In Argentina, trains and planes were halted due to a 24-hour general strike opposing President Javier Milei’s austerity measures, which disrupted various services as the nation awaits updates on a new IMF loan.
The strike began at 12:01 am yesterday, just hours after thousands rallied against Mr. Milei’s spending cuts in Buenos Aires.
The central railway station in Constitucion was closed, Jorge Newbery airport was left deserted, and bank branches were shut down.
National airline Aerolineas Argentinas announced that 258 flights had to be canceled, impacting around 20,000 passengers.
This marks the third general strike within the first 16 months of Mr. Milei’s presidency, initiated by unions to protest his “chainsaw” approach to austerity.
During his presidential campaign, Mr. Milei notably used a live chainsaw as a symbol of the cuts he intended to impose on bureaucracy and social spending.
Since taking office, he has drastically reduced subsidies for transportation, fuel, and energy, laid off tens of thousands of public employees, and closed numerous government departments.
While these measures have led to a decrease in inflation and resulted in Argentina’s first budget surplus in over ten years, they have also plunged the country into recession and pushed millions more into poverty within the initial months of Mr. Milei’s administration — although official statistics indicate some improvement in these figures.
Argentina is grappling with one of the highest annual inflation rates globally, yet Mr. Milei’s policies are credited with reducing it from 211% in 2023 to 66%.
Unions argue that these favorable macroeconomic statistics mask the reality of declining purchasing power for the average Argentine.
A peaceful march supporting pensioners, one of the groups most affected by Mr. Milei’s stringent austerity measures, preceded the strike on Wednesday.
This protest action occurs as Buenos Aires eagerly anticipates news regarding a new $20 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund.
The country already owes the IMF $44 billion.
Mr. Milei asserts that this funding will enable his government to pay off debts to the central bank and assist in the “extermination” of inflation, a critical objective as the mid-term legislative campaign nears with his party aiming to bolster its representation in Congress.
His party will face its first assessment this Sunday during provincial elections in Santa Fe, which are viewed as a measure of support for the president’s policies.
Santa Fe represents the third-largest electoral district in Argentina, accounting for approximately eight percent of the national electoral roll.
