Hard Right for Argentina
Latin American politics is a pendulum that swings between the left and the right. Last year the pendulum had swung to the left, with socialist parties in charge of most of the countries of Latin America. This year it has swung back to the right, with conservative victories in Ecuador and now Argentina. Argentina's new president, Javier Milei, calls himself a libertarian, but so far he has pushed traditional conservative ideas: sound money, smaller government, and less regulation of business.
Perhaps libertarianism has a different meaning in Latin American. Many libertarians in the United States strike me as cranks, ranting about the evils of fractional banking and fiat currency. But President Milei strikes me as intelligent and thoughtful, based on a recent interview I listened to. What distinguishes libertarianism from conservatism is that libertarians favor lifting laws on social issues, such as drugs and abortion. I have heard nothing of the kind from President Milei. So far he has governed as a comservative, or in today's terminology, a neoliberal. This has made him popular with international organizations like the IMF and WEF. So far the Argentinian people have not protested the new policies.
Presiden Milei has abolished a number of government ministries, abolished 500 business regulations, and devalued the Argentine peso, bringing it in line with black market value. He has also tranferred control of the prisons to the military. He would like to replace the peso with the dollar, but that will be a heavier lift.
This is not Argentina's first turn to the right. Argentina followed similar policies under President Carlos Menem. I remember an Argentine friend complaining against his policies at the time. But after he left office, Argentina returned to its traditional Peronist policies, along with its traditional high inflation.
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