Presidency of Javier Milei
Argentine presidency since 2023 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Javier Milei's tenure as the 59th president of Argentina began with his inauguration on 10 December 2023. Milei, a member of La Libertad Avanza, took office after defeating then-economy minister Sergio Massa in the 2023 general election. His administration began during deep economic turmoil as part of the ongoing Argentine monetary crisis, with annual inflation surpassing 100% in the months prior to his inauguration.
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| Presidency of Javier Milei 10 December 2023 – present | |
Javier Milei | |
Vice President | |
| Party |
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| Election | 2023 |
| Seat | |
 Standard of the President | |
Described along right-wing populist and right-wing libertarian lines, Milei pursued deregulation policies to alleviate the national economic crisis. He eliminated several government ministries within his first months in office, achieving a budget surplus for the first time since 2011. On foreign affairs, the Milei administration distanced itself from left-wing governments such as those of Venezuela and Cuba, favouring closer ties with Israel amid the Gaza war and Ukraine during the Russo–Ukrainian War.
2023 presidential campaign and election
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On 11 April 2022, Milei announced his candidacy in an interview with Clarín.[1] Milei chose Victoria Villarruel, a National Deputy for the conservative Democratic Party, as his running mate. Villarruel, a veteran's advocate and signer of the Madrid Charter, has been accused of historical revisionism in regards to the Dirty War in the form of Argentine state terrorism denial.[2][3]
Over the election, Milei steadily rose in the polls for his right-wing libertarian and right-wing populist views, as inflation increased above 100%.[4] During the August 2023 PASO primary, Milei emerged as the leading candidate with 29.86% of the vote.[5] Milei then advanced to the first round where he achieved second place on 22 October against Sergio Massa, the Minister of Economy who represented the incumbent Union for the Homeland coalition, with both advancing to a second round on 19 November.[6]
For the runoff, Milei was endorsed by former president Mauricio Macri and third-place candidate Patricia Bullrich, both members of the Juntos por el Cambio coalition.[7][8] Milei remained technically tied in polls with Massa but emerged the victor on 19 November by 10 points in a rejection of the establishment Peronists.[9] His victory was likened to that of Donald Trump in the United States and Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil.[10][11]
Transition period and inauguration
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Soon after his victory, Milei began selecting the members of his cabinet. On 21 November 2023, he met with outgoing president Alberto Fernández at the Quinta de Olivos, beginning his presidential transition.[12] On 25 November, he and Vice President-elect Villaruel received a rosary from Pope Francis.[13] At the same time, he had phone calls with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol, and IMF director Kristalina Georgieva.[13] Later that month, he travelled to the United States, where he visited the tomb of rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson and met with former US president Bill Clinton and former senator Chris Dodd.[14][15]
Milei was inaugurated on 10 December 2023. He delivered a speech to the Argentine nation,[16][17] warning of an economic shock, which has been described as shock therapy in economic terms, to be used as a means to fix Argentina's economic woes,[18][19][20] with inflation rising to 200 percent.[21] Following the inauguration, Milei saw his popularity increase in public opinion. After the first governmental and economic reforms taken by the president and his ministers, 53% of the Argentine people had a very good or good image of the new head of state according to a popularity poll made by Aresco on 15 December.[22]
La Libertad Avanza seeks to become an official party in preparation of the midterm 2025 Argentine legislative election.[23]
Cabinet
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Milei's cabinet took office on 10 December 2023. After the remaining officials from Alberto Fernández's presidency resigned, Milei began his nominations for those responsible for the existing portfolios. His cabinet mostly included ministers from La Libertad Avanza and Juntos por el Cambio.[24][25][26]
Upon taking office as president, Milei signed various decrees related to his cabinet members and ministries. He successively named Nicolás Posse as Cabinet Chief, Guillermo Francos as Minister of the Interior, Diana Mondino as Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Worship, Luis Petri as Minister of Defence, Luis Caputo as Minister of the Economy, Patricia Bullrich as Minister of Security and Mario Russo as Minister of Health. On 10 December, with his 8th decree (the first as president of Argentina), he modified the law and reduced the existing 19 government ministries to nine.[27] President Milei then nominated Mariano Cúneo Libarona as Minister of Justice. As planned in his presidential campaign, he created the ministries of Infrastructure and Human Capital and appointed Guillermo Ferraro and Sandra Pettovello to lead them.[28] In order to name his sister Karina Milei as General Secretariat of the Presidency, he removed the impediment that former president Mauricio Macri signed that would have dictated to designate relatives in the state.[28]
