Overview On 21 December 2023, Milei announced a
large decree that became known in the media as "Megadecreto", a plan to modify a wide variety of
economic regulations regarding the Argentine economy. In a statement saying that he aims to lay "the foundations for the reconstruction of the Argentine economy and restore freedom and autonomy to individuals,
removing the State from their shoulders", more than 300 regulations were set aside, including significant rent and labour market regulations. The decree is subject to approval by Congress, which was called for an extraordinary session to be held in the first months of 2024. The Milei government said it would not renew contracts for the more than 5000 public sector employees who were hired in 2023, while contracts for other government employees hired prior to 2023 will be reviewed. "The 2023 cutoff is apparently meant to target the practice of outgoing presidents padding the payrolls in their final year". Annual inflation stood at 211% when Milei took office in December 2023, and reached a peak of 289% in April 2024 before falling below 200% for the first time in a year in October 2024. Monthly inflation has come down from 25% in December 2023 to 8.8% in April 2024, more than expected, further dropping to 2.4% by February 2025, the lowest it had been in four years. In December 2023, Milei announced a repeal of Argentina's rent-control laws, which had been in place to stabilize the rent market but had resulted in a 45% drop in housing supply. Since then, Buenos Aires has experienced a 170% rise in housing availability and a 40% drop in real estate prices. The mortgage market has also seen a surge since deregulation, with the number of mortgages signed nationwide tripling between 2023 and 2024. On 10 January 2024, the
IMF agreed to restart payouts to the Argentine treasury. Trade unions in Argentina have opposed Milei's policies, and the
CGT called for a
general strike on 24 January 2024. Milei has aimed to build up the
central bank's foreign-exchange reserves by raising import and export taxes. In an interview published on 31 March 2024, Milei emphasised his continued plans to
dollarise the economy, but saying that the plans are delayed to after the
2025 Argentine legislative election. During the first six months of his presidency, poverty rates increased from 41.7% to 52.9%, briefly peaking at 57.4% at the end of January 2024. By the end of 2024 the government estimated that poverty would be near 38.9%, below the 41.4% left by the government of Alberto Fernández. Conversely, the poverty rate in the third quarter is estimated at 49.9% by the Catholic University of Argentina, and 36.8% by the Torcuato Di Tella University. By the second semester of 2024, poverty levels have fallen sharply to 38%, the lowest since 2022. In February, he announced the elimination of the Compensatory Fund for Public Transport, through which public transport in the country's interior provinces had been subsidized by transfers from the National State. He also did not continue the National Teacher Incentive Fund (FONID), a fund financed by the Nation since 1998 that provided resources to the provinces to improve teachers' salaries. Among other measures, he requested the resignation of
Secretary of Mining Flavia Royon, a person linked to the
Governor of Salta,
Gustavo Sáenz, and of the director of the
ANSES,
Osvaldo Giordano, linked to the
Governor of Córdoba,
Martín Llaryora. In November 2024, the government created the Regime for the Extinction of Reciprocal Obligations, which seeks to resolve financial conflicts with the provinces through the renegotiation of debts between the National State and the provinces and the total or partial extinguishing of obligations. Just two months after its creation,
Catamarca,
Tucumán,
La Pampa,
Chaco, and
Chubut had joined the regime. In 2025, the job market emerged as the biggest concern regarding Milei's economic policies. Between November 2023 and March 2025, private sector jobs fell by 115,000 while state jobs were reduced by 50,000. Jobs in the
informal economy, which have lower salaries and fewer benefits, rose by 224,000 between 2024 and 2025. Purchasing power was also negatively affected - between January and April 2025, salaries in the private sector rose by 9.6, while inflation over that time amounted to 11.6%. Between 2024 and 2025, unemployment increased from 6.4 to 7.9%, becoming the highest unemployment rate in Argentina since 2021. Milei's economic policies were criticized for benefiting the wealthiest parts of Argentine society while disadvantaging the poorest.
El País wrote: "A privileged minority is reliving the travel and shopping boom of the 1990s thanks to a strong peso and a cheap dollar; the middle and lower classes of society, on the other hand, are increasingly cutting back on spending to make ends meet." A July 2025 report from consulting firm Moiguer argued that the partial economic recovery did not reach everyone and deepened current inequalities, as those in upper income brackets while the salaries of middle and lower classes stagnated. In October 2025, President Javier Milei's party, La Libertad Avanza, won a landslide victory in
midterm elections, making it easier for Milei to push ahead with his programme of radical spending cuts and free-market reforms.
Economic policy During the Argentine presidential elections of 2023, Javier Milei had attained victory. Shortly after, he began conducting the most extensive liberalising reforms in the
history of Argentina since the 1990s. The reforms are still ongoing. In his first inaugural speech as President of the Nation, on the steps of the
Congress, he stated that "No government has received a worse inheritance than the one we are receiving" and that there were "twin deficits totaling 17 points of GDP". He also anticipated that the fiscal adjustment policies would generate a period of "
stagflation", a term that combines the words
stagnation (economic stagnation) and
inflation (rising inflation). As a consequence of the drastic cut in
public spending and the economic "shock", the president explained that, in the short term, the situation would worsen, negatively affecting economic activity, employment, real wages, and poverty and indigence rates, but that the adjustment, for which in his view "there is no alternative", would fall mostly on the
public sector and not on the private sector, assuring that these measures would lay the foundations for a future recovery and sustainable growth. On the other hand, year-on-year accumulated inflation for 2023 was 211.4%, with 25.5% monthly inflation in December 2023, according to data from the
INDEC, while reports by
La Nación and
Clarín reported gross public-sector debt of US$419.291 billion, gross reserves at the
BCRA of US$21.168 billion, debt in Liquidity Bills (Leliq) of AR$23 trillion, which generated "an issuance of more than AR$2 trillion a month in interest", monetary issuance equivalent to 20 GDP points, and suppressed utility rates, which "are paid at between 50% and 20% of their real value". The economic team chosen by the president to implement the government's economic policy was made up mainly of former officials from the
Ministry of Finance who had been part of the
Mauricio Macri administration. Prominent among them were
Luis Caputo as
Minister of Economy,
Santiago Bausili as president of the
Central Bank of Argentina and
Pablo Quirno as
Secretary of Finance.
Early days On 12 December 2023, Economy Minister Luis Caputo announced a package of "Emergency Economic Measures", with the aim of "neutralizing the crisis and stabilizing economic variables". Among them were the suspension of payment of the "official advertising budget" to
media outlets for one year (in 2023, 34 billion pesos had been spent), the reduction to the minimum possible of transfers from the national state to the
provinces, the suspension of bidding for
public works and the cancellation of any projects that had not yet begun at that time (announcing that they would be carried out by the
private sector), the reduction of
subsidies to energy and transport
rates, the liberalization of the dollar exchange rate (from 400 to 800), together with a temporary increase in the
PAIS tax on imports and
export duties on non-agricultural exports, and the replacement of the SIRA
import system with a statistics system that was more flexible and freer. It was also announced that all export duties would subsequently be eliminated, on the grounds that they "hinder development". A loan of 913 million dollars was ultimately received from the
CAF to pay the maturities. The elimination of SIRA beginning in January 2024 was confirmed, freeing the entry of imports by removing the need for prior authorization from the BCRA. In addition, 300 million dollars were purchased, mainly from agricultural and energy sectors, with the aim of obtaining reserves, thanks to the change in the exchange rate. Following the measures, on the first day, the gap between the official
dollar and the
blue dollar fell to 30.4%, compared with a 104% devaluation of the official rate, to 830, and a 4% devaluation of the unofficial rate, to 1,070. After this, the BCRA reported that it would use a
crawling peg policy, which consisted of a monthly devaluation of the official dollar value by 2%.
Country risk also fell by 3.9% and the value of Argentine
debt bonds rose. However, there was an average 37% increase in
fuel prices. On 18 December 2023, the Central Bank decided to "reduce benchmark interest rates in pesos for the market", lowering the passive repo rate to 100% annually, as had already been announced previously, and for time deposits from 133% to 110% annually ("the interest that banks were required to pay on deposits"). This was linked precisely to the goal of eliminating Leliqs, since, in the same statement, the BCRA announced that it had "decided to stop holding auctions to offer these securities". Days later it was confirmed that Leliq debt had been reduced from $20,000 million to $2,200 million within a week, and it was also announced that their formal disappearance was dated for 11 January 2024.
