Milei and the Extreme Right's Handbook in a Period of Global Crisis
In his inauguration speech, Milei compared the current historical juncture to the fall of the Berlin Wall. But the situation could not be more different.
Claudia Cinatti
December 29, 2023
Judging by the first week in office, Javier Milei’s government looks like a museum of Menemist 1 curiosities: an orthodox combination of austerity measures, “stagflation,” and the promise of repression at the national level. Milie’s administration automatically aligned itself with the United States in foreign policy (a sort of return to “carnal relations”), mainly against China and Russia and the informal bloc of the so-called “Global South.” It is also offering an unconditional alliance with the State of Israel, including the promise to move the Argentine embassy to Jerusalem, a policy taken from the manual of the extreme right of Donald Trump and Jair Bolsonaro.
The U.S. government received Milei’s arrival with mixed emotions. On the one hand, the U.S. government celebrates the fact that a third Latin American country — behind Mexico and Brazil — has entered the orbit of Washington’s unconditional servants in the context of its competition with China. This takes on additional value in light of the notorious loss of hegemony for the United States and the emergence of alternative blocs such as the BRICS, which Argentina was invited to join as of January 2024. But on the other hand, President Biden, who is at his lowest point of political support, fears that Milei’s far-right government will be a beachhead for Trump’s return to the White House in the 2024 elections.
This change in the political scenario will have regional consequences, and will most likely foreshadow tensions in Latin America. Let us not forget that Macri’s government 2 supported the coup d’état in Bolivia against Evo Morales in 2019, promoted by the local right wing and the Trump administration.
You might also be interested in: Milei’s Shock Therapy and the Workers’ Response
During his campaign, Milei overemphasized his exclusive allegiance with Washington. He even questioned relations with indispensable commercial partners such as Brazil and China, although later as President he backed away from this extreme fundamentalism, and in a “pragmatic” turn, he asked Chinese President XI Jinping to renew the currency swap to meet the payments to the IMF. Beyond his dismal relationship with Lula, he has so far taken an “open-minded” line, albeit with the aim of maintaining Mercosur 3.
More:
https://www.leftvoice.org/milei-and-the-extreme-rights-handbook-in-a-period-of-global-crisis/
= new reply since forum marked as read
