The largest adjustment in Argentine and world history.

Ours is not only the largest adjustment in Argentina, but the largest in the history of humanity" Marches in Argentina demanding food for community kitchens "People want to work," says Javier Milei (53 years old), the Argentine President who this week faced the second general strike, demanding against the economic and labor reforms of his five-month-old administration. For the president, the first libertarian to govern Argentina, the union's strike action - which on the Thursday of this interview with "El Mercurio" turned Buenos Aires, a capital of crowded streets and heavy traffic, into a city of little movement and low activity - was a failure, because despite the unions managing to halt transportation, people still, "to the best of their abilities, actively went to work." In his office at the Casa Rosada, where he works on Tuesdays and Thursdays - the rest of the week he works from the Olivos presidential residence - the traditional Rivadavia armchair, the classic-style furniture, the long curtains that blocked the sunlight, and a wooden-clad fireplace, blend with the libertarian leader's personal touch: a photo of former President Menem, rather small posters of Reagan and Thatcher, a kippah, a folded Argentine national football team jersey, and books, including one of the editions of the comic strip Gaturro, by the Argentine cartoonist Nik. "We are very good friends," comments the President, who also has on his desk some figures, including one of himself with a chainsaw, a symbol of his campaign. Milei appears calm and friendly, although during the interview he becomes enthusiastic, shows anger towards his critics, becomes passionate when talking about the economy, and allows himself several ironies. He seems rather introverted. Sitting at the head of a long table in front of his desk, he sets the phone aside and turns it off so it "doesn't disturb," but keeps two things: a blue folder with the Argentine seal and the case of his glasses. "I am a workaholic, so all that matters to me is achieving results. I was elected to reduce inflation, to end insecurity, and to start growing again. And we are defeating inflation, security has returned to Argentina, and we are already starting to rebound. So, in the end, the things that were in my job description are being fulfilled," he comments in this long conversation with "El Mercurio." It has been five months since you took office in Argentina. Has governing been more difficult than you thought? No, not at all. In fact, one of the things I have pointed out is that I was prepared to govern with the obstruction machine. In fact, I had to face the dirtiest and most violent campaign ever received by a person worldwide, where journalists played a very strong political role and there was gross harassment towards me. But our economic program and our security policy are proving to be deeply successful, despite the difficulties artificially generated by politics. You and the government you lead came to power from outside politics and strongly criticizing the elite or what you called the establishment. You are labeled as an outsider. How would you define your government? We are indeed outsiders, and in the most raw and extreme way. Because many times there are people who achieve a certain public notoriety and even though they come from outside the system, they are absorbed by existing party structures. In our case, it is not only that I am an outsider, but I had never done politics, I had never been interested in politics, and to join, I had to build my own structure. This week there was a halt in activities called by the trade unions. Does Argentina still have enough patience for the reform program you have proposed? When do you estimate this adjustment will end? The strike was a complete failure. Despite managing to add transportation to the protesting union ranks, thereby preventing people from going to work, nevertheless, people went out. In fact, nearly 70% were against the strike. It is a violent measure, which has nothing to do with a union demand. It is directly a political action against the government. Look at this curious fact: 64% of the strikes that have taken place in Argentina have been against non-Peronist governments. So, this does not surprise me. And regarding patience? It is a very important point, but it would be a valid question if you tell me that we had an alternative to the current plan. And the problem is that there wasn't one. Because the alternative was not to continue with Kirchnerist policies. Just to give you an idea, when an economy has twin deficits of four points of GDP, you have a yellow alert. With eight, it's about to blow up. We received the country with twin deficits of 17 points of GDP. In this same context, importers were owed $50 billion, net international reserves were negative $12 billion. There were peso maturities of $91 billion. Additionally, there were $25 billion in external debt maturities concentrated in multilateral organizations, and the agreement with the IMF had collapsed due to fiscal disarray. Inflation, at the time we took over, was already running at a rate of 7,500% annually. And if you take the wholesale price index from December, which was at 54%, annualized it's 17,000. There was no alternative. But why the shock approach, with the huge social cost it entails? Empirical evidence shows that all shock programs in Argentina, except for the one in '59, were successful. And it also shows that all gradualist programs ended badly. But, at the same time, if one wanted to do gradualism, financing would be needed, and Argentina did not have it either. In fact, when we took over, bonds were trading at 18%. In other words, we had about a 2,900 risk premium. Therefore, there was no alternative. Besides, I am convinced that this has to be done in shock. In that sense, was former President Macri's program a gradualist one? Precisely, Macri's program was gradualism. Moreover, he never carried out fiscal adjustment. The only one he had in that period was after the event where he faced a crisis, in 2018. And how does it compare to your government? We achieved financial balance in the first month of our administration. This means we made an adjustment equivalent to five points of GDP in one month. This is not only the largest in Argentine history, but also the largest in human history. There is no record of anyone having made such an adjustment in that amount of time. So, let me go back to the point of Argentine's patience and its capacity to withstand it. How long? When there is an increase in savings without a counterpart in investment, in the situation Argentina was going through, the natural consequence is that the level of activity drops, unemployment rises, real wages fall, and poverty increases. That is true. And we are well aware of it, that's why from day one we informed people about it and made it clear. And what about your popularity? The flip side of the above is that my image has not fallen. In fact, if we were to go to an election today, we would win. We would get 53% of the votes. The fact that we have always spoken the truth to the people gives us credibility. But the latest economic indicators do not seem to align with that... Data from February and March are coming out, and that is already economic prehistory. But when you look at leading indicators, you begin to