State reform With the aim of reducing the
fiscal deficit, an
austerity policy was proposed centered on reducing the budgets of national public agencies, with the objective of cutting public spending by 5 points of GDP, which represented the national state's
budget deficit. Javier Milei's first measure, upon arriving at the presidential office after his inauguration, was signing Decree 8/2023, which reduced the number of ministries from 18 to 9, secretariats from 106 to 54, and undersecretariats from 182 to 140. The next day he decreed a modification to the ban on officials appointing relatives in the national state (so that he could appoint his sister,
Karina Milei, as
General Secretary), and it was announced that public employees would be required to return to "100% in-person attendance", along with a review of the expenditures and contracts of all remaining ministries made in the previous year, with the aim of "finding irregular contracts". This measure also covered contracts in universities and other agencies of the
national state. On 15 December 2023, a budget cut valued by the government at US$3 billion annually in "operating expenses" was announced, which would include a reduction in the fleet of official cars, the sale of two aircraft belonging to
YPF, a reduction of chauffeurs for public officials by 50%, and the elimination of insurance for the paintings at the official residence. On 20 February 2024, the hierarchical structure of
PAMI was reduced, representing "a 24.18% adjustment in hierarchical positions, a 75% cut in Secretariats and the Executive Directorate, a 33% reduction in the number of Managements and nearly 20% fewer Deputy Managements".
Reduction of public employment One of the pillars of the austerity policy was the reduction of employees in public agencies, a process that began only two days after the start of his presidency with the announcement that state employment contracts with less than one year of duration would not be renewed and that employees who had entered during 2023 would be dismissed. By the end of his first year in government, 34,000 workers (approximately 7% of the National State workforce) had been removed from the public sector through various means, generating savings of 3.82 billion dollars
. Agencies modified or eliminated •
Federal Administration of Public Revenues (AFIP): agency replaced by the creation of the
Agencia de Recaudación y Control Aduanero (ARCA), which has an employee structure 34% smaller than that of the previous agency. •
Administración General de Puertos (AGP) and the Undersecretariat of Ports, Navigable Waterways and Merchant Marine: agencies unified following the creation of the
Agencia Nacional de Puertos y Navegación (ANPYN). •
Télam: agency replaced by the creation of the State Advertising Agency (APESA). Of the 780 employees it had in December 2023, 352 signed voluntary departure agreements, 233 became part of the news agency of
Radio y Televisión Argentina (RTA Noticias), and 200 became part of APESA. •
National Institute Against Discrimination, Xenophobia and Racism (INADI): dissolved through Decree 696/2024. •
Ente Nacional de Obras Hídricas de Saneamiento (ENOHSA): dissolved through Decree 1020/2024. •
Trenes Argentinos Capital Humano (DECAHF): dissolved through Resolution 35/2024. •
National Gas Regulator (ENARGAS) and
National Electricity Regulator (ENRE): agencies unified following the creation of the
Ente Nacional Regulador del Gas y la Electricidad (ENRGE). • National Seed Institute (INASE) and National Seed Commission: dissolved by Decree 462/2025 and functions absorbed by the
Secretariat of Agriculture, Livestock, and Fisheries. • National Institute of Family, Peasant and Indigenous Agriculture (INAFCI): dissolved through Decree 462/2025 and functions absorbed by the Secretariat of Agriculture, Livestock, and Fisheries. • National Cancer Institute (INC): absorbed by the
Ministry of Health. • National Institute of Tropical Medicine (INMET): integrated into the
Administración Nacional de Laboratorios e Institutos de Salud (ANLIS) through Decree 458/2025. • Housing Construction for the Navy (COVIARA): absorbed by Playas Ferroviarias de Buenos Aires.
Deregulation of the economy Decree of necessity and urgency On 20 December 2023, Javier Milei gave a
cadena nacional, together with the members of his cabinet and
Federico Sturzenegger, in which he set out 30 (of more than 300) measures adopted by
decree of necessity and urgency (DNU) 70/2023, entitled "Bases for the Reconstruction of the Argentine Economy". Milei argued that the objective of these measures was to definitively eliminate the fiscal deficit, as well as to
fully deregulate the economy, "after decades of failure, impoverishment and anomalies". The DNU was planned and drafted primarily by Federico Sturzenegger, the former president of the Central Bank during the government of Mauricio Macri, as was the legislative package. Among the main measures mentioned were: • The repeal of: the "Rental Law", the
Supply Law, the
Shelf Law, the "Buy National Law", the "Industrial Promotion Law", the "Commercial Promotion Law", the "Land Law", the observatory of prices of the
Ministry of Economy, the regulations preventing the privatization of
public enterprises, and the state company regime. • The amendment of: the "Fire Management Law", the
Civil and Commercial Code, the repeal of Decree No. 743/22 which had established a cap on increases by prepaid medical companies, and the "Companies Law". • The "transformation of all public enterprises into
public limited companies for their subsequent
privatization". • Labour reform: restrictions on the
right to strike, extension of the probationary period, elimination of
severance pay, restrictions on union financing, and priority of company-level
collective agreements over sector-level agreements. • Reform of the
customs code and implementation of the
open skies policy. As soon as the national broadcast ended, protests were recorded in several parts of the country; in several neighborhoods of Buenos Aires there were
cacerolazos and a large demonstration outside the National Congress. Experts in
constitutional law considered that the decree did not meet the requirements demanded by the
National Constitution. A large number of opposition political leaders declared that the DNU was unconstitutional. Civil associations and trade unions filed an
amparo so that it would be declared null and void. For his part, the president defended the package of decreed rules, alleging that the DNU had been established in favor of the market, not of businesses, and that it sought to increase the population's well-being. In addition, he added that the people participating in the cacerolazos were "embracing and in love with the model that impoverishes them". On 30 January 2024, the National Chamber of Labour Appeals declared the unconstitutionality of all of Title IV (labour rules) for being contrary to article 99, paragraph 3, of the National Constitution.
Bases Law and Starting Points for the Freedom of Argentines Together with the announcement of the decree, Milei called extraordinary sessions of the
National Congress, so that it would deal with a related legislative package between 26 December 2023 and 31 January 2024, calling for the chambers' collaboration in moving forward with, in his own words, "this process of change that society chose, in a context of crisis that requires immediate action". On 27 December, the bill titled "Bases and Starting Points for the Freedom of Argentines" (also called the Bases Law) was introduced; it consisted of an
omnibus bill that, according to the government, sought to "restore the economic and social order based on the liberal doctrine embodied in the
National Constitution of 1853". Throughout its 664 articles, it contained legislative delegations to the national
executive power of public emergency powers in economic, financial, fiscal, social, pension, security, defense, tariff, energy, health and social matters for two years, until December 2025. In economic and fiscal matters, among other measures, it launched a capital amnesty, a tax
debt moratorium, a reduction in
tax burdens and an increase in export duties. It also proposed the privatization of state companies and corporations, or those with majority state ownership, including
Aerolineas Argentinas;
ARSAT;
AySA;
Bank of the Argentine Nation;
Banco de Inversión y Comercio Exterior;
Casa de Moneda S.A.,
Correo Argentino;
Enarsa;
Ferrocarriles Argentinos; and Operadora Ferroviaria, among others. On 6 February, despite being approved in general in the Chamber of Deputies, the government decided to send the bill back to committee after many of its articles were rejected in the article-by-article vote. The bill was ultimately taken up again on 30 April and was finally approved on 27 June. However, the approved bill underwent various changes, among which the elimination of the chapter ending the pension moratorium stood out; the industries covered by the Large Investment Incentive Regime (RIGI) were limited to only 5 (
forestry industry,
infrastructure,
mining,
energy and
technology); and only the privatization of Enarsa, Intercargo, AySA, Belgrano Cargas y Logística, Operadora Ferroviaria and Corredores Viales was authorized, among other things.
