Milei converts to ‘political realism’ upon assuming office

2023-12-11 18:16:08

RFI interviewed Florence Pinot, director of the Center for Latin American and European Studies and Research (CERALE), at the ESCP Business School in Paris about the investiture ceremony of Javier Milei as president of Argentina. ‘The situation is bad, no There is money and Milei wants to take advantage of his political capital to admit it,’ he says.

First modification: 11/12/2023 – 17:16

2 min

RFI. What do you think of Milei’s investiture ceremony?

There was undoubtedly the feeling of a change of era, that different times are coming. Milei’s message about the situation was without half measures. In particular, about the economic and social situation. He had already announced it, he said that he was not coming to “sell lies.” He has taken the measure of the situation, which is bad. There is no weight. He seems determined to use political capital that is still very fresh. He wants to use the political capital that having been voted for by 56% of the citizens gives him to make things transparent, starting with the bad news. But, above all, he referred a lot to the economic aspect, the fiscal imbalance, the fact that there are no reserves and that instead there is an enormous debt. Therefore, a few months of stagflation await Argentines, that is, there will be no growth. In addition, we still have to wait for the blows of inflation.

RFI. Did Milei park her most radical measures?

What we were already seeing was that between the first and second rounds there were a number of issues such as dollarization, the closure of the Central Bank, etc. that they had come, I don’t say falling, but they had lost strength in their speech. It was clear that they were no longer the absolute priority for him. The new ruling team, the president in the first place, has been taking the measure of reality in these weeks. Now political realism is obviously imposed on them. To this we must add the lack of a majority in Congress, in both chambers. Hence also the importance of acting relatively quickly while people’s support is fresh.

RFI. At the level of international relations, what can you tell us about the first signs?

Regarding the international ballet that gives rise to a performance, it is interesting to note that the King of Spain attended the investiture ceremony. It wasn’t President Lula, who is obviously upset by the somewhat rough past that he and Milei maintained. In addition, Bolsonaro came, personally invited by the new Argentine president. Although Lula sent his Foreign Minister. I emphasize a fact that was widely commented on in Europe: the presence of Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, who “crossed the pond,” as we say in Argentina. Although Zelensky does not expect economic help from Argentina, because that country is definitely not in a position to provide it, considering the situation of the country and its reserves, it was in any case a sign of strong support for Ukraine. French television insisted a lot on the length of the exchange of hugs between the two presidents.