Dissolved ministries (dissolved on 10 December 2023)
- Ministry of Transport (merged into Ministry of Infrastructure, now part of Ministry of Economy as of 9 February 2024)
- Ministry of Social Development (merged into Ministry of Human Capital)
- Ministry of Education (merged into Ministry of Human Capital)
- Ministry of Public Works (merged into Ministry of Infrastructure, now part of Ministry of Economy as of 9 February 2024)
- Ministry of Women, Genders and Diversity (merged into Ministry of Human Capital)
- Ministry of Culture (merged into Ministry of Human Capital)
- Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (merged into Chief of the Cabinet of Ministers)
- Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security (merged into Ministry of Human Capital)
- Ministry of the Environment and Sustainable Development (merged into Ministry of Interior)
- Ministry of Tourism and Sports (merged into Ministry of Interior)
- Ministry of Territorial Development and Habitat (merged into Ministry of Infrastructure, now part of Ministry of Economy as of February 9, 2024)
Current ministries
Presidential secretariats
| Portfolio | Secretary | Party | Coalition | Start | End | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| General Secretariat | Karina Milei | LLA | LLA | 10 December 2023 | — | ||
| Legal and Technical Secretariat | Javier Herrera Bravo | PRO | JxC | 10 December 2023 | — | ||
| Communications and Press Secretariat | Belén Stettler | Independent | 10 December 2023 | — | |||
| Interior | Lisandro Catalán | Independent | 27 May 2024 | — | |||
Domestic policy
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| This article needs to be updated. The reason given is: Needs events post-January. (December 2024) |
On 21 December 2023, Milei announced a large decree that become known in the media as "Megadecreto", a plan to modify a wide variety of economic regulations regarding the Argentine economy. In a statement saying that he aims to lay "the foundations for the reconstruction of the Argentine economy and restore freedom and autonomy to individuals, removing the State from their shoulders",[31] more than 300 regulations were set aside, including significant rent and labour market regulations.[32] The decree is subject to approval by Congress, which was called for an extraordinary session to be held in the first months of 2024.[33]
The Milei government said it would not renew contracts for the more than 5000 public sector employees who were hired in 2023, while contracts for other government employees hired prior to 2023 will be reviewed. "The 2023 cutoff is apparently meant to target the practice of outgoing presidents padding the payrolls in their final year".[34] Annual inflation stood at 211% when Milei took office in December 2023,[35][36] and reached a peak of 289% in April 2024[37] before falling below 200% for the first time in a year in October 2024.[38] Monthly inflation has come down from 25% in December 2023 to 8.8% in April 2024, more than expected,[39][40][41] further dropping to 2.4% by February 2025, the lowest it had been in four years.[42]
On 10 January 2024, the IMF agreed to restart payouts to the Argentine treasury. Trade unions in Argentina have opposed Milei's policies, and the CGT called for a general strike on 24 January 2024. Milei has aimed to build up the central bank's foreign-exchange reserves by raising import and export taxes.[43]
In an interview published on 31 March 2024, Milei emphasised his continued plans to dollarise the economy, but saying that the plans are delayed to after the 2025 Argentine legislative election.[44]
During the first six months of his presidency, poverty rates increased from 41.7% to 52.9%, briefly peaking at 57.4% in the end of January 2024.[45] By the end of 2024 the government estimated that poverty would be near 38.9%, below the 41.4% left by the government of Alberto Fernández.[46] Conversely, the poverty rate in the third quarter is estimated at 49.9% by the Catholic University of Argentina, and 36.8% by the Torcuato Di Tella University.[47][48] By the second semester of 2024, poverty levels have fallen sharply to 38%, the lowest since 2022.[42]
Foreign policy
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On 10 December, economist and economics academic Diana Mondino was formally appointed as Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Worship.[49]
Americas
Milei's government decided to suspend diplomatic relations with Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. After his inauguration, Milei ordered that Argentina would not send ambassadors to any of those three countries, which Milei has previously labelled as dictatorships.[50] Relations with Venezuela have deteriorated rapidly under the presidency of Milei with the Argentine Embassy in Venezuela twice falling under siege during the Venezuelan post-electoral crisis.
