Free Republic

While Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s government is catapulting Germany into a debt spiral, long-struggling Argentina has begun paying down its liabilities. President Javier Milei is holding up a mirror to Berlin’s debt-addicted political class -- and the reflection is one of unmistakable failure. It took Argentina’s President Milei barely six months, right in the middle of the severe economic crisis he inherited from his socialist predecessors, to clean up a completely ruined public budget. That was in June of last year. This week, the Finance Ministry in Buenos Aires reported something that, in Germany today, would probably be dismissed as fiscal...

A Glimmer of Justice Amidst Enduring Shadows:Venezuela's Unlikely Strike Against Islamic Fascist Republic of Iran / Hezbollah's Legacy of Jewish BloodIn a stunning turn that defies the toxic alliance between Venezuela's Chavismo regime and the genocidal mullahs of the Islamo-Fascist Iranian Republic, President Nicolás Maduro's forces have apprehended Ali Hage Zaki Jalil—a Lebanese-Arab Hezbollah terrorist long-sought for his role in the barbaric 1994 bombing of Alas Chiricanas Flight 901 over Panama.[0][1] This monstrous act of Jew-hatred claimed 21 innocent lives, including 12 precious Jewish souls en route from Colón to Panama City, their dreams shattered by the same Iranian-backed terror...

Argentina’s libertarian President Javier Milei scored a surprise victory in Sunday’s midterm elections, bolstering his embattled reform drive. His La Libertad Avanza party won 40.84% of votes for Congress, far outpacing the opposition and marking a rebound for the US-backed right-winger after months of economic turmoil and political resistance. Argentine President Javier Milei hailed his party's runaway victory in Sunday's midterm elections as a "turning point" for the country and vowed to charge ahead with his agenda of shrinking the state and deregulating the economy. Milei's small La Libertad Avanza (LLA) party rebounded from a series of setbacks to win...

To understand this week's election, look to economic and political lessons from Argentina.To understand why Democrats overperformed in this week's elections, look to Argentina. Last month, Argentinian president Javier Milei won an unexpectedly large electoral affirmation, as his party significantly outperformed expectations by more than doubling its congressional representation in what was widely seen as a referendum on his agenda. Over the past two years, Milei, the world's most libertarian national leader, has slashed spending, cut red tape, and made his top priority restoring economic order and prosperity to a country that has long been a socialist basket case. Critics...

President Javier Milei won a landslide victory in the October 26, 2025, election. This election is a midterm election in Argentina. There are 257 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 72 seats in the Senate. Half of the Chamber of Deputies’ seats were up for election, as were one-third of the Senate’s seats. President Milei’s party scored 41.5% of the vote, increasing its share of seats in the House of Deputies from 37 to 101. Milei’s party increased its number of Senators from 6 to 20. This is a significant increase in power for President Milei. It is likely...

Is it a done deal or was it just a trial balloon to see how people would feel about it?

Republican senators on Tuesday railed against the administration’s plans to import more beef during a closed-door meeting with Vice President JD Vance.p> Officials said last week they would allow Argentina to ship four times as much beef to the US as it previously did at a lower tariff rate. Ranchers immediately panned the move, as did the lawmakers who represent them: Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., warned “this isn’t the way to do it.”Vance sought to “explain what the administration is thinking” in Tuesday’s meeting, one Republican senator in attendance told Semafor.“There were a number that really expressed …...

Milei’s coalition secured 41 percent of the national vote and tripled its seats in Congress, positioning his party as the first political force nationwide.The results of Argentina's midterm elections Sunday were not widely expected. Pre-election polls had predicted a tie nationwide. Instead there was a clear win for President Javier Milei's coalition, La Libertad Avanza (Freedom Advances), which secured 41 percent of the national vote. The Peronist opposition followed with 32 percent, while regional parties divided the remainder. Voter turnout was 68 percent, below typical midterm participation levels. The vote consolidated Argentina's increasingly polarized landscape, with centrist and third-party options...

A new study estimates that nearly one in five urinary tract infections may be caused by E. coli strains transmitted through contaminated meat—and pose a hidden foodborne risk to millions of people. The study also found that people living in low-income neighborhoods are at the greatest risk. Said Lance B. Price, "This opens up new avenues for prevention, especially for vulnerable communities that bear a disproportionate burden. This is why we should be investing more, not less, in research into the social determinants of health. Your risk of infection should not depend on your ZIP code." UTIs are among the...

Early results in Argentina’s legislative elections on Sunday showed a landslide victory for President Javier Milei as voters overwhelmingly backed his free-market reforms and deep austerity measures, providing a strong boost for the libertarian leader to continue his economic overhaul. The president’s party, La Libertad Avanza, scored 41.5% of the vote in Buenos Aires province compared with 40.8% for the Peronist coalition, according to official results. The province has long been a political stronghold for the Peronists, marking a dramatic political shift. Nationwide, La Libertad Avanza got 64 seats in the House of Deputies, up from 37, according to government...

