ICYMI: Rubio: Help Argentina Sustain Its Economic Reforms
How the United States can help Argentina sustain its economic reforms
U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL)
May 24, 2024
…President Milei’s reforms [to Argentina’s economy] may be painful, but they are reversing decades of backwards, Marxist policies. The United States should support this, because a healthier Argentina is good for Argentines, good for the region, and could help break our crippling dependence on Communist China….
[Due to President Milei’s austerity measures,] the monthly [Argentine] inflation rate appears to be in the single digits, down from 25 percent last year, and foreign investment in Argentina is rising rapidly…. Austerity, however, is never easy. Used to decades of overly generous public benefits and subsidies, tens of thousands of people have mobbed the streets in protest. Moreover, because President Milei and his party do not control a legislative majority, they cannot enact the full range of reforms that would address the issues protesters have raised….
Targeted, accountable, and temporary assistance from international organizations with American backing could be the answer…. The United States should urge the international organizations with the greatest weight in Argentina—namely, the Inter-American Development Bank, the World Bank, and the International Labour Organization—to…provide financial assistance to vulnerable populations.
American businesses also have a role to play. They already appear eager to invest in Argentina, since its president is among the world’s most market-friendly. Appealing to self-interest, I would remind them that President Milei stands in stark contrast to China’s Xi Jinping, who is just as willing to inflate his nation’s economy by buying shares as he is to stifle it with iron regulations….
President Milei is an anti-totalitarian, pro-American leader…. This year, he rejected an invitation to join BRICS because he did not want to side with Russia, China, and Iran. As such, the United States has a national interest in supporting President Milei and his common-sense agenda….
