Argentina: after day of protests, Milei makes a statement and announces economic measures

The president of Argentina, Javier Milei, announced this Wednesday (20) a series of changes in the country’s economy. In a speech on national television after a day of protests in the capital Buenos Aires, Milei addressed what he called a shock stabilization plan.

“Today we formally begin the path of reconstruction,” said the Argentine president, alongside his 12 ministers of state.

Before announcing his plan, Milei criticized past governments, politicians and what he called the “Argentine collectivist society”.

“In clear opposition to the spirit of our liberal Constitution which intended to limit the arbitrary power of the State in defense of the life, liberty and property of individuals, during the last 100 years politicians have sought to expand the power of the State to the detriment of law-abiding Argentines” , said Milei.

“This expansion of the State was accompanied by the greatest destruction of wealth in our country,” he added.

At the end of the speech, Milei announced 30 economic measures for the country.

Measures announced

These are the measures and explanations announced by Milei:

1. Repeal of the Rent Law: so that the real estate market “returns to functioning smoothly and the process is less complicated”;

2. Repeal of the Supply Law: so that the State “never again attacks the property rights of individuals”

3. Repeal of the Gondola Law: aims to make the State “stop getting involved in the decisions of Argentine traders”

4. Repeal of the National Purchasing Law, which, according to Milei, only benefits “certain people in power”

5. Revocation of the Ministry of Economy’s Price Observatory: aims to “avoid persecution of companies”

6. Repeal of the Industrial Promotion Law

7. Repeal of the Trade Promotion Law

8. Repeal of regulations preventing the privatization of public companies

9. Repeal of the state companies regime

10. Transformation of all State companies into public limited companies for their subsequent privatization

11. Modernization of the work regime to facilitate the job generation process

12. Reform of the Customs Code, to facilitate international trade

13. Repeal of the Land Law to promote investments

14. Modification of the Fire Fighting Law

15. Revocation of sugar mills’ obligations regarding production

16. Release of the legal regime applicable to the wine sector

17. Revocation of the national mining trading system and the Mining Information Bank

18. Authorization to transfer the total or partial share package of Argentine airlines

19. Implementation of the open skies policy

20. Modification of the Civil and Commercial Code to reinforce the principle of contractual freedom between the parties

21. Modification of the Civil and Commercial Code to ensure that contractual obligations in foreign currency must be paid in the agreed currency

22. Modification of the regulatory framework for medicines and prepaid social works

23. Elimination of pricing restrictions in the prepaid industry

24. Incorporation of prepaid medicine companies into the social works regime

25. Establishment of electronic prescription to speed up service and minimize costs

26. Modifications to the pharmaceutical company regime to promote competition and reduce costs

27. Modification of the Corporations Law, so that football clubs can become corporations if they so wish

28. Deregulation of satellite Internet services

29. Deregulation of the tourism sector by eliminating the travel agency monopoly

30. Incorporation of digital tools for automotive registration procedures

Protests

Throughout Wednesday, thousands of protesters took to the streets of Buenos Aires to protest against President Javier Milei. The march took place even after the government promised a series of punishments against anyone who tried to block the country’s streets.

The demonstration ended in Plaza de Mayo, the main square in the center of Buenos Aires, at approximately 6 pm (Brasília time). Despite the tense environment, the protests ended without police clashes.

This was the first demonstration against the government of Javier Milei, who assumed the presidency on December 10th.

Source: CNN Brasil

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