The Argentine president, Javier Milei, has ratified this Saturday that he will compete in the 2027 elections with the aim of extending the term that began in December 2023. The announcement was made during the inauguration of a trade fair in Buenos Aires, where he cleared up any uncertainty about his political horizon by stating: "For those who doubt whether I’m going for reelection, yes, I will run for reelection."
Immediately afterward, he outlined several economic goals linked to a potential second term, including the expansion of Argentina’s commercial ties to cover 90% of the planet and the return to citizens of 500,000 million dollars (about 453.5 billion euros) in taxes, a figure that he equated to the volume of public debt, as long as the predicted economic scenario is met.
"The goal is to trade with 90% of the planet. We are going to keep cutting taxes and, if the base scenario is fulfilled, we will return to the Argentines 500,000 million dollars—that is, what we have in debt," he said in a speech collected by the newspaper 'La Nación', in which he defended the direction of his Government. "Look at how many things we have to do to make Argentina great again!" he added.
During his address, Milei reaffirmed the Executive’s economic strategy and, despite the social impact of the cuts, insisted that the country is beginning to experience a recovery. "In the one hundred years before we came to power, Argentina had isolated itself more and more and we had grown poorer and poorer," he said, before maintaining that national economic activity is starting to grow again.
In this vein, he blamed Argentina’s "misery and misfortune" on its prolonged isolation in terms of foreign trade and highlighted that, according to figures from the Government itself, the country has gone from operating with 10% of the world’s nations when it took office to 30% today.
The leader also defended the deregulation measures promoted by his administration and cited as an example the reform of the glaciers law, which, in his view, will allow "to multiply by 20" mineral exports, as well as the repeal of the rent law, which he presented as a case of withdrawing controls on prices. "I’m talking only about two little things, but we touch 18,000," he emphasized.
Since his arrival at the Casa Rosada, Milei has set in motion a severe economic adjustment based on the reduction of public spending, debt, inflation and regulations. This austerity agenda, symbolized by the chainsaw he has shown at different events, has caused a marked polarization in Argentine society.
Although inflation has moderated and the State accounts have reached budgetary balance, the package of measures has also brought with it job destruction and cuts to subsidies aimed at areas such as energy and public transportation.