Argentina: The threat of a covert coup.
The total deregulation of the economy that Milei intends is to give freedom to the big capitalists in exchange for union and social setbacks., while the change of political course goes towards an authoritarian line. Caputo's measurements, the Bullrich protocol, The DNU and the Milei omnibus law are a hidden coup.
By Carolina Menendez Trucco
Countless dark chapters of our history, unfortunately more than sobering results, throw back. We are in a moment that tries to reverse achievements. Javier Milei has not even been in office for a month and already wants to tear down pillars of an entire society. With the pretexts of fiscal balance, the magnitude of the crisis and inflation, which certainly skyrocketed exponentially since his inauguration, has embarked on a coup trip. From the 29 from December to 2023 Riga is mega DNU, a Decree of Necessity and Urgency that provides for a broad deregulation of economic activity, modifying 336 laws at the service of large companies, unconstitutionally destroying a whole series of rights, especially those from the working class. But a labor court has just suspended the application of said anti-worker chapter.
The announcement of the decree occurred on Wednesday night 20, after the first large unitary and multisector march that mobilized several thousand Argentines to Plaza de Mayo that afternoon, despite the anti-protest protocol that Security Minister Patricia Bullrich tried to impose. Until the early hours of that Thursday, Congress was spontaneously filled with pots and pans that echoed against the official measures..
Questioned for assuming legislative powers, The Executive Branch dropped its second bomb, but this time as a single megabill that includes several retrograde reforms such as the privatization of public companies, changes in the electoral system, tax modifications and the suspension of the current retirement mobility formula.“There is no alternative to adjustment and there is no alternative to shock”, The president had already made it clear in his first speech. But that new tuning package (the Omnibus Law) from 180 pages and 664 articles, to be dealt with in extraordinary sessions called between the 26 December and 31 from January, begins to encounter opposition in Congress.
Economic and political change
In the new mileist logic of shock, It seems that every democratic right should be attacked in pursuit of “normalizing” an economy that has been going through decades of crisis after crisis.. The liberfacho was not only against the public sector: The hungry deregulatory plan left no puppet with a head. In the last days, The streets of the country were filled with marches and banging of pots and pans. Workers in the cultural sector, health, the nursing, The education, union groups, left-wing political parties, renters, different social movements, of women and dissidence, among others, they are activating the resistance.
It is that the brand new president, instead of dealing with “the political caste” as he promised so much, is cruel to the working class, the popular and middle sectors, by laying off thousands of state employees, destroy all public property, repeal the Rental Law, release food prices, raise transport rates, light and gas, remove funds from artists and the rest of the sectors, among many other measures, in favor only of capitalists and magnates. To top it all off in his end of the year message, distorts the past, to justify the terrible present and disguise the future. Neither theArgentina at the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th century it was a panacea (at the level of the great industrial powers) as he stated, nor will the devastating unfounded adjustment lead us to a better tomorrow, no matter how much “light at the end of the road” is promised.
In menemist line (one of its political beacons), How was he really going to say what he was going to do so that no one would vote for him?? So, the supposed defense of freedom, comes in the form of pressure. Milei intimates the governors: if they support his omnibus law, will return profits[1]. It only opens the doors of negotiation with the CGT[2], if they lift the strike.“Let the new government walk”, had initially hinted at the bureaucracy of the CGT and the CTA[3] after taking a nap for four years, but finally the 24 January to “overturn the Milei decree in Justice, in politics and in the streets”. Never before in Argentine democracy has a president had to face a general strike in such a short time, if the bureaucracy does not lift it. Anyway, The coming scenario will be one of strong struggles to the extent that the effects of the adjustment have a social impact..
Well, What liberal guarantees can there be in a unilateral game? Apparently, The liberal-libertarian suit is a little too big for the ultra-conservative rhetoric.“This is about avoiding a catastrophe of biblical proportions”, he said on New Year's Eve on national television when demanding that Congress approve both the DNU with which it seeks to deregulate the economy, like the mega reform project, which is nothing more than a new package of adjustments for society as a whole and an authoritarian subjugationthat intends to even impose a state of siege.
The naked story
The way of narrating the events ends up capturing in the collective imagination how the story is inscribed.. That's why transmitting correct information is so important.. The big media doesn't do it. Regarding the 20D March, for example, intentionally or “by mistake” the headlines limited it to the picketers. But it was not the case. It was a multi-sector march led not only by the piqueteros wings, combative unionism also participated, left-wing political parties, human rights organizations, student, and many who joined independently. So, biased and incomplete coverage is intentional reductionism. The publishersChallenges of the left in the face of a new political stage, YA wrong policy, that weakens the fight, shed light on the debates within the Unity Left Front.
At the end of the day, the end of the story depends on who tells it. As the conservative editorialist ofThe Nation, Joaquín Morales Solá, in your columnThe difficult path of the revolution: “Victoria Villarruel, vice president and natural head of the Senate, will have to specify in facts therevolutionthat President Javier Milei wrote in a decree with the help of Federico Sturzenegger[4]”. Apparently, his studies at Harvard and 58 years of experience in journalism were not enough to delve into the history of revolutions. For the violation of all the economic and democratic rights that Milei and his government team are carrying towards all the Argentine people, more thanrevolution is acovert coup d'état.
[1] Business Income Tax. It also unfairly taxed 10% higher salaries. In September it was changed and it only affected the 1%. Milei intends to reinstate it for the 10%.
[2] General Confederation of Labor of the Argentine Republic.
[3] Central Workers of Argentina.
[4] The Doctor in Economics from MIT, Federico Sturzenegger, He served as president of the Central Bank of the Argentine Republic between 2015 Y 2018 during the presidency of Mauricio Macri and is the architect of the deregulation that Milei announced.
