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Javier Milei's economic experiment is the toy of the moment for a group of theorists and businessmen who are looking for a precedent to confirm their hypothesis: the State, no matter how minimal its intervention, is very bad for prosperity.
For this reason, the new Argentine far-right president, who has already begun to put into practice his philosophy of scrapping public services in a country hit by rampant inflation, was perhaps the most anticipated attendee at the Davos Economic Forum.
However, its premiere ended up combining, above all, an apocalyptic scenario.
“Today I am here to tell you that the West is in danger.
“It is in danger because those who are supposed to defend its values are co-opted by a vision of the world that inexorably leads to socialism and, consequently, poverty,” he launched, with a tone of reprimand, to expose his “libertarian revolution.”
“Today I am here to tell you that the West is in danger.
“It is in danger because those who are supposed to defend its values are co-opted by a worldview that inexorably leads to socialism and, consequently, poverty.”
President Javier… pic.twitter.com/3iAK7a8pPf
— Office of the President (@OPRArgentina) January 17, 2024
The social network
“Good explanation of what makes countries more or less prosperous,” he noted when disseminating Milei's intervention.
The owner of Tesla is one of the Argentine economist's regular supporters, who repeats his recipe book following the same script for years at every public event.
So much so that several users detected that some phrases in his presentation were a carbon copy of a TED talk that he gave years ago.
Good explanation of what makes countries more or less prosperous
pic.twitter.com/D254kMpgDh
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 18, 2024
Everyone says that Milei's speech today at the Davos Forum was so low level that it could well have been a speech for a Tedx talk.
Well, she used the same speech that she gave in 2019 in a talk for TEDx.
Shame is not enough!!
pic.twitter.com/NgFkbIpkeK
— Sol ☀️🇦🇷 💚 🧡 (@1solmartinez) January 18, 2024
In reality, it did not matter so much, because the leader of Libertad Avanza, who easily won the November elections but had to make a pact with the neoliberals of former president Mauricio Macri and Patricia Bullrich, traveled to Switzerland to speak to the world, although above all to address your audience.
A large cohort of economists, supporters and political leaders who from both shores of the Atlantic look at Buenos Aires convinced that the solution lies there.
And if that solution crashes into reality - during the first month of government, inflation rose 25% - they can always blame the Peronist legacy.
Among them is Santiago Abascal, president of the ultra-Spanish party Vox, but also Esperanza Aguirre.
“Magnificent speech by Javier Milei in Davos.
It's refreshing to hear someone with so much common sense!
Long live damn freedom!!!”, wrote the former president of the Community of Madrid with a tribute to the politician's favorite slogan.
Magnificent speech by Javier Milei in Davos.
It's refreshing to hear someone with so much common sense!
Long live damn freedom!!!
— Esperanza Aguirre (@EsperanzAguirre) January 17, 2024
If the Argentine president only received lukewarm applause at the end of his speech in Davos, the visceral fury of social networks presented him as a hero or a villain.
Some Latin American leaders such as Nicolás Maduro were responsible for the latter, whose management discredits him, in any case, for criticizing economic matters.
“That's not the way Milei.
You're wrong.
I don't expect you to rectify it but I do tell you [that] you are a mistake in the history of Argentina.
“A fatal mistake in the history of Argentina.”
Beyond the caricatures, there were proposals of different kinds, for example those formulated by Gustavo Petro.
Maduro sends a message to Javier Milei: “That is not the Milei way.
You're wrong.
I don't expect you to rectify it, but if I tell you, you are a mistake in the history of Argentina.
“A fatal mistake in the history of Argentina”
— Osmary Hernandez (@osmarycnn) January 15, 2024
The president of Colombia defended, as he did last year, his environmental and energy transition agenda.
“We have decided not to contract more oil, gas and coal exploration as a sign of the need we have to decarbonize our economy,” he said in his speech.
The progressive ruler also met with magnates such as Bill Gates to talk, according to his cabinet, “about artificial intelligence, investment in green energy and replacing illicit economies with licit ones to achieve peace in Colombia.”
Meanwhile, Milei insisted on his apocalyptic message: “Around the world, leaders who must defend their values find themselves co-opted by a worldview that leads to socialism and poverty.”
In Davos, President @petrogustavo spoke with @BillGates.
What did they talk about?
Artificial intelligence, investment in green energies and replacement of illicit economies with licit ones to achieve Peace in Colombia, were the central topics of the conversation.
#wef24 pic.twitter.com/mmoUKDSA56
— Colombian Presidency 🇨🇴 (@infopresidencia) January 17, 2024