Anxiety and resignation in Argentina after Milei’s economic shock measures
Associated PressBUENOS AIRES, Argentina — Julia González wonders how she will afford the three bus rides and train trip to her job in downtown Buenos Aires. These are some of the faces of anxiety that Argentines are dealing with after President Javier Milei’s administration announced economic shock measures aimed at tackling the country’s severe crisis, including a sharp devaluation of the peso by 50%, cuts to subsidies and the closure of some ministries. “These measures will come at the expense of substantial near-term pain, including a surge in inflation and steep contraction in GDP,” the economic consulting firm Capital Economics said in a report. The main union force in Argentina, the General Confederation of Labor, criticized the measures, saying they will mainly hurt regular people and not the political “caste” that Milei promised to purge. The confederation warned that it won’t stand by “with his arms crossed.” Jorge Martínez, a 64-year-old painter, is one of those confident that the new government might improve things.