{"id":481387,"date":"2025-10-07T22:49:11","date_gmt":"2025-10-07T22:49:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/481387\/"},"modified":"2025-10-07T22:49:11","modified_gmt":"2025-10-07T22:49:11","slug":"burning-down-the-house-milei-plays-rock-star-as-argentina-economy-crashes-javier-milei","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/481387\/","title":{"rendered":"Burning down the house: Milei plays rock star as Argentina economy crashes | Javier Milei"},"content":{"rendered":"

Argentina\u2019s \u201crock star president\u201d Javier Milei<\/a> has been struggling to get much satisfaction of late, as his pledge to lead the country into a new era of prosperity foundered amid a wave of economic strife, scandal and public discontent<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But on Monday night the scruffy-haired South American populist \u2013 the former frontman in a Rolling Stones tribute band \u2013 took to the stage in Buenos Aires hoping to sing his way out of the funk.<\/p>\n

\u201cOl\u00e9, ol\u00e9, ol\u00e9, ol\u00e9! Milei! Milei!\u201d thousands of diehard supporters chanted as the 54-year-old libertarian kicked off a concert at the city\u2019s Movistar Arena \u2013 a 15,000-seat venue which has previously hosted rockers including Liam Gallagher, Judas Priest and Megadeth.<\/p>\n

Milei basked in the adulation, throwing his leather-clad arms into the air, and took a sip of water before proceeding with his nine-track set of mostly 1980s rock anthems. \u201cI\u2019m human,\u201d he told the packed stadium. \u201cIt might not seem like it, but I am.\u201d<\/p>\n

Milei won power<\/a> almost two years ago, vowing to save his country\u2019s notoriously haywire economy by \u201cexterminating\u201d inflation and taking a metaphorical chainsaw to state spending. \u201cJust as the fall of the Berlin Wall marked the end of a tragic era for the world, these elections represent a tipping point in our history,\u201d the Mick Jagger-impersonating crooner-turned-politician declared<\/a> as he took office in December 2023.<\/p>\n

For a while Milei\u2019s ferocious austerity campaign appeared to be working \u2013 for some people at least<\/a> \u2013 with the president\u2019s success in taming triple-digit inflation drawing international plaudits.<\/p>\n

Donald Trump<\/a> celebrated Milei\u2019s quest to \u201cMake Argentina Great Again\u201d. The Tory party leader, Kemi Badenoch, said she hoped to become a British version of Argentina\u2019s president. The conservative historian Niall Ferguson flew to Buenos Aires to interview Argentina\u2019s president and celebrate the \u201cstunning recovery\u201d his \u201cshock therapy\u201d had produced.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith his shaggy sideburns and loopy facial expressions, there is more than a hint of the Mad Hatter about him,\u201d Ferguson wrote<\/a> in July. \u201c[But] Milei is delivering a man-made miracle that should gladden the heart of every classical economist and quicken the pulse of all political libertarians.\u201d<\/p>\n

In recent weeks, however, the wheels appear to have come off Milei\u2019s revolution. Doubts over his political future have spooked markets and triggered a sharp sell-off of Argentina\u2019s currency, the peso, with the government depleting its scarce international reserves in order to contain that run.<\/p>\n

In August, Milei was pelted with stones<\/a> by protesters amid growing public anger over a corruption scandal involving one of the most powerful people in his administration: his sister and chief of staff, Karina Milei.<\/p>\n

In September, Milei\u2019s La Libertad Avanza party suffered a humiliating defeat in the provincial election in Buenos Aires<\/a> \u2013 where nearly 40% of Argentina\u2019s population lives \u2013 and there are fears among Mileistas that their candidates could receive a similar drubbing in nationwide midterms at the end of this month.<\/p>\n

On Sunday, a close Milei ally, Jos\u00e9 Luis Espert, was forced to pull out of that election after he was forced to admit that he had received a $200,000 payment from an alleged drug trafficker.<\/p>\n

\u201c[Milei] is in a deep crisis: of governance, of the presidency itself, of popular support, of his ability to connect with young people,\u201d said Sebasti\u00e1n Lacunza, the journalist who broke that scandal.<\/p>\n

Lacunza said he believed support was rapidly draining away from Milei as a result of questions over his ethics, as well as the human consequences of his drastic spending cuts<\/a>. \u201cThe \u2018chainsaw\u2019 cuts have hit sensitive areas: pensioners\u2019 incomes, top public paediatric hospitals, universities and households facing soaring costs for utilities and food.\u201d<\/p>\n

The crisis is so severe that last month Trump stepped in with an emergency bailout of up to $20bn, with the US president declaring: \u201cWe\u2019re backing him 100% \u2013 we think he\u2019s doing a fantastic job.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even Milei loyalists who flocked to Monday\u2019s show admitted Argentina was in dire straits. \u201cThe country is a shambles. We\u2019re not going to say it\u2019s great \u2013 it\u2019s a shambles,\u201d said Oscar Luis Osorio, a 54-year-old shopkeeper who came dressed as a lion.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut we have to wait,\u201d Osorio added, pointing out that Milei was less than halfway through his four-year term.<\/p>\n

Emanuel Lacuadra, a 27-year-old gig worker and student, shrugged off the Espert scandal. \u201cI support the government almost unconditionally. There are many in the opposition who will try everything to bring it down, but for my part, I\u2019ll always support it,\u201d Lacuadra said, calling Milei\u2019s presidency \u201ca historic, unique moment \u2013 not only for Argentina but for the world\u201d.<\/p>\n

Analysts paint a far less rosy picture of Milei\u2019s predicament as he nears the start of his third year in power.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would describe him as a president in economic, political and social default,\u201d said Paola Zuban, a political scientist and co-director of the polling firm Zuban C\u00f3rdoba.<\/p>\n

Zuban recalled how Milei won power in 2023 promising not only an economic revolution, but a moral one too, with his pledges to combat deceitful elites he called \u201cla casta\u201d (the caste). That message had been severely undermined by the recent scandals involving his close allies.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith these corruption scandals, that moral bond has been broken. Expectations have fallen, trust has eroded, and that\u2019s what has triggered this major crisis the government is facing today \u2013 one I believe it has little chance of recovering from,\u201d Zuban said.<\/p>\n

Facundo Nejamkis, the director of the consulting firm Opina Argentina, described \u201ca growing dissonance between how the government presents itself and the reality people live\u201d. \u201cThe government talked about a \u2018miracle\u2019 that no Argentine can see in their daily life,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Nejamkis saw Monday\u2019s concert as an attempt to revive Milei\u2019s faltering movement. But outside the area, even fervent Milei supporters wondered whether it was a wise move, given the headwinds buffeting their cause.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt seems ill-timed, at the very least,\u201d said one prominent pro-Milei activist, who asked not to be named.<\/p>\n

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