Buenos Aires, Argentina 鈥 Thousands protested across Argentina on Friday to demand food aid for the poor as soaring inflation and President Javier Milei鈥檚 harsh austerity measures take their toll.
Since he took office in December, Milei has slashed public spending, winning the approval of the International Monetary Fund and securing a budget surplus for the first time in 12 years in a country whose previous governments oversaw rampant inflation and multiple fiscal crises.
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However, annual inflation has still risen to 254 percent, the price of bus tickets has more than tripled, and the government has frozen crucial aid to soup kitchens that have ever more mouths to feed.
鈥淚n a little more than two months, this government has generated a very critical situation of poverty,鈥 Alejandro Gramajo of the UTEP union told AFP.
鈥淣o to the increase in transport costs,鈥 protesters chanted, along with cries of 鈥淗unger doesn鈥檛 wait鈥 and 鈥淧ots are empty, pockets are too.鈥
Argentina鈥檚 38,000 meal centers, which provide a hot plate of food to those in need, received their last batch of government-provided supplies in November before Milei 鈥 a libertarian and self-described 鈥渁narcho-capitalist鈥 鈥 was inaugurated.
Milei鈥檚 government says it plans to audit the needs of each individual soup kitchen and put in place a system of direct aid, aiming to exclude intermediaries such as social movements he describes as 鈥減overty managers.鈥
鈥淭here is no money,鈥 said Milei when he took office, vowing to put an end to 鈥渄ecades of decadence鈥 by his overspending predecessors, whose governance was marked by repeated inflationary crises and debt.
The 53-year-old leader devalued the peso by over 50 percent, cut tens of thousands of public jobs and halved the number of government ministries.
An outsider elected on a wave of fury over the country鈥檚 decline, Milei has warned the population that the economic crisis will get worse before it gets better.
鈥淲hen we hit rock bottom, we will bounce back,鈥 he said.
Social tensions are rising, with train drivers and healthcare workers going on strike this week, and teachers due to down tools the next.
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However, Milei鈥檚 government has received praise from the International Monetary Fund 鈥 to which it owes $44 billion 鈥 for its 鈥渂old actions to restore macroeconomic stability.鈥
The government says that monthly inflation is coming under control and should be in the single digits by the second half of the year.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Milei in Buenos Aires on Friday, and said the 鈥渨ork that is being done to stabilize the economy is absolutely vital.鈥
鈥淲e see extraordinary opportunity here in Argentina,鈥 he said, adding the country could 鈥渃ount on鈥 the United States as it works to end its economic crisis.