Free Republic

Argentine President Javier Milei said during a Conservative event in Florida that his country was negotiating with Donald Trump's administration a zero-tariff deal on approximately 50 export products, aiming for a potential Free Trade Agreement (FTA) shortly. Milei's remarks came after the Republican leader slapped a 10% tariff on all Argentine goods as part of a broader protectionist policy. Speaking at the American Patriots Gala hosted by conservative groups Make America Clean Again and We Fund the Blue at Mar-a-Lago, where he received the “Lion of Liberty Award” for his commitment to freedom and free-market values, Milei outlined plans to...

During a meeting at the presidential palace in Buenos Aires on Tuesday, Argentinian President Javier Milei assured visiting officials from the Simon Wiesenthal Center (SWC) that he would grant them access to classified documents detailing how 5,000 Nazi war criminals settled in Argentina after the Holocaust. Ten thousand Nazi war criminals are estimated to have fled Europe – and justice – following World War II via escape routes known as the so-called “ratlines.” The records of the escapes and who financed them have remained classified preventing historians and Nazi hunters, including the SWC, from gaining access. “While some previous leaders...

In November of 2023, Javier Milei was elected president of Argentina. His campaign promised a free-market policy to revive the economy. During the campaign 108 economists signed a letter predicting this approach of "laissez-faire economics and significant reductions in government spending, are fraught with risks." Since he took office on December 10, 2023 he reduced government spending by 5%, public work programs were put on hold, welfare was slashed, subsidies were eliminated, government-owned companies were privatized, regulations were cut, taxes were simplified and reduced, the number of government agencies was reduced from 18 to 9, a job freeze was implemented...

The political rise of economist Javier Milei to the presidency was largely driven by Argentinians' hope that he could revive the debt-laden country's economic fortunes. But now the libertarian's key credentials as an economic expert have suffered a massive blow as lawyers have filed a fraud lawsuit against him in an Argentine court. What's come to be known as the "cryptogate" scandal is gripping Argentina, with the rapid rise and collapse of the $LIBRA cryptocurrency at the center of controversy. Investors — most of them reportedly from Argentina and the United States — had poured the equivalent of $100 million...

In November 2023, the warning came, as clear as an omen. A political upstart was seeking office and, if elected, his policies were likely to cause “devastation” in his own country and “severely reduce policy space in the long run.” The threat was a chainsaw-wielding disciple of Austrian economics from Argentina who embraced laissez-faire economics. The predictions of doom came not from Old Testament prophets, but 108 economists who signed a public letter saying his anachronistic ideas had long ago been discredited. “As economists from around the world who are supportive of broad-based economic development in Argentina, we are especially...

Argentine President Javier Milei could face an impeachment trial in Congress, opposition lawmakers said on Saturday, after the libertarian leader touted a cryptocurrency which crashed soon after.

After pulling his country from the World Health Organization (WHO), Argentine President Javier Milei admitted Wednesday in an interview with a French outlet that he intended to withdraw from the 2015 Paris Agreement to limit greenhouse gas emmissions to preserve the planet's temperature from rising. “The environmentalist agenda is a real fraud,” said Milei, thus echoing similar recent statements from US President Donald Trump. To withdraw from the Paris Agreement, Law 27.270 would have to b e repealed by Congress. Asked by Le Point if Argentina could leave the Paris Agreement, Milei answered: “Yes, I am considering it because I...

President Trump gets a thing or two done. In his first term in office, President Trump apparently thought he could operate as if the federal government were a corporation he headed as Chief Executive and Commander in Chief of the armed forces. He assumed those beneath him would give him honest counsel, would perform their assigned duties, and follow his directives. He learned otherwise. All the steps he took the first week after beginning his astonishing second term are those a wise CEO and commander in chief must take to do the job he promised and was elected to do....

Donald Trump might be receiving a lot of attention for being an anti-globalist force, and rightly so. He is the biggest whale in that ocean, but where Trump is an America-first powerhouse, Argentina's Javier Milei is an anti-globalist great white shark, chomping down on anything that resembles globalist control. Milei traveled to Davos in Switzerland as many global leaders did in order to deliver his address on the world stage, and as expected, when he got there, he didn't just let the globalists have it, he called them out for their evils. He even went so far as to challenge...

Argentina has recorded its first budget surplus barely a year into Javier Milei’s presidency for the first time in 14 years. . “Today’s fiscal result must be understood as a landmark in our history,” Economy Minister Luis Caputo posted on X. “There is no more deficit in Argentina.” ... According to the economy ministry, the country’s budget surplus for the entire year was 1.76 trillion pesos, or 0.3% of GDP. Meanwhile, there was a 10.41 trillion peso surplus, or 1.8% of GDP, in the primary fiscal balance, which does not include debt payments. “Zero deficit is a reality,” Milei said...

Argentina has enjoyed a 10% reduction in the murder rate of women. ... 2024 saw a 10% increase in un-murdered women even though the defunct ministry had an Undersecretariat of Special Programmes against Gender-based Violence, if you can imagine such a thing. The since-fired Undersecretariat must be incredibly disappointed to learn that her job had been phony-baloney all along. What did happen after Milei closed the Ministry was that he also adopted a tough-on-crime posture. .. By some stroke of luck, cracking down on crime resulted in less crime. Lefties worldwide are scratching their heads at the news. ... Ministry...

Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy being in charge of the incoming Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is perhaps one of the most exciting ideas from President-elect Donald Trump. Through it, you could have a true change in government. That's likely one of the reasons that the powers that be are fighting to separate Musk and Trump, and back him out of the equation. They're afraid of free media and they're afraid of the change this could bring to government. Javier Milei has shown what can be done. He's turned a deficit into a surplus for the first time in more...

A regional poll published on Wednesday by the research agency CB Consultora Opinión Pública found that Argentine President Javier Milei ranks as the most popular head of state in South America. The survey, conducted by the Argentina-based research agency across the region’s countries during the month of December, found that the Argentine libertarian president leads the charts, ending 2024 with an approval rating of 51.8 percent, making him both the highest-rated President in the region and the only one with an approval rating of over 50 percent. Uruguay’s outgoing center-right President Luis Lacalle Pou ranked second with 49.8 percent, and...

Argentina has come out of a deep recession in a major victory for the country’s unorthodox President Javier Milei, who has spent the past year enacting sweeping — and painful — reforms in Latin America’s third-largest economy. Gross domestic product grew 3.9% in the July-to-September quarter compared with the previous three months, Argentina’s statistics agency said Monday. The agriculture and mining sectors drove the expansion, with consumer spending also growing strongly. But manufacturing and construction suffered sharp declines in output. The news of the economic rebound comes a year after Milei was elected on a ticket to tackle chronic hyperinflation...

President of Argentina Javier Milei on Wednesday called on conservatives to wage a “cultural battle” against leftism and end “the garbage of socialism” during his closing speech at the Conservative Action Political Conference (CPAC) in Buenos Aires. Milei, who is currently leading an astounding economic recovery in his country after the disastrous socialist policies of predecessor Alberto Fernández, stressed the importance of fighting leftism at a cultural level in addition to practicing good governance, stating that, without addressing ideas, “no matter how good we are at managing, or how good we are politically, we are not going to get anywhere.”...

If you believe the messaging of the Trump transition, big cuts in U.S. government spending are coming. Announced cabinet appointments include several who are opponents of the mission of the agencies they will soon be heading. A new Department of Government Efficiency is to be created, headed by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, with instructions to take an ax to wasteful programs. But, assuming that some big cuts actually get implemented, you know what inevitably comes next: Because all government spending is (foolishly) counted as a 100% addition to GDP, the cuts first get recorded as a decline in GDP....

Argentine President Javier Milei met with President-elect Donald Trump on Thursday night at a gala event in which he delivered a blistering speech against Marxism, embracing the president-elect and offering Argentina’s support on foreign policy. Milei is the first sitting world leader to meet with Trump following his victory in the November 5 presidential election. Trump is expected to return to the White House on January 20, only the second president in American history to win two non-consecutive presidential terms. Milei has been in office since December 2023 and won the presidency of his country on a similar platform of...

Javier Milei, the Argentinian president, has become the first foreign leader to meet Donald Trump as he flew into Florida for a visit to Mar-a-Lago. Mr Milei is due to meet Elon Musk in the coming hours where the pair are expected to discuss strategies to cut government spending. Mr Milei arrived on Thursday at Mr Trump’s Florida residence, where Mr Musk has also been holed up for several days, and will be the first foreign leader to congratulate Mr Trump in person on being re-elected US president. The brash libertarian economist will also hold informal talks with the Tesla,...

We’re seeing a lot of fuss and bother over the 2024 presidential election. But do we even need a president? I ask because we don’t have one now. And we haven’t had one for all practical purposes for something between a few months and three years. Independent journalist Glenn Greenwald recently tweeted, “The US has no functional president and has not had one for months, and it’s barely noticeable and barely matters because there’s a permanent unelected machine that runs the government.” Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ken.) replied, “Where’s the lie?” Elon Musk commented, “Bingo.” Joe Biden may be capable of...

A year ago, Ukrainians were mocking Russia for forcing poorly trained and armed men into battle. Russia was supposedly running out of men and money.In central Kyiv (I was there) the government displayed large maps of how Russia might fragment after its impending defeat. Victory was certain, as were the Western handouts to the future victor.But lately the Ukrainian language blogosphere has been talking openly about Ukrainian front-line soldiers who do not have the weapons they need to fight (drones, 155m shells, guns, ammo, everything). Many are deserting. There is open talk about Russia winning. (snip) For the Ukrainian government,...