Exchange-rate policy During the government's first year, the BCRA maintained restrictions on the purchase of dollars and established a
crawling peg policy, which consisted of a 2% monthly devaluation of the official dollar value. The following month, there was speculation about a possible new agreement with the
IMF, which generated uncertainty that resulted in seven consecutive sessions in which the BCRA suffered reserve losses to contain the exchange-rate gap. On 8 April, the IMF finally agreed to provide financing of 20 billion dollars, and with this, three days later, Caputo and the president of the BCRA announced an end to currency controls with a
managed floating exchange-rate regime, also called a "dirty float", with bands between 1,000 and 1,400 pesos per dollar, adjusted monthly by 1%. When the wholesale dollar quotation reached the upper band, the BCRA would sell dollars, and when it reached the lower band it would buy. Despite this, the BCRA could operate in the futures market to influence a drop in the quotation. In the context of the
legislative elections and the unwinding of Fiscal Liquidity Notes (LEFIs), the government tightened its monetary policy through intervention in the futures market and the constant raising of reserve requirements and interest rates with the aim of ensuring that the surplus of pesos would not lead to higher inflation, which contributed to a cooling of economic activity. On 9 September 2025, the government announced that it would intervene through Treasury foreign-currency sales to contain exchange-rate pressure, even if the dollar price did not pass the ceiling of the floating band. Days later, on 18 September, Caputo stated that the Central Bank would "sell up to the last dollar at the top of the band" in order to sustain the managed float policy. Between 17 and 19 September, the monetary authority sold 1.11 billion dollars in reserves, including 678 million in a single day, one of the ten largest daily interventions since 2003, and country risk reached 1,200 points. On 22 September, before markets opened,
United States Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent published a statement declaring that the Treasury would be willing to do whatever was necessary to support Argentina, through
swap lines or through the purchase of foreign currency or dollar-denominated government debt from the Exchange Stabilization Fund. The statement calmed the exchange-rate turbulence, with a fall in the dollar quotation to around 1,366 pesos and a reduction in country risk. Between the announcement and 26 October, the day of the legislative elections, the U.S. Treasury sold more than 2 billion dollars on the foreign-exchange market to defend the top of the band. The pesos obtained through its interventions were invested in local-currency notes issued by the BCRA at an undisclosed rate. On 5 November, the Treasury unwound its investment in notes, activating a 20 billion dollar tranche of the currency swap announced earlier.
Social impact The devaluation in December and the set of shock measures included in the economic emergency package caused an increase in poverty of 10% (rising from 44.8% to 54.8%) and in extreme poverty of 6.4% in the first quarter of the year. In numbers, 24.9 million citizens were in poverty and of those, 7.8 million were in extreme poverty. Poverty among retirees grew by more than double, rising from 13.2% in the first half of 2023 to 30.8% in the first half of 2024, so that 1 in 3 retirees was poor and 542,000 of them fell into poverty.
Industrial impact In the first quarter of 2024, Argentine industrial production fell to its lowest levels since the
COVID-19 pandemic, to 53.4% of capacity. The sectors with the lowest use of installed capacity for production were construction materials (47.2%), plastics and rubber production (44.1%), the
textile industry (38.5%), and
metalworking (38%). By July of that year, the Association of National Businesspeople for Argentine Development published a report stating that in the government's first six months, approximately 10,000 SMEs had closed due to the collapse in economic activity following the December devaluation, which caused an increase in inflation and a deterioration in the purchasing power of wages and pensions. The fall in consumption in his first year in office caused a year-on-year decline in the Monthly Estimator of Economic Activity (EMAE), produced by INDEC. For the first 10 months in office, the contraction in economic activity was 2.7%. The sectors most affected were construction and manufacturing industry. One of the sectors that most mitigated the year-on-year decline in activity in the index was agriculture, which had gone through a drought in 2023 and reached increases of 98.4% in May and 80.1% in June. According to an analysis by Misión Productiva, based on a report by the
United Nations, Argentina had a 9.4% decline in industrial activity during 2024. The collapse in industrial activity had its counterpart in employment (-2.2% compared with the previous year). At the beginning of 2025, economic activity showed a year-on-year improvement of 6.5% in January, 5.7% in February and 5.6% in March. Sectoral performance for March recorded a recovery compared with 2024, a year in which activity suffered a particularly low level following the initial effects of the government's adjustment policies. The standout sectors with growth were financial intermediation (29.3%), construction (9.9%), trade (9.3%), mining (5.7%) and industry (4.2%). Meanwhile, the hotel and restaurant sector and electricity, gas and water continued to decline (-4.3 and -3.6, respectively).
Loss of businesses Between November 2023 and November 2025, a total of 21,938 companies were lost (a 4.3% drop in the total number of companies), marking the worst decline in the first 24 months of a government since the late 1990s. The most affected sectors were transport and storage services (down 13.3%), real estate (-10.4%), construction (-8%), professional and scientific services (-7.4%), and industry (-4.9%). In the same period, 290,600 thousand jobs were lost (a drop of 3%). a 100% reduction in road corridors and a 55.9% reduction in
Enarsa. Regarding public works, in May 2024 the president of the Argentine Chamber of Construction (CAMARCO) estimated that between 3,500 and 4,000 public works projects were halted and that more than one hundred thousand jobs had been lost. Faced with this situation, some governors signed over certain public works projects, which until then had been under the national government's responsibility, so they could continue them with their own funds. For 2025, the government created the Federal Concessions Network, a concession system for the operation and maintenance of stretches of
road in the Federal Road Network, with the aim that the state-owned company Corredores Viales would cease operating them. On 15 January of that year, the first stage of the bidding process began, involving Road Corridor 18, which includes
National Routes 12 and
14 and the
Rosario-Victoria Bridge.
Energy policy The energy area during the administration was under the Ministry of Economy. The first Secretary of Energy was
Eduardo Chirillo, who remained in office until 17 October 2024, when he resigned for health reasons and was replaced by PRO economist María Tettamanti. On 29 May 2024, during the
autumn season, gas supply to certain industries and thermoelectric plants was suspended due to the delay in the purchase of this resource, worth five hundred million dollars, from the Brazilian company
Petrobras. This purchase had been made as an emergency measure, due to increased demand and the inability of energy infrastructure to meet it in time. The government excused itself by stressing that it was a year with atypical temperatures and that demand had increased by nearly 55% year-on-year. The opposition accused the government of being responsible for this shortage because it had halted construction of the first stage of the
Perito Francisco Pascasio Moreno Gas Pipeline (formerly known as the Néstor Kirchner Gas Pipeline), which consists of the construction of two compressor plants in Tratayén and
Salliqueló and which would have supplied the country with the necessary infrastructure to avoid problems with gas supply. According to former
Secretary of Energy Flavia Royon, the work in Tratayén was, as of December 2023, 82% complete and should have continued. In June of that same year, construction of the first compressor plant of the gas pipeline in Tratayén was completed. In December 2024, the president of the
Council of Advisors of the President,
Demian Reidel, announced the implementation of an
Argentine Nuclear Plan, consisting of the creation of an Argentine Nuclear Council that would carry out the arrangements for the construction, as a first stage, of a small modular reactor (SMR) at the
Atucha Nuclear Complex and the development, as a second stage, of
uranium reserves to cover domestic demand and export high value-added fuels. During Javier Milei's administration, an accelerated cut in energy subsidies was carried out as part of a broader fiscal adjustment program. During 2024, the Government reduced energy subsidies by approximately USD 2.7 billion in the first seven months and the adjustment continued in 2025. The strategy was associated with the declaration of emergency in the energy sector and the decision to move toward a scheme in which tariffs cover the real cost of the service, in line with fiscal goals and the macroeconomic commitments discussed with the IMF. The cut had a strong impact on the tariffs paid by users. Significant increases in electricity and gas bills were documented, especially for middle-income users, who began to bear almost the full cost of the service. Reports in the press indicated that, in the Greater Buenos Aires area, tariffs registered cumulative increases of several hundred percentage points since the end of 2023.
Transport policy Railways On 13 June 2024, a 24-month public railway emergency was declared, assigning an additional budget of 1.3 trillion pesos for maintenance works and the purchase of rolling stock. In December of that year, the government dissolved
Trenes Argentinos Capital Humano (DECAHF), which had a budget for that year of 42 billion pesos, and dismissed its 1,388 employees. Through the Ley Bases, the government was authorized to privatize
Trenes Argentinos Operaciones and
Trenes Argentinos Cargas. In October 2024, the intention to privatize Trenes Argentinos Cargas was announced, and in November the process was announced to tender, in the first quarter of 2025, the 7 railway lines so that they would be operated by private companies, including those already operated by private entities such as the
Urquiza Line (
Metrovías) and the
Belgrano Norte Line (
Ferrovías).
Air transport In July 2024, the government regulated the articles relating to the Aeronautical Code of DNU 70/2023, establishing an open skies policy, which eliminated the exclusivity of Aerolíneas Argentinas and eased the entry of foreign airlines. By the end of 2024, the country had already signed bilateral agreements to adopt the open skies policy with 11 countries. In November of that year, the deregulation of ramp services at airports was announced, ending the monopoly of the state-owned company Intercargo, which is on the list of companies authorized to be privatized under the Ley Bases.
