President Javier Milei has hailed his government as \u201cthe best in Argentina\u2019s history\u201d and promised that inflation will be a thing of the past by the middle of next year.<\/p>\n
But the head of state\u2019s remarks \u2013 rather bold, given the nation\u2019s regular struggles with runaway price hikes \u2013 arrived as unions began to again ramp up pressure on the government and voice resistance to his \u201cchainsaw\u201d austerity cuts, which they say have left millions struggling to make ends meet.<\/p>\n
During a Wednesday speech to investors and economists at the EXPO EFI 2025 event in Buenos Aires, Milei, 54, assured that \u201cinflation has its sell-by date for the middle of next year and now is the time to think of growth.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have concluded the stage of stabilisation,\u201d he told the audience, while adding \u201cthat does not mean things are perfect.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Milei assured the crowd that Argentina\u2019s period of emergency lay in the past as he fired off enthusiastic praise for his administration\u2019s fiscal results.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He also hailed this month\u2019s partial removal of currency and capital controls, which have been in place since 2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe \u2018cepo<\/em>\u2019 is a monstrous tool because it does not permit those of you who want to save and influences the future,\u201d he maintained, using the word to refer to restrictions on the access of foreign currency.<\/p>\n The head of state also highlighted his recent US$20-billion agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), blasting \u2013 in coarse language \u2013 critics of his government who had forecast that he would never be able to pull it off.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Labour unrest<\/strong><\/p>\n Just hours after Milei spoke, union leaders led thousands of members onto the streets in protest at austerity measures.<\/p>\n Demonstrators on the eve of Labour Day in a mostly peaceful protest, with slogans against Milei\u2019s austerity policies more common than clashes. Nevertheless, the march ended with 14 arrests, according to local news agencies.<\/p>\n Carrying union banners, anti-austerity slogans\u00a0 and images of the late Pope Francis, the demonstrators marched in a protest organised by the CGT (Confederaci\u00f3n General del Trabajo) umbrella union grouping, Argentina\u2019s largest and most powerful labour federation.<\/p>\n The CGT issued a communiqu\u00e9 complaining that the government \u201cdoes not attend grievances, nor does it listen or engage in dialogue while implementing a grave austerity whose cost is being paid by workers and the unemployed with deteriorating incomes.\u201d<\/p>\n Hours after the march, the UTA transport union announced a bus strike for next Tuesday (May 6) following a breakdown in talks with firms and officials. The government has placed a one-percent monthly cap on collective wage bargaining with the aim of containing inflation, which accelerated to a monthly 3.7 percent in March, in the run-up to the October midterms.<\/p>\n Apart from the 14 arrests for allegedly provoking disturbances, the Security Ministry announced Wednesday that 29 buses transporting demonstrators had been held back \u201cfor infractions.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u2018Vaccum\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n At the CGT rally, Father Lorenzo \u2018Toto\u2019 de Vedia transmitted the support of the so-called slum priests known as \u201ccuras villeros<\/em>.\u201d Denouncing the \u201cindecent wages\u201d and \u201clack of jobs,\u201d the Catholic leader said that in low-income neighbourhoods \u201cthe vacuum left by the state is a space filled by narcos.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNobody can reach the end of the month,\u201d said Gisela, a cleaning lady who prefers not to give her surname at Wednesday\u2019s rally. \u201cThere is so much inequality.\u201d<\/p>\n Since taking office in December 2023, the Milei government\u2019s austerity has slashed public spending by 4.7 percent of the Gross Domestic Product, according to data published by the IARAF (Instituto Argentino de An\u00e1lisis Fiscal) thinktank last February.<\/p>\n This effort helped to lower annual inflation from 211 percent in 2023 to 118 percent the following year. Monthly consumer prices hikes are now running at between two and four percent.<\/p>\n In his EXPO EFI speech, Milei overlooked all this or any reference to the CGT rally, celebrating \u201ca 30-percent reduction in the size of the state.\u201d<\/p>\n In his speech, which was laden with insults for his enemies, he mocked those who \u201cweep over social questions.\u201d<\/p>\n Milei highlighted that \u201cwith the motosierra<\/em>,\u201d or chainsaw, his government has undertaken \u201cthe biggest adjustment in the history of humanity.\u201d<\/p>\n But political analyst Artemio L\u00f3pez sees \u201cthe social situation in Argentina as critical,\u201d saying: \u201cThe distribution of income is the worst in the last 20 years.\u201d<\/p>\n The same Wednesday afternoon pensioner organisations staged a new protest outside Congress, snarling traffic in the area.\u00a0<\/p>\n The protest was escorted by Border Guard and Federal Police officers to ensure that Security Minister Patricia Bullrich\u2019s \u201canti-picket\u201d protocol was heeded.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u2013 TIMES\/NA\/AFP<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\nrelated news<\/h6>\n<\/p>\n<\/section>\n