Early results in Argentina’s legislative elections on Sunday showed a landslide victory for President Javier Milei as voters overwhelmingly backed his free-market reforms and deep austerity measures, providing a strong boost for the libertarian leader to continue his economic overhaul. The president’s party, La Libertad Avanza, scored 41.5% of the vote in Buenos Aires province compared with 40.8% for the Peronist coalition, according to official results. The province has long been a political stronghold for the Peronists, marking a dramatic political shift. Nationwide, La Libertad Avanza got 64 seats in the House of Deputies, up from 37, according to government...

President Javier Milei scored a decisive political win Sunday, tightening his grip on Argentina’s Congress and securing a lifeline for his audacious free-market revolution backed by President Trump. With nearly 92% of votes counted, Milei’s Freedom Advances party won almost 41% of the national vote, putting it on track to more than double its representation in Congress. That means it should secure at least one-third of the seats in both chambers—the critical threshold that allows Milei to preserve his veto power and defend his sweeping decrees. The result, stronger than most polls had predicted, gives Milei fresh political momentum after...

@RepThomasMassie Last night, @SchmittNYC & I discussed the President’s proposal to purchase more beef from Argentina. The America First solution to rising beef prices is my bill, the PRIME Act. It would empower farmers to sell directly to consumers without corporate middlemen.

Many GOP senators raised concerns directly with President Donald Trump on Tuesday about his idea to buy more beef from Argentina, according to four Republicans who attended a lunch hosted at the White House. The Rose Garden lunch was initially scheduled to celebrate GOP unity on the shutdown and clearing Trump’s nominees, but farm-state Republicans have been on edge after the president announced Sunday that he was considering a deal with one of American ranchers’ biggest competitors in order to lower food prices. Trump told lawmakers that he was worried about consumer beef prices in the U.S. but also worried...

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration is looking to provide an additional $20 billion in financing for Argentina through a mix of financing from sovereign funds and the private sector.That would come on top of the $20 billion credit swap line that the U.S. Treasury pledged to Argentine President Javier Milei and his government this month to bolster the South American nation's collapsing currency.“We are working on a $20 billion facility that would complement our swap line, with private banks and sovereign funds that, I believe, would be more focused on the debt market,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told reporters...

Permit me to put my comments upfront to reduce flammage. I'm posting this vomitous rant because of the violent, murderous, left-wing and/or islamist insurgencies and organizations that Klien lauds, glorifies or defends. This provides the beginning of a pretty fair rundown of the main terrorist outfits the hard-left is pushing as "liberation" movements. Please feel free to add to the list This is really a war on dissentersSeptember 8, 2003 The Marriott Hotel in Jakarta was still burning when Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Indonesia's Security Minister, explained the implications of the day's attack: "Those who criticise about human rights being breached...

According to a Phys.org report, large numbers of megafauna bones discovered at archaeological sites in three South American countries suggest that humans regularly consumed giant sloths and giant armadillos between 13,000 and 11,600 years ago. Luciano Prates of the National University of La Plata and his colleagues examined animal bones recovered from 20 archaeological sites across Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay, and determined that more than 80 percent of them at 15 of the locations belonged to megafauna. It had been previously thought that Ice Age hunter-gatherers in the region hunted the large animals occasionally, but survived day to day by...

The photo of Bessent’s phone taken by the Associated Press during a United Nations session last week appears to show texts from Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins, who said, “We bailed out Argentina yesterday (Bessent) and in return, the Argentine's removed their export tariffs on grains, reducing their price, and sold a bunch of soybeans to China, at a time when we would normally be selling to China.” The messages referenced the $20 billion aid package by the Trump administration designed to help Argentina and its president, Javier Milei, a Trump ally. After the announcement of the aid, Argentina turned...

Israel should recognise the Falkland Islands as Argentinian after Sir Keir Starmer decided to recognise Palestine, Benjamin Netanyahu’s son has claimed. Yair Netanyahu made the claim on social media just days after the British Prime Minister's announcement sparked fury from Israeli officials. He wrote on social media: "I recognise the Malvinas Islands as part of Argentina!" The statement was met with much praise from supporters of Argentinian President Javier Milei. Agustín Romo, head of President Milei's party bloc in Buenos Aires, thanked Yair, saying : "The son of the Prime Minister of Israel announces he recognizes the Malvinas as Argentine....

The Trump administration threw Argentina a financial life raft this week, and Argentina promptly responded by offering China an enticement in the form of untaxed soybeans. Why it matters: It's a harsh blow to already struggling U.S. soybean farmers, and illustrates the complex implications of rescuing a close ally. Driving the news: On Monday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced concepts for broad financial support to stabilize Argentina's economy, including potential loans, currency purchases and debt buying. Argentina's currency, the peso, rallied on the news. Argentina, looking to rake in more capital, suspended its export taxes on several products Monday, including...