Bus transport In February 2024, the government eliminated the Interior Compensation Fund, which, through transfers from the National State, subsidized public transport in provinces in the interior of the country. This fund, in 2023, had contributed about 102 000 million pesos in subsidies. Following the policy of reducing subsidies, the annual variation in State spending on transport subsidies between 2023 and 2024 was -20.9%. By December 2025 it was 494.83. In September 2024, the national government transferred to the
Government of the City of Buenos Aires the control and administration of the bus lines operating within CABA, also granting it the authority to set fares.
Road infrastructure At the beginning of the term, the government drastically reduced investment in public road works, cutting allocations intended for maintenance and the execution of inherited projects and halting much of the work that was underway when it took office; capital resources linked to road infrastructure went from representing a relevant percentage of spending to falling by nearly 75% in real terms. In 2025, the government ordered the dissolution of the National Highway Directorate, generating uncertainty about the continuity of the road network covering more than 40,000 kilometers, arguing that this measure would combat inefficient practices and reduce the State. However, the National Congress rejected several executive decrees that included the dissolution of the agency, leading the government to revoke the proposed modifications and restore the validity of National Highways.
Electoral policy The designated
Chief of the Cabinet was
Guillermo Francos, who proposed the implementation of an
electoral reform, which would include the elimination of the
open, simultaneous, and compulsory primaries (PASO) and the implementation of a single ballot system, either paper or electronic, which had already been approved by the Chamber of Deputies since 2022. On 1 October 2024, with the support of the UCR and the PRO, the law modifying the National Electoral Code was enacted, introducing the Single Paper Ballot (BUP) as the voting instrument in national elections. In January 2025, the government called extraordinary sessions and placed among the bills to be discussed the Clean Record bill, which consists of an amendment to the Organic Law of Political Parties and the Law on Democratization of Political Representation, making people convicted on appeal for crimes linked to public administration ineligible to hold public office.
Defense policy , December 2025|246x246px At the beginning of the administration, former vice-presidential candidate
Luis Petri took office at the
Ministry of Defense. In a meeting with the
Joint Chiefs of Staff, he announced that he would emphasize restoring the value of the
Armed Forces, as well as "guaranteeing the territorial integrity of national sovereignty". The
Joint Chiefs of Staff of the Armed Forces was one of the few areas that did not experience the effects of the "
chainsaw" on its spending, with an 18.6% increase in its budget. On December 16, Petri announced a ban on the use of "
inclusive language" in the Armed Forces. The following day, in the context of the storms in
Buenos Aires Province, which left 13 dead, he made the Armed Forces available to assist victims and control damage. In January 2024,
Xavier Julián Isaac of the Air Force was appointed
chief of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the Armed Forces, with the rank of
brigadier general. Meanwhile, in the
Army,
Carlos Alberto Presti was appointed with the rank of
general of division; in the
Navy,
Carlos María Allievi with the rank of
vice admiral; and in the
Air Force,
Fernando Luis Mengo with the rank of
brigadier general. He also forced 22 generals into retirement, while others became part of the Ministry of Defense. With these removals and appointments, commanders who had ties to the previous government were left out of the Army's leadership structure. On November 21 of that year, Petri decided to dismiss
Fernando Luis Mengo for "improper use of aircraft" of the armed force. Thus, on December 4, 2024, he installed Brigadier
Gustavo Javier Valverde as Chief of the General Staff of the Air Force (JEMGFA). For the
October 2025 legislative elections, Petri ran as a candidate for deputy of the Nation and was elected with 53.63% of the vote. To succeed him, the government appointed the then
Chief of the General Staff of the Army, Lieutenant General Carlos Alberto Presti. The last military officer to hold that office had been
rear admiral Norberto Couto, appointed during the
de facto administration of
Roberto Eduardo Viola in 1981. Following his appointment, Presti changed the entire top military command, appointing
Marcelo Dalle Nogare as chief of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the Armed Forces, with the rank of
vice admiral; in the
Army,
Oscar Zarich with the rank of
general of division; in the
Navy,
Juan Carlos Romay with the rank of
vice admiral; and in the
Air Force,
Gustavo Valverde with the rank of
brigadier major. Although the tradition in Argentina's foreign policy had been the "
principle of non-intervention", in June 2024 Argentina joined the Rammstein Contact Group, a group of countries working to coordinate logistical and military support for
Ukraine following the
Russian invasion of Ukraine. During 2025, a sharp increase in voluntary departures from the Armed Forces was recorded. According to a report from the Chief of the Cabinet of Ministers presented in September of that year, since December 2023 more than 18,000 personnel had requested separation, consisting of 840 officers, 2,398 non-commissioned officers, and 15,421 volunteer soldiers. While the Defense Ministry maintained that the situation was not unprecedented and would be offset by new intakes and salary improvements, various media outlets stated that the departures were associated with factors such as low salaries, lack of equipment, deficiencies in military health care, and professional demotivation.
Acquisitions In April 2024, a purchase agreement was signed with
Denmark for the acquisition of twenty-four
multirole fighters Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon Block 15 MLU (sixteen single-seat and eight two-seater), from the
Royal Danish Air Force. With this acquisition, Argentina regained the
supersonic interception capability lost in 2015 with the retirement of the
Mirage IIIEA and
M-V Dagger. In July 2024, the government spent $10 million to reactivate a purchase agreement with
Norway for 4
Lockheed P-3 Orion aircraft (3 P-3C and one P-3N), for a total amount of $67 million. The operation was supposed to be finalized during Alberto Fernández's administration; however, it had remained inactive because payment deadlines had not been met. The first P-3 arrived in September of the same year. In December, the
Argentine Army received 10 TAM tanks, modernized to the
2C-A2 version. In July 2025, in
Washington, Minister
Luis Petri signed an agreement for the purchase of an unspecified number of
armoured personnel carriers
Stryker, some surplus from the
United States Army, although most will be newly manufactured. A total of 156 armored vehicles is expected to be acquired. In August, the Argentine Air Force received an
Embraer E-140 medium transport aircraft, strengthening its transport capabilities. At the end of 2025, the
Chief of the Army, Lieutenant General Carlos Alberto Presti, was appointed Minister of Defense effective December 10, 2025, replacing Petri, who would leave office to assume a seat in the Chamber of Deputies. The appointment marked a historic event in democratic Argentina, as he is the first active-duty military officer to occupy that post since the
return of democracy in 1983.
Security policy Patricia Bullrich|246x246px The appointed
Minister of Security was
Patricia Bullrich, who had already held the same office during the
presidency of Mauricio Macri. Throughout the campaign, emphasis was placed on fighting crime, using the slogan "Those who do it will pay for it", and criticizing what he calls the "
Zaffaroni doctrine". He proposed a reform of the law on internal security,
national defense and
intelligence, and a modification of the "
prison system and the criminal procedure
penal code". The security area was one of the few areas that did not experience a severe cut in spending in the face of the "chainsaw" policy in public spending. In this context, on December 2, 2025, the appointment of Alejandra Monteoliva, who was then serving as Secretary of National Security, as the new minister was made official. On December 10, 2024, the regulations for the
acquisition and possession of firearms were modified, lowering the minimum age for obtaining the lawful-user credential from 21 to 18 years. In 2024, the country's crime statistics fell to 3.8 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, the second-lowest rate in
Latin America and an improvement over 2023, when it was 4.4 cases. In the
Global Peace Index, the country maintained its position in the ranking, placing 47th.
Public Order Protocol The issue of
piquetes was a recurring topic during the election campaign. Milei always stated that he would guarantee citizens' right to free movement, impaired by street blockades, particularly in the
City of Buenos Aires. In his inaugural speech, Milei stated that "Those who block will not get paid", implying that anyone participating in a piquete would be denied any form of state
welfare. On December 14, Minister Bullrich, at a press conference, presented the new nationwide "Public Order Protocol". Among the main points were: • "The four federal forces plus the federal penitentiary service will intervene in the face of roadblocks, piquetes and blockades." "They may intervene in accordance with the current procedural codes. If there is a
in flagrante delicto, they will be able to intervene." "They will use the minimum necessary and sufficient force. It will be graduated according to the resistance." • "Action will be taken until the circulation space has been cleared." • "The perpetrators, accomplices and instigators of this offense will be identified. So too will the vehicles and their drivers." "The data of the perpetrators, accomplices, participants, instigators and organizers will be sent to the corresponding enforcement authorities." "A registry will be created of the organizations that participate in this type of act." • "We will work in train stations when we detect people in possession of material that should be seized." • "In the case of foreigners with temporary residence, the information will be sent to the
National Directorate for Migration." • "A competent judge will be notified in the event of
environmental damage during demonstrations." • "In the case of the participation of children and adolescents, the competent child-protection authority will be notified and sanctions will be imposed." • "For all costs associated with security operations, the bill will be sent to the responsible organizations or individuals."
