Ich bin Catherine Osborn, Autorin des Newsletters „Latin America Brief“ von Foreign Policy. Argentinien hat gerade einen libertären Präsidenten ins Amt eingeführt: Javier Milei, ein Bewunderer von Donald Trump, der verspricht, die regionalen Beziehungen aufzurütteln. Frag mich was.

15 comments

1. What is there to admire about Donald Trump ?

   The man is a plague on humanity.

2. How does Milei’s election impact the wider region, are more countries likely to pivot to the right or is he likely to remain isolated among a sea of left wing governments in south America?

   Which countries both in the region and around the world are likely to see him as a potential partner in regional/global affairs?

3. Milei expressed support for Ukraine as it is being invaded by Russia.

   Is Argentina acting any differently towards Ukraine or Russia so far, and is this likely to change?

4. Are there institutional checks and balances to hold President Milei accountable? If so, are these institutions strong enough, in your opinion, to hold up against potential authoritarian conduct by President Milei? (Apologies in advance for my ignorance of Argentina’s system of government).

5. Do you think Milei will touch upon the Falklands issue or leave it alone during his tenure as president?

6. PSA: Today’s guest will be answering questions starting at 1 p.m. ET (18:00 UTC).

7. He seems to be friendly with Bolsonaro , but does he have any real influence in Brazil to try to reinstate Bolsonaro’s presidency next election? Or is it more likely to entrench Lula de Silva?

8. The people voted for this man because the opponent was the one who was already trying to deal with the economy and failed.

   I see a lot of people acting fearful or surprised Milei won, but is this just the usual fear mongering?

9. If you look at South American history with the CIA and western financial instruments, one can argue a long held blueprint is to try to get right wing “deregulation” candidates into power, which then serves two purposes… fighting communism, and allowing western corporations and influence to permeate, influence, invest in, and profit from(or exploit, depending on your POV) said countries.

   Milei has spoken about ditching the local currency in favor of the USD, doing massive deregulation, as well as wanting to partner with the IMF(who, as a part of their loans often requires many of the same deregulations and austerity measures Milei has volunteered to do already).

   Wondering if domestically many people view him as an instrument of the IMF/CIA. I cannot imagine nobody has tried to paint him as such. Have you looked into this connection at all, or do you have an opinion on it? Obviously Milei doesn’t just by chance happen to have the same policies the IMF forces for its loans it would seem.

   Is this a case of “we have a choice between socialists who will bankrupt the country, or the IMF/CIA who will exploit it” to many citizens? That is what it looks like to me from the outside. Seems many South American countries repeatedly vacillate between boom/bust socialism(or more left leaning government/economy if not socialism)eventually causing economic collapse, then the IMf gives loans with austerity/deregulation, causing exploitation and wealth inequality, which then gives birth to socialism, and the cycle repeats ad infinity.

   Wondering what you, someone much more involved in the minutiae and domestic/regional sentiment think.

10. How tough you predict will be Javier Milei’s relationship with the Argentinian congress?

11. Milei’s VP, Victoria Villarruel, is a noted apologist for the 1976-83 military junta’s repression of dissidents, characterizing it as an act of legitimate national defence. Has the Milei administration signalled how they will approach the issue of human rights accountability and memory politics of the junta era? What can Argentine and international civil society do to ensure historical records and commemorations do not get distorted by Villarruel and others?

12. How high will be inflation in Argentina in the near future?

13. When Milei talks about ‘shock therapy’ for the Argentine economy, does he mean something like what Gaidar and Chubai carried out for Yelstin in the 1990s?

    Has he ever been clear about what he means?

14. What is your perspective on the current China Argentina relationship, especially to that of the [Belt and Road Initiative](https://thediplomat.com/2023/11/argentina-and-brazils-divergent-approaches-to-chinas-belt-and-road/) and the prospect of that being ruptured given that Milei intends to move more towards a more [Porteno](https://www.britannica.com/topic/porteno) mindset in terms of culture and policy?

15. I live in Canada 🇨🇦.I hear Argentina 🇦🇷 mentioned at times about how the economy can crumble so rapidly. How did Argentina go from being one of the most prosperous countries in the world to what it is now ?