, the CGT, with some seven million members, has vowed a massive mobilisation against Milei’s campaign of deregulation and economic reform, which many fear will leave them vulnerable to exploitation, and poorer.
They will be joined by other, smaller unions and civic groups, vowing to “not yield an inch of what has been achieved” in terms of labor and consumer protections, according to CGT leader Pablo Moyano.
Never before has a mass strike been called so soon into the term of a new Argentine government: just 45 days.
The government is not taking the challenge lying down.
It has set up an anonymous, toll-free line for people to report “threats and pressure” on workers to stay away from their jobs.
It has also said it will take a day of pay from each striking public servant and will hand unions the bill for Wednesday’s police deployment.
Milei took office in December after a campaign vowing to slash public spending.
Ten days after he came to power, Milei announced a set of sweeping reforms that lessened some worker protections, abolished a price ceiling on rent and lifted price controls on certain consumer goods.
Poverty levels in Latin America’s third-biggest economy are at 40 percent and the country is battling annual inflation exceeding 200 percent after decades of financial mismanagement.
READ FULL ARTICLE
SOURCE: www.france24.com