Intelligence Secretariat On December 13, through Decree 24/2023, Javier Milei intervened in the
Federal Intelligence Agency (AFI), appointing Silvestre Sívori as its intervener. The intervention is expected to last two years, "during which staff reductions and other measures in the use of resources will be advanced". At the beginning of January 2024, in the context of an
audit of contracts and spending, hundreds of employees of the agency connected to the previous administration were dismissed. At the same time, five retired military officers were appointed, incorporating sectors of
military intelligence, although by law they cannot conduct domestic intelligence, only intelligence on external threats. On July 23, 2024, the government made official the dissolution of the Federal Intelligence Agency and the return of the
Secretariat of Intelligence (SIDE), to which it assigned 100 billion pesos and established that the funds would be "classified".
Sergio Neiffert was appointed head of the secretariat without going through Congress, and SIDE was constituted as a presidential secretariat. The new modifications carried out in the Intelligence Law made it possible to conduct
counterintelligence on any person or organization because of their "political opinion, or adherence or membership in party, social, or trade union organizations". On August 21 of that year, the opposition rejected the government decree assigning 100 billion pesos in classified funds to SIDE, with 156 votes in favor, 52 against, and 6 abstentions. In September 2025, the bicameral committee of the National Congress rejected the National Intelligence Plan for the first time in its history, considering that it enabled SIDE to carry out illegal intelligence work against politicians, social organizations, and journalists.
Plan Bandera The case of
Rosario was a focal point of Javier Milei's electoral campaign, because violence caused by organized crime had made the city in Santa Fe the most unsafe in the country and the one with the highest homicide rate, particularly linked to criminal organizations dedicated to trafficking
illegal drugs. In 2022, already under the mayoralty of
Pablo Javkin, 288 homicides were recorded, the highest figure recorded up to that time, surpassing the previous record of 271 homicides in 2013. By 2022 more than 70% of intentional homicides in this city of Santa Fe were associated with criminal organizations, and nearly 75% were planned rather than spontaneous. On December 18, 2023, the Minister of Security of the Nation,
Patricia Bullrich, together with the
Governor of Santa Fe,
Maximiliano Pullaro, and the mayor of Rosario, Pablo Javkin, announced the "Plan Bandera" in an event held at the
National Flag Memorial, intended to "strengthen security in Santa Fe Province". At the beginning of March 2024, in a context of threats against authorities and murders of civilians, the Executive Branch formed an Operational Board together with local and provincial authorities. At the same time, the intervention of the city by the Federal Security Forces was announced, as well as the intention to deploy the Armed Forces to combat illicit organizations. According to the Government, this was aimed at coordinating both forces and ministries in the fight against
drug trafficking, by providing greater equipment capacity,
radar coverage,
helicopters,
drones, aircraft, etc. However, only the
Gendarmerie, the
Federal Police, the
Prefecture, and the
Airport Security Police were included in the resolution as part of the reinforcement. The transfer of military personnel to reinforce the entire
northern border was also announced. By August of that year,
homicides in Rosario had been reduced by nearly 60%, while in areas and neighborhoods with a presence of the Federal Forces the drop reached 72%
Modification of the Juvenile Penal Regime On June 28, 2024, during a press conference,
Bullrich and the
Minister of Justice,
Mariano Cúneo-Libarona, publicly presented a
bill jointly drafted by both ministries, which seeks to establish a new Juvenile Penal Regime by lowering the age of criminal responsibility to 13. Under
Javier Milei's phrase "adult crime, adult punishment", the new penal system for young people proposes, among other points, that adolescents between 13 and 18 years old be charged for an act defined as a
crime in the
Penal Code, being housed in special establishments separate from penitentiaries under the care of qualified personnel, where they will be subject to adaptation and social reintegration processes. Currently, the legislation in force sets the minimum age of criminal responsibility at 16, with those under 16 exempt from criminal responsibility. However, the Government considers that this regime established in 1980 must be updated.
Decree on concealment and laundering of assets of criminal origin On June 5, Decree 496 was published, including a modification to RePET (the Public Registry of Persons and Entities Linked to Acts of Terrorism and its Financing, created in 2019 by Decree 489) that established a very broad margin for defining who can be incorporated into it. It established that "any natural person, legal person or entity regarding whom the Ministry of Security and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Worship, within the framework of their functions, investigations or reports, had reasonable grounds to suspect is linked to a real or potential external threat to national security" could be added. This drew the attention of the
Permanent Assembly for Human Rights for creating "a combination of legal instruments characteristic of an
authoritarian state".
Reform of the Argentine Federal Police (PFA) On June 17, 2025, Javier Milei together with Patricia Bullrich announced the structural reform of the
Argentine Federal Police through Decree 383/2025, which led to the creation of the
Departamento Federal de Investigaciones, a unit within the PFA specialized in intelligence and criminal investigation tasks.
Social policy Sandra Pettovello was designated by Javier Milei to lead the
Ministry of Human Capital, which encompasses the jurisdictions previously covered by the
Ministry of Education, the
Ministry of Social Development, and the
Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security. During the election campaign, Milei announced that this ministry was the only one that "had an open wallet", since he understood that the economic reforms were going to harm social well-being in the short term, and that "social containment" would have to be provided especially to the lower classes. It is estimated that by the time of Javier Milei's inauguration,
poverty stood at 44.7% and
indigence at 9.6%, and in the case of children and adolescents it stood at 62%. During the broadcast of the "Emergency Economic Measures" by
Luis Caputo on December 12, the doubling of the budget of the
Universal Child Allowance (AUH) and a 50% increase in the budget of the "tarjeta Alimentar" were also announced, with the aim of ensuring the social well-being of the lower classes during the economic reforms. The continuation of the "Potenciar Trabajo" bonus was also announced, but guaranteeing that it would be provided without intermediaries, as also with the AUH and the tarjeta Alimentar. On December 26, 2023, "the audit of all Potenciar Trabajo social plans, which are well over a million, to detect irregularities" was announced, as well as the claim that "160,000 Potenciar Trabajo holders were receiving the benefit illegitimately". It was also confirmed that about 8,500 Potenciar Trabajo plans being received by
public employees would be terminated. On May 13, 2024, the Ministry of Human Capital filed a complaint for "breach of the duties of a public official" and "fraud against the Public Administration" because, according to an internal audit, approximately half of the soup kitchens and snack centers registered in the National Registry of Soup Kitchens (RENACOM) did not exist (either because they never existed or because they had stopped operating years earlier), and funds would have been transferred from the National State to bank accounts that did not belong either to soup kitchens or social centers. One particular case was verified of an allegedly nonexistent soup kitchen that "operated" in a
gated community (
country). However, it also became known that one of the soup kitchens denounced as nonexistent was operating Monday through Friday and had even received the audit officials.
