New Argentine President Javier Milei took office Sunday, ushering in a significant change in the South American government after years of socialist rule. The libertarian president cut the number of government ministries by more than half on his first day.
Milei was elected on the Liberty Advances ticket last month and is among the few leaders in the world claiming to be libertarian in policy.
Milei, who was an economist before the presidential election was joined by a number of dignitaries from other countries. These included the king of Spain, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Hungarian President Viktor Orban.
Several members of the American political scene also visited the Argentine capital of Buenos Aires. This included Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar (R-FL), who is of Cuban descent.
The event was also shared by a number of Argentina’s neighbors, including former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and Chilean President Gabriel Boric. The White House sent a delegation including current Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm.
“Today begins a new era in Argentina. Today we end a long and sad history of decadence and decline and begin the path toward the reconstruction of our country,” the new president said in his inaugural address. “Argentines, in a decisive way, expressed a will to change that has no return. There is no turning back. Today we bury decades of failure, infighting and senseless disputes.”
He said that previous Argentine administrations “decided to abandon the model that made us rich and embrace the impoverishing ideas of collectivism.”
He said that for more than a century, the country’s leadership had been “defending a model” that had only generated “poverty, stagnation and misery. A model that considers the task of a politician to direct the lives of individuals in all facets and spheres possible. A model that sees the state as a war booty to share among friends.”
Argentina has struggled economically for decades following Peronist intervention in the economy. It currently suffers from triple-digit inflation, as well as significant issues with manufacturing and resource extraction.
Javier Milei has been officially inaugurated as president of Argentina.
Our plan is to apply his plan for Argentina in this video to US agencies.
IRS, Fed, NSA, DHS, FBI, CIA, DOE, CDC, FDA, FEC…AFUERA! pic.twitter.com/SP0kYwGyj1
— Libertarian Party (@LPNational) December 10, 2023