see that the economy seems to have found a bottom between March and April and is already recovering. President, the whole picture you paint requires implementing a very coordinated, yet complex economic plan... Here they say that I had to dance with the ugliest. And I can assure you that the ugliest is prettier than what I had to deal with. Are there certain numbers that you consider successful in achieving the objectives? I don't believe in that way of doing economics. What I am aiming for is to shut down all the emission taps. Additionally, we are working on a reform of the financial system with banks and the stock exchange, and in parallel, we will send a law where issuing money is a crime. "This is not a minor detail because if monetary issuance is a crime, the previous Kirchner government issued 28% of GDP, and in the last year, they issued 13% of GDP." You recently visited the US with investors and called for making Argentina the new Rome of the 21st century. One aspect that is missing is greater definition regarding your foreign trade policy. Were you consulted on this matter? We have always stated that we will do everything we can to make the Argentine economy more open. And how will you address participation in Mercosur? As long as it does not hinder further openness, we will continue. Has it been a hindrance so far? Mercosur has not achieved its objectives. It was intended to be the common market of the South and it is a customs union that operates precariously and with a lot of dirigisme on the part of governments. The Bases Law is currently being processed, containing key aspects for your reforms. It was approved by the Chamber and has now passed to the Senate. How important is that project? Both the DNU and the Bases Law contain structural reforms that look towards the long term. Therefore, elements are being generated to make the economy grow and progress, despite what politics does to block our laws. We do not need these projects in the short term to grow. If we don't pass them now, we will do so in 2025 with a Chamber of Deputies and Senators with a higher proportion of the Avanza Libertad party. So, if politics wants to block, let them. We will expose them as enemies of the Argentine people. How significant are they then? -- The most important economic reform in Argentine history was carried out by Menem in the '90s. The Bases Law alone is five times larger than that. And if you add the DNU, it is eight times larger. And this does not represent even 20% of the reforms we have designed. How would you characterize the relations with Chile? Are you comfortable working with President Boric, with whom you clearly have ideological differences? There is something very interesting there. When we won the elections, President Boric called me, and even recognizing our ideological differences, we both stated that the most important thing was the well-being of the inhabitants of our countries. This is not minor. (...) And this is above the preferences one may have in ideological terms. Argentines voted for me to solve problems, not to engage in ideological disputes in the neighborhood" (...). What guarantees can Argentina give to Chile regarding the supply of hydrocarbons that has been resumed? We had problems in the past. Well, they had them with a left-wing government, not with a liberal government. If you look at my speeches, I always give the definition of liberalism by Dr. Alberto Benegas Lynch Jr., our main reference: "Liberalism is the unrestricted respect for the life project of others, based on the principle of non-aggression, in defense of the right to life, freedom, and property." We believe that policies like those applied by the previous government violated not only property but also freedom. And we do not adhere to that kind of thing. Although extradition is a judicial matter, when Minister Bullrich was in Chile, she mentioned that your government is willing to extradite Galvarino Apablaza. What message is your government trying to convey? We believe that the law is there to be followed, and we will strictly adhere to it, let's say, to the law. We are a government that says "those who do wrong, pay for it." Let me tell you an interesting fact: you know that during the electoral campaign, one of the people I competed against was Dr. Bullrich, but we have so much affinity that she is part of my team. "And not only that, but in terms of security doctrine, we had the same slogan, 'those who do wrong, pay for it.' So you will not find differences between Dr. Bullrich and me in this." Chile, like other countries in the region, is experiencing an increase in violence due to the presence of transnational criminal gangs. I understand that in Argentina, you do not have the Tren de Aragua, which operates in Chile. Do you fear the transfer of such gangs? You have your own problem in Rosario. We have our own problems. In fact, we are pushing for some changes in the Security Law so that in very specific cases, the Armed Forces can act. Because in Argentina, at least, this requires modifying the legal framework so that in certain very specific situations, the Armed Forces can collaborate with the federal forces. And it is precisely related to narco-terrorism, with these kinds of issues that are of international scale. (...) We are very aware of this issue (...). Regarding a possible convergence with Chile in Antarctica, the Argentine President says that, without going into details, "in principle, we do not seek conflict with anyone because it is part of our logic, we believe in the principle of non-aggression, so we do not have a confrontational attitude." Milei says that the best example of this spirit is how his government has approached the UK regarding the South Atlantic. "We claim sovereignty over the islands, we consider the Malvinas Islands to be Argentine (...) and are occupied by the UK. And we believe that this should be resolved through diplomatic means, following the model used by China in the case of Hong Kong. So, can it be resolved? Well, it will take years, but I think it is valuable to resolve it through diplomatic means. And at some point, there may be an opportunity to do so, and at other times not. Let's say, if it is not possible today, there are other things we can work on." "I will fight for the ideas of freedom worldwide" Asked about the political environment in Latin America, Milei comments that "great international figures recognize me as the foremost exponent of freedom worldwide," and assures that he will "fight for the ideas of freedom to advance, not only in Argentina, but worldwide." "My fight for the ideas of freedom is unwavering. (...) Now, this does not mean that I have to be generating conflicts with those who think differently," he emphasizes. And he revisits his speech in Davos a few months ago, stating that "the world is at risk in terms of freedom." "The world has taken a turn towards the left (...). The West is in danger because it has moved away from the ideas that generated prosperity," he emphasizes. "The only good left is Messi's, everything else is disposable," he jokes. -- Are you going to Santiago for the 40th anniversary of the Peace and Friendship Treaty, or is it considered that President Boric will come to Buenos Aires? We have had a very demanding agenda lately. If the opportunity arises, I think it is a good thing to remember. For me, those kinds of things are