Case over the refusal to distribute food The Government did not distribute food packages from the inauguration on December 10, 2023. This fact, which had been denounced since February 2024 by political activist
Juan Grabois, led to the
Church, which had already protested in February, accusing the government on May 27 of holding back 5 million kilograms of food that were not being distributed among those most in need in the midst of a food emergency. In addition, Sandra Pettovello, responsible for food distribution as minister, was reported over the matter. Faced with this situation, presidential spokesman
Manuel Adorni acknowledged the existence of that quantity of food and clarified that "the food is going to be distributed and will reach the people it has to reach", and
Patricia Bullrich excused herself by stating that "nothing is being kept, quite the opposite, what is being done is preventing food from being stolen". Finally, on May 27, a court ruling required the Government to distribute the food through community soup kitchens within 72 hours, and the Government promised to explain the reasons why the food was not being distributed. The Government appealed this judicial decision, although it acknowledged that there were products close to expiring and assured that it would deliver them immediately with the Army. In turn, official Pablo de la Torre was dismissed for "poor performance". The
Organization of Ibero-American States, which in December signed an agreement with the Government "for the provision of temporary personnel services and the acquisition of food intended to improve the nutritional quality of vulnerable families", distanced itself from the Government's actions through a statement. The OEI thus stated that they carried "out the hiring of providers for various functions requested by that office", but that "the selection of profiles corresponds exclusively to the Secretariat and that they limit themselves to carrying out the decisions and procedures established by it". In the face of the Government's passivity in distributing the food, different judges from different provinces, among them
Sebastián Casanello, issued "orders to produce with search in default" to be carried out by the
Gendarmerie in different warehouses during June 1. On June 6, the food still had not been distributed, so a judge again ordered that it be distributed in less than 24 hours. Even so, on June 18 they had still not been distributed, and the judge again found the Government's plan insufficient and ordered it to distribute the food within 72 hours. On June 25, Pettovello again failed to comply with Casanello's judicial order, using as an excuse that it was the previous government's fault and that each province should distribute the goods (5,825,946 kilograms of food as of June 19). Pettovello failed in her appeal when the Federal Chamber of Criminal Cassation confirmed the order to present a plan for the distribution of food intended for social soup kitchens. The ruling, handed down by 3 judges, underscored the Government's lack of forceful argumentation. On July 25, 2024, the Federal Administrative Litigation Court decided to dismiss the motion for reconsideration and the subsidiary appeal presented by the government against the measure obliging it to detail the plan for delivering food to social soup kitchens and gave it until Monday the 29th. On August 15, 2024, the Federal Chamber of Criminal Cassation rejected the extraordinary appeal filed by Sandra Pettovello and
Rodolfo Barra by which they were attempting to take the case to the
Supreme Court of Argentina, thus exhausting the possible avenues of judicial appeal for the Ministry of Human Capital, which would be obliged to deliver the food that had remained stored and undistributed. created by former president
Alberto Fernández. The functions of the dissolved ministry were assigned to the Undersecretariat for Protection against Gender Violence, which was initially placed within the
Ministry of Human Capital and was transferred on May 24, 2024, to the
Ministry of Justice. Finally, on June 6, 2024, the undersecretariat was definitively closed. Javier Milei's government cut the appropriations of the former ministry by 33 percent together with the
Plan Nacional de Prevención del Embarazo No Intencional en la Adolescencia created during the administration of former president
Mauricio Macri and continued by
Alberto Fernández. In turn, by presidential decree, the use of
inclusive language and everything related to the
gender perspective in documents of the national public administration was prohibited. The Latin American Team for Justice and Gender carried out monitoring of the implementation and budget execution of all policies intended to prevent and address gender violence issues, and those aimed at reducing gender inequality in the first semester. It showed a major year-on-year budgetary setback. ELA reported that 19 public policies against violence were being dismantled. The Undersecretariat that until a few weeks earlier had addressed gender issues suffered an 80% reduction in real budget execution compared with the first semester of 2023, and the year-on-year budget execution of line 144 was reduced by 38% in the first semester of the year. In December 2024, the government announced that the murders of women for that year were reduced by more than 10%. This is corroborated by data published by Casa del Encuentro showing that there was an 11% reduction in 2024 compared with 2023. From January 1 to October 31, 2023 there were 275 victims and in 2024, for that same period, this was reduced to 243 victims. This was also confirmed by the report of the Lucía Pérez Observatory, which indicated an 11% reduction, from 324 femicides in 2023 to 291 in 2024. For the femicides of 2025, the Lucía Pérez Observatory reported that there were 271 femicides.
Policy toward indigenous peoples On December 28, 2023, organizations of
indigenous peoples decided to lift the encampment they had maintained in Plaza de Mayo after being received by Patricia Bullrich and Waldo Wolff. This encampment had been maintained since February 2020, for four years, because they had never managed to be received by President Alberto Fernández, in protest over recognition of their ancestral territories, the Indigenous Community Land Ownership law, and a Plurinational and Plurilingual State. In May 2024, 35 indigenous organizations of Argentina submitted a document to the
UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues denouncing the situation indigenous peoples were experiencing, how the existence of indigenous communities was being threatened, and how Milei's policies "deepen the process". At the same time, they expressed opposition to the proposal to repeal Law 26,160, which declared the indigenous territorial emergency and suspended the enforcement of
evictions from lands occupied by indigenous peoples. On December 10, by means of Decree 1083/2024, the government repealed Law No. 26,160 and Decree No. 805 of November 17, 2021, which had extended the emergency in "indigenous lands"; in this way, it allowed the acceleration of eviction operations over territories that are
disputed and in conflict with organizations representing indigenous peoples. In January 2025, the government carried out the first eviction after the repeal of the law, expelling the groups that had been occupying since 2020 the El Maitenal section in
Los Alerces National Park, whom the government described as false
Mapuches. The arrival of
Federico Sturzenegger at the
Ministry of Deregulation and Transformation of the State and his announcement that he would eliminate the
National Institute of Indigenous Affairs (INAI) provoked the rejection of Faustino Peloc, a
cacique of the
Qolla, who stated that the INAI was a fundamental tool for his peoples. "It helped us a lot; it was created through a law, and it is wrong for this government to want to eliminate it".
Educational policy In July 2024, President Javier Milei launched the National Literacy Plan as a space for training, participation, and communication among representatives sent by the educational jurisdictions.
Educational vouchers for private schools In March 2024, the launch of educational
vouchers was announced, a campaign promise of President Javier Milei. It is a new system of state funding for private education, through which the national government created a subsidy for the legal guardians of students to send students to private schools. The
voucher is for families who send their children to private institutions at the initial, primary, and secondary levels with a subsidy of 75% or more and a fee not exceeding $54,396. Initially, the amount of the
voucher is 27,000
Argentine pesos (32
USD). As of 10 May, a total of 1 million Argentine students would be covered by the
voucher, at a cost to the state of approximately 32 million dollars per month. In July, the duration of the educational program through December 2024 was announced.
University policy During the previous administration, the creation of new universities was discussed in Congress, and the creation of the National University of Río Tercero, National University of Pilar, National University of the Delta, and National University of Ezeiza was approved. At the beginning of 2024, the Government halted the opening of the aforementioned institutions, citing budgetary problems and the impossibility of maintaining them, and what it said was to "avoid the duplication and overlap of hierarchical structures and ensure that the educational offer meets the required quality and relevance". On 16 May 2024, the
Ministry of Human Capital announced the reactivation only of the creation of the National University of Río Tercero.
Budget conflict Faced with the prospect of a general strike by university unions over the national Government's failure to update the budget for higher education after extending it at 2023 values for the year 2024, in March the budget for national universities was increased by 70% in a context of 250% year-on-year inflation. That same month, at a meeting of businesspeople from the energy sector, President Milei again spoke out against public education, both "privately managed" and "state-run", arguing in his speech that they "have done a great deal of harm by brainwashing people". On 23 April 2024, a massive university march took place in
Federal Capital,
Córdoba,
Rosario,
Mar del Plata and the main cities of at least 14 provinces in response to the underfunding of the public university system by the Government of Javier Milei and the lack of a budget update for that year. This conflict has been intensifying due to disagreements over the budget allocated to the area and demands from the university sector. The main gathering was in front of the Argentine National Congress, followed by a demonstration in the
Plaza de Mayo and a central event in front of the
Casa Rosada, where a joint document was read. Various educational institutions, student, scientific, and human-rights organizations, as well as political and union representatives, took part in the march in defense of public and university education. From the Government, through the presidential spokesperson, they asserted that the budget discussion over universities "is settled" and that "the presence of different (political) organizations has turned it into a political march". On 15 May 2024, in an agreement between the Government and the
University of Buenos Aires, it was decided to lift the state of budgetary emergency of that institution after agreeing to the transfer from the
Ministry of Human Capital of two reinforcement appropriations (one of
ARS 26 billion for operating expenses and the second of 35 billion for university hospitals), while at the same time the demand for wage recomposition for teachers and researchers remains. Because only the UBA received funding, that same day the National Interuniversity Council emphasized in a statement that the demand by the other 60 public universities continues and that they are still requesting the transfer of the funds necessary for their operation. The
National Interuniversity Council stated that "the salary of university personnel registered a 45% drop in real terms, placing numerous workers below the poverty line, a situation that affects around 50% of the total staff". On 9 August, after a meeting of rectors and union representatives of university teaching and non-teaching staff with Alejandro Álvarez and María Rosana Reggi, undersecretary of University Policies and undersecretary of Development and Modernization of Public Employment respectively, the university unions called a three-day strike starting on 10 August because no agreement was reached on salaries. While the Argentine Government offered a wage increase of 3% for August and 2% for September, the teachers were demanding an increase of 40% to match inflation.
Veto of the National Universities Funding Law Proposed by the
UCR and
Encuentro Federal, it provided for updating the university budget based on the previous year's inflation, and wage recomposition for teaching and non-teaching staff based on the CPI, but subsidiarily to collective bargaining. Despite being approved by both chambers, the government vetoed the law and managed to have the Chamber of Deputies uphold the veto.