In January 2024, Argentina offered military assistance to Ecuador in its conflict with organised crime. On 13 January, Ecuadorian president Daniel Noboa accepted Argentina's (and the US's) military aid.[51]
On 25 January 2024, Colombia summoned its ambassador in Argentina to protest recent comments by Javier Milei, where Milei called Colombian president Gustavo Petro a "murderous communist who is sinking Colombia".[52] The Colombian ambassador labelled Milei as a "hypocrite" and condemned his comments.[53]
Durings his tenure, Milei has had two non-official visits to Spain and one to Chile.[54][55] In these visits where he participated in private events, he took occasion to criticise the prime minister of Spain Pedro Sánchez and the president of Chile Gabriel Boric.[54][55]
China
During the campaign for the 2023 elections said that he would not make deals with China, because of his rejection to communism and his support to freedom and democracy. However, once in government there were no diplomatic conflicts with China. The renewal of the swaps, the soy trade, the joint building of the Jorge Cepernic and Néstor Kirchner dams, and the negotiations with the IMF led to cordial relations between both countries.[56]
Milei's Foreign Minister, Diana Mondino, confirmed that Argentina rejected its invitation to join the BRICS group of nations, and that the country had instead chosen to sign its membership request to OECD.[57]
Middle East
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On 12 December 2023, Argentina changed its position before the United Nations in regard to the ongoing Gaza war. Argentina, which had voted in favor of a ceasefire in the General Assembly Resolution ES-10/21, switched to abstaining in the Resolution ES-10/22. Analysts said the move showed a clearer support for Israel from Milei.[58] On 14 January 2024, on the occasion of the hundredth day of war between Israel and Hamas, Milei expressed solidarity with the government and people of Israel, further adding that Argentina "endorses Israel's right to legitimate defence".[59] On 5 February 2024, he commenced his inaugural state visit to Israel as president. There, Milei met with President of Israel Isaac Herzog and Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu, to whom he confirmed Argentina's embassy in Israel will move from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.[60]
In June 2024, Milei received the ILAN Award for Political Innovation, presented by Isaac Assa, president of the Israel Latin American Network (ILAN).[61][62]
Russo-Ukrainian War
Milei met with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Buenos Aires on 10 December 2023. On 16 December, Milei's government announced through the Air Force, that it would donate two Russian-made Mil Mi-17 military helicopters to Ukraine.[63]
European Union
On 22 June 2024, Milei met with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Milei and Scholz voiced support for the European Union–Mercosur free trade agreement.[64] Two days later, Milei visited Czechia and was greeted by Czech president Petr Pavel and prime minister Petr Fiala.[65]
Approval ratings
Despite relatively high approval ratings during his early tenure, his ratings began to fall sharply in September 2024, with a report from Torcuato di Tella University reporting that a 55.2% of the population has a neutral to negative opinion on the administration.[66][67]
March 2025 polls conducted by AtlasIntel indicated 48.9% disapproval and 46.5% approval rating for the Milei presidency.[68]
$Libra cryptocurrency scandal
In February 2025, opposition politicians in Congress called for an impeachment trial of Milei after he promoted the $Libra cryptocurrency which then suffered a disastrous price drop shortly afterward. Commentators said it could have been a rug pull.[69][70] The presidential office announced that the Anti-Corruption Office would open an investigation to determine if there was "improper conduct" by anyone, "including the president himself".[71][72]
Notes
References
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