Argentina's newly inaugurated President Javier Milei proposed an economic reform plan centered on deregulation and privatization, prompting citizens opposing the measures to hold a 'cacerolazo' protest late into the night. The cacerolazo, a protest involving banging pots and other kitchen utensils, is a distinctive form of demonstration in Argentina and other South American countries.
Citizens in Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina, are holding a 'Cacerolazo' protest by banging pots and pans. [Image source=AP Yonhap News]
According to major foreign media on the 20th (local time), President Milei announced an economic reform plan that includes easing government regulations and allowing the privatization of state-owned enterprises. President Milei stated, "This is to lay the foundation for the restoration of Argentina's economy and to restore individual freedom and autonomy," and unveiled plans to abolish more than 300 regulations.
The regulations targeted for abolition included rent controls and rules preventing the privatization of state-owned enterprises. President Milei declared a 'modernization of labor laws to promote processes for substantial job creation' and announced that various regulations across multiple sectors such as tourism, satellite internet services, pharmaceuticals, wine production, and trade would be abolished or eased.
Milei said, "A special session of Congress will be convened," adding, "I will send a package of bills to Congress for reform." This package is expected to include the removal of regulations preventing the privatization of state-owned enterprises and rent controls, as well as allowing football clubs to convert into limited companies and permitting the sale of shares in the state-owned airline Aerol?neas Argentinas.
Since taking office on the 10th, President Milei has argued that Argentina's economy must be fundamentally transformed through such high-intensity reforms. He pointed out, "Argentina, which was the world's strongest power in the 1920s, has experienced a series of crises over the past 100 years derived from a single cause: budget deficits," and "It has inherited the worst legacy in history, including cumulative deficits amounting to 15% of GDP, the highest tax burden in the world, a shortage of central bank reserves, destruction of credit trust, reckless currency issuance, and an inflation crisis of 15,000% annually."
However, on the day these policies were announced, thousands of citizens in Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina, took to the streets to demand the president's resignation through a nighttime cacerolazo protest. The term 'cacerolazo' combines the Spanish word for pot, 'cacerola,' with the suffix 'azo,' meaning 'to hit.'
At around 9 p.m. that evening, as President Milei announced the related policies, residents came out not only onto the streets but also to their windows and balconies, banging pots and kitchen utensils while shouting "Milei resign." The protesters in the streets waved flags and marched to Plaza de Mayo in front of the presidential palace.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