Changes to the immigration regime In December 2024, the government announced, through the presidential spokesperson, a measure seeking to impose fees on university education and medical services for foreigners not resident in the country. However, there are no foreign students, because one of the requirements to study at university is to have an Argentine DNI. The initiative, included in a broader reform, would entail amending the Higher Education Law (Law 24,521), under which higher education is free of charge, and would allow public universities what, according to the spokesperson, would represent "an alternative source of funding for institutions". Each university would have autonomy to decide whether to implement this fee.
Finocchiaro Law On 15 August 2024, two educational bills were approved in the
lower chamber of the National Congress. The first was the Finocchiaro Law, proposed and promoted by
PRO deputy
Alejandro Finocchiaro. The bill declares education to be a "Strategic Essential Service" at all levels and modalities covered by compulsory schooling, establishing that the National State and the provinces must guarantee the full exercise of the right to education throughout the school year on school days affected by strikes, while also regulating the right of teachers to strike. To this end, the initiative provides for a system of mandatory minimum staffing by teaching and non-teaching personnel to ensure the opening of educational establishments throughout the country. Among other points, it proposes that protests be carried out only when 30% of educational staff are available to provide the corresponding services during the first two days of a strike. If it lasts longer, the percentage will increase to 50%.
Technical education Since the beginning of Javier Milei's term, the budget for technical and vocational education has maintained a downward trend in real and executed terms. According to reports based on the 2025 and 2026 budget bills, the National Fund for Technical and Vocational Education (FoNETP) has been collapsing: in 2023, close to 50.5% of what corresponded to it was executed; in 2024, 9.4%; and in 2025, 10.8% of the planned resources. Including projected reductions for 2026, this would imply a cumulative reduction of 93% compared with 2023.
Science and technology policy The government abolished the
Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation and created the Secretariat of Innovation, Science and Technology. One of the sectors that suffered the most cuts was science, which experienced a 33% drop in its budget in 2024. The biggest drop since 1972, when the budget devoted to science began to be measured. In 2024, the doctoral scholarships of the
National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Argentina's main scientific research body, were 600, 700 fewer than in 2023. In addition, the body's budget for the year 2024 was not updated and remained identical to that of 2023, without taking into account inflation or the increase in costs between years. A hundred administrative workers of the body were also dismissed. Foreign scientists delivered to the president of Conicet,
Daniel Salamone, more than 1,000 letters in support of their Argentine colleagues, among whom were 68
Nobel Prize laureates, warning of a possible fourth wave of "
brain drain".
Health policy The Argentine Health Union stated in June 2024 that more than 5,000 private health establishments were on the verge of bankruptcy after signing a wage recomposition for the months of May, June, and July that was approved by the Secretariat of Labor and that would be worsened by the closure of the
Federal Administration of Public Revenue. The UAS called for support from the
Executive,
Legislative, and
Judicial branches.
2024 dengue epidemic The
dengue epidemic in Argentina during 2024 reached historic proportions, marked by an exponential increase in cases from the beginning of the season. This increase was attributed in part to climate change, which favored the reproduction of the
Aedes aegypti mosquito, vector of the dengue virus, through abundant rainfall and high temperatures. In addition, the movement of people between neighboring countries affected by epidemic outbreaks also contributed to the spread of the disease in Argentina. Despite this scenario, the Government ruled out allocating funds for dengue awareness campaigns, as well as the inclusion of the vaccine against this disease in the mandatory vaccination schedule, arguing that it was unnecessary and blaming the previous administration. This situation was worsened by saturation in demand in the public and private health sector, as well as the high costs and lack of protective supplies and medical reagents to diagnose dengue, which generated delays in care and difficulties in controlling the outbreak. On the epidemic, the acting minister,
Mario Russo, stated that the vaccine available for it was not useful, "it is not effective for mitigating an outbreak", and downplayed the shortage of repellents, a situation which he summarized as a problem between supply and demand. On 9 May 2024, the Government announced that it would offer the dengue vaccine, but only limited to endemic zones and areas with the highest prevalence of cases.
Cuts in PAMI The policies followed by
PAMI had been generating concern among pensioners because they were bringing about a reduction in the financing of their treatments, which under previous governments had been 100% for affiliates for some medications. Arguing that the reduction sought savings, in June 2024 a total of 1,200 medications experienced changes in their coverage, affecting essential products such as corticosteroids, antivirals, antibiotics, and anti-inflammatory drugs. From that month onward, medicines that had 100% coverage came to have a copayment percentage ranging from 40 to 80%. In August, 100 percent coverage was cut for 44 medication molecules present in the
formulary, after a similar cut of 11 molecules in June of the same year. That translated into one third of the medicines present in the basket no longer being covered, reducing the scope from 3,000 to 2,000. In addition, the number of free boxes of medication that a pensioner can access per month was reduced, from six during the previous administration to five. At the same time, any PAMI affiliate who needs full medication coverage can apply for a "social subsidy", whose requirements are now more restrictive since it is requested that their net income be less than 1.5 minimum pension payments. The agency stated that the measure had "the objective of achieving efficient and planned management of resources in which budgetary sustainability is prioritized in order to safeguard the health of affiliates" and that in recent times molecules had been added for treatments linked to different types of
cancer. In December 2024, the PAMI free medication program was eliminated, worsening the crisis in access to certain medicines. According to the words of the PAMI executive director appointed by Milei, only individuals who, after completing a special procedure, did not receive more than one and a half minimum pensions, did not have prepaid health insurance, did not own a car less than 10 years old, and had no more than one property in their name could access medication covered at 100%. It also announced measures to charge non-resident immigrants. This policy was aligned with measures applied in some provinces such as
Mendoza,
Jujuy and
Salta, where specific fees have been established for the care of non-resident foreigners, with the aim of covering the costs of the public health system. The argument behind these proposals includes the lack of reciprocity in neighboring countries and the search for efficiency in the use of public resources.
Withdrawal from the WHO In February 2025, the nation's withdrawal from the
World Health Organization was announced, arguing a "lack of independence" and "profound differences". With this decision, greater independence was sought so that international organizations would not influence governmental decision-making regarding Argentina's health system. Despite the nation's withdrawal, the economic impact, 8 million dollars, did not affect the WHO.
Information and culture policy In mid-March 2024, the government announced, through a resolution published in the Official Gazette, the termination of contracts expiring on March 31 with no possibility of renewal, and a series of cuts to the budget of the
National Institute of Cinema and Audiovisual Arts (INCAA), under the
Ministry of Human Capital. "In accordance with the measures adopted by the National Government, within the framework of the declared emergency, the highest authority of the Institute understands that it is necessary to take measures aimed at rationalizing and making the Agency more efficient," the text stated. Among other statements, Carlos Pirovano, director of the INCAA appointed by Milei, justified that "It is essential to act urgently and make all necessary efforts to avoid greater economic harm to the Agency." At the same time, the same occurred at
Radio Nacional, where a similar situation was witnessed. On May 21, 2024, the temporary suspension of broadcasting from the information technology platforms and social networks of the state-owned communications companies was announced through a government statement, as it was a "reorganization process aimed at improving the production, realization and dissemination of the content that is generated" in order to "unify dissemination criteria (...) until work processes and content production are reorganized". The measure affected
Televisión Pública,
Radio Nacional, the provincial stations,
Radio Nacional Clásica,
Radio Nacional Rock,
FM Folklórica,
Pakapaka and
Canal Encuentro, as well as non-state media because they could not place official government advertising. The Buenos Aires Press Union issued a statement on behalf of public media workers denouncing a "plan of destruction" by the Government and "this new display of censorship and intimidation that adds to the silencing of Télam". That same month,
Mariela Belski, executive director of
Amnesty International in the country, denounced before the
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights "the deterioration and impact on
freedom of expression and information" that Argentina is suffering. She also accused Milei and his cabinet of viciousness and aggression through social networks and other strategies. Finally, she accused the government of restricting access to press conferences and of the prior censorship suffered by journalists. In the statement, Amnesty International also warned about the Casa Rosada's announcement of issuing political guidelines for accreditation and that this could lead to selecting which journalists may ask questions, and it questioned "the arbitrariness with which the government decided to remove Silvia Mercado's accreditation". On March 1, 2024, during his speech at the opening of the ordinary sessions of the
Congress, Milei confirmed the intention to close Télam. The Argentine Journalism Forum warned about the situation and called for respect for
freedom of expression. Finally, on July 1, the government announced the transformation of Télam into a State propaganda company, renaming it Agencia de Publicidad del Estado Sociedad Anónima Unipersonal (APESA), whose objective is the production and distribution of national or international advertising material, within the country and abroad, operating from a commercial approach.
Human rights policy Both Javier Milei and his administration have been accused by various opposition figures and political sectors of being
denialists and
historical revisionists because of their controversial critical positions toward the
human rights violations that occurred during the last Argentine military dictatorship. At the end of March 2024, the
Ministry of Defense led by
Luis Petri announced the dismantling of the Survey and Analysis Teams. In addition, both Bullrich and Petri did not send the information required by the
National Commission for the Right to Identity, the Executive Branch body serving as the channel for the search for children kidnapped during the dictatorship and from which 90% of the genetic data for testing comes. On August 15, 2024, the government eliminated by decree the Special Investigative Unit on the Disappearance of Children as a Consequence of the Actions of State Terrorism, under the National Commission for the Right to Identity. The Unit assisted in investigations related to the appropriation of minors by the last military dictatorship. In December of that year, the government closed the Haroldo Conti Cultural Center, which operated on the grounds of the former
Navy Petty-Officers School (ESMA), and fired all the employees.
Criticism from international organizations In February 2024, the
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the
IACHR Special Rapporteurship for Freedom of Expression expressed great concern over the disproportionate use of public force against Argentine protesters and journalists, urging the Milei government to respect the rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly, and journalistic work, and to guarantee safety. In June 2024, the
human rights high commissioner of the
United Nations objected to some of the policies adopted and urged him to "build a more inclusive society".
Volker Türk considered in June that the months of the Milei government's administration represent a "
setback" of
rights in the nation and that the "proposed and adopted measures risk undermining the protection of
human rights". In the list of measures he made were cuts to
public spending, the closure of institutions dedicated to
women's rights, access to
justice, and the instruction to suspend Argentina's participation in events related to the
2030 Agenda. He also considered that the policies carried out "particularly affect the most marginalized", and therefore urged the authorities to place "human rights at the center of their policymaking, to build a more cohesive and inclusive society. This also means full respect for the right of peaceful assembly and freedom of expression". One month later, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the SRFOE again drew the government's attention to its setbacks in the field of
human rights and the limitations on the
freedom of expression of the nation's citizens and on their right to protest as a vital and important tool in
democracy for the conquest of other rights.
Visit to those convicted of crimes against humanity On Thursday, July 11, six deputies from
La Libertad Avanza,
Beltrán Benedit,
Lourdes Arrieta,
Guillermo Montenegro, Rocío Bonacci,
Alida Ferreyra and
María Fernanda Araujo, made a visit organized by the Entre Ríos legislator Benedit and Guillermo Montenegro, at Prison Unit No. 31 in Ezeiza, to several repressors detained for crimes against humanity, among them
Alfredo Astiz, on whom two life sentences weigh for genocide, baby theft, rapes, and disappearances. At the meeting, those present received judicial advice from lawyers specializing in
crimes against humanity. One day earlier, in the WhatsApp group where the libertarian legislators were present, Benedit wrote that the tour consisted of going "to visit the prisoners" and clarified that it would be "a humanitarian visit from politics", without specifying that it involved Astiz and company. The deputies found out in the middle of the trip, and a heated argument ensued. Benedit mounted a defense of the convicted men in the WhatsApp group, denying that they were repressors and instead calling them "ex-combatants against Marxist subversion". He also branded the trials a sham, threatened to denounce the judges, and advocated a pardon by President Milei despite the impossibility of doing so because they were sentenced to life imprisonment for crimes against humanity. Bonacci rebuked him in the chat, writing: "I was reproached that I always handled legislative procedure without previously reaching consensus with the executive, and on the other hand they go and organize a visit to Ezeiza to visit these guys. Without clarifying it beforehand, painting it as a humanitarian visit, classifying them as Malvinas ex-combatants, which is not the title that fits them". The
Argentine Episcopal Conference showed its displeasure over the visit, since the ultraconservative priest Javier Olivera Ravasi, son of
Jorge Antonio Olivera, and known in religious circles for his ultra statements, played a key role in it. In this way, the spokesman for the Argentine Episcopal Conference, Máximo Jurcinović, stated that "what was expressed and done by priest Javier Olivera Ravasi in relation to the visit by a group of deputies to Ezeiza prison does not correspond either to the thinking or to the attitude of the AEC". The
Bishopric of Zárate-Campana expelled Javier Olivera due to "numerous well-founded complaints about his expressions and attitudes that were opposed to Christian witness" that had been occurring for some time, and this was the trigger. In light of this controversial situation, Security Minister
Patricia Bullrich stated: "They are personal decisions, they are not institutional decisions, and each person has to take responsibility for what they do; that is freedom". Coinciding with the Milei siblings' visit to
France, the lawyer for French people disappeared during the Argentine dictatorship, Sophie Thonon, asked the French president,
Emmanuel Macron, to express his repudiation to Javier Milei over the visit made by the deputies. After an investigation, it came to light that contacts between members of La Libertad Avanza and the detained military officers had been in the making since March 2024. On that occasion, they visited the
priest Christian Von Wernich, sentenced to
life imprisonment for 34 kidnappings, 31 acts of torture and 7 murders; and the police officer
Julio Simón, known for his viciousness toward Jewish victims whom he tortured while carrying a
Nazi pennant. On that occasion they were outlining a possible decree declaring that their crimes could no longer be prosecuted due to the passage of time. When the various meetings became known, on August 5, 2024, the different human rights organizations and
Nobel Prize laureate
Adolfo Pérez Esquivel demanded the expulsion from the government of the deputies who had attended the different meetings. In parallel, the Federal Oral Tribunal filed criminal charges against the LLA deputies and prison staff of the
Federal Penitentiary Service who held the meetings, among whom were Beltrán Benedit, Guillermo Montenegro, María Fernanda Araujo, Alida Ferreyra, Rocío Bonacci and Lourdes Arrieta. The visit was harshly criticized by the opposition blocs, because it was "an affront to the victims, their families and all the Argentine people"; and by the rest of the libertarian deputies, triggering internal conflict in the ruling bloc and a tense relationship with allies. Rocío Bonacci stated, among other declarations, that she had been deceived by Benedit into attending. Arrieta alleged that "I can't say whether everyone knew it or not, but in the case of deputy Bonacci and me, we started talking about this issue because at one point we felt anguish and went into a state of shock" She also stated that she "did not know some of those present who had been convicted" and that she had to
google them. Days after the scandal,
Lourdes Arrieta appeared in Congress with the book
Nunca más, which contains the report issued by the
National Commission on the Disappearance of Persons during the
military dictatorship, showed her regret for having trusted her colleagues and having visited Astiz. She also revealed that Benedit organized the visit and that
Gabriel Bornoroni endorsed it as an
official and institutional visit that had the approval of the Casa Rosada and the president of the Chamber of Deputies,
Martín Menem. The following day, Arrieta filed a criminal complaint so that her own bloc colleagues and officials of the Penitentiary Service and the lower chamber would be investigated. For his part, Menem responded by rejecting any connection of the government to the defense of the imprisoned repressors. He said it was an individual act by a "minority group of deputies". Deputy
Lilia Lemoine defended her colleagues' visit to the detainees. She stated that it was a human rights matter, "a visit to octogenarians in prison who say they are being sentenced to death by drip".
Pope Francis, who only a week earlier had visited a relative of a nun who was murdered during the dictatorship, on August 7 received a person affected by the dictatorship, who stated that "she had learned that some deputies had visited Astiz, that they were trying to make sure they would not remain imprisoned, and that this was something very dangerous". She also added that they should not let up and should preserve "the memory of what you have received, not only of the ideas but of the testimonies, that is the message I give you". Along with the criminal complaints already filed by lawyer Pablo Llonto, Félix Croux,
prosecutor of the Anti-Corruption Office; and Lourdes Arrieta, on August 9 prosecutor of the Federal Tribunal Sergio Mola searched Ezeiza prison to obtain the entry and visitation logs of former Unit 31 and the recordings from the security cameras. Nicolás Mayoraz, Beltrán Bénedit and the bloc leader,
Gabriel Bornoroni, confronted Lourdes Arrieta for having given details of the visit.
Lorena Villaverde requested the expulsion of Arrieta herself and Bonacci from the
LLA bloc. Lemoine, at a press conference, disqualified her colleague Arrieta and launched several accusations against Arrieta's lawyer in the case of the visit. Lourdes Arrieta was removed from her position as attorney-in-fact for La Libertad Avanza in
Mendoza and announced before the Chamber of Deputies the creation of her own bloc called FE, in which Judeo-Christian and liberal values would be defended; and whose color would be violet. == Foreign policy ==