“Yet, they never have the funds for healthcare coverage for all,” said Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib.

Reality once again clashed uncomfortably with Argentinian President Javier Milei’s so-called “libertarian revolution” Wednesday as the Trump administration said it is working to double a $20 billion private sector bailout to prop up the South American nation’s moribund currency amid enduring high poverty and inflation and broader economic fragility.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told reporters in Washington, DC Wednesday that the $20 billion currency swap—