Friday marked a preliminary step toward the approval of President Javier Milei’s comprehensive package of political, social, and economic reforms, which has provoked furious protests from the opposition.
The lower house of Congress gave the bill “general” approval; next week, its members will scrutinize libertarian and self-described anarcho-capitalist Milei’s intentions in further detail.
The 53-year-old political outsider stated on social media just before the vote that politicians had “the opportunity to show which side of history” they wanted to be on.
“History will judge them according to their work in favor of the Argentines or for the continued impoverishment of the people,” a presidential statement said.
Milei won a resounding election victory in October, riding a wave of anger over decades of economic crisis in the South American nation, where annual inflation stands at over 200 percent and poverty levels are at 40 percent.
In order to deregulate the economy, Milei started his term by depreciating the peso by more than 50%, slashing state subsidies for transportation and gasoline, halving the number of ministries, and doing away with hundreds of regulations.
His reform program addresses a wide range of topics in both public and private life, including divorce, the penal code, cultural issues, privatization, and football clubs’ status.
On the third day of an intense debate that was accompanied by protests and altercations outside, the Chamber of Deputies adopted the package in principle by a vote of 144 to 109.
The bill may undergo changes before heading to the Senate.
“We have two clear options — become the largest slum in the world, or continue this path towards prosperity and freedom,” said Lorena Villaverde, a lawmaker from Milei’s far-right party, Freedom Advances.
But opposition deputy Leandro Santoro pointed to the economic and social crisis of 2001 as an example of the risks of free-market reforms.
“We Argentines already know what happens when the economic model focuses on adjustment and deregulation,” he said.
On Friday, police again fired tear gas at crowds of demonstrators outside Congress.
It happens a little more than a week after tens of thousands of Argentines protested against Milei’s plans of cutting the budget.
However, the IMF authorized Argentina’s payment of almost $4.7 billion on Wednesday, indicating support for Milei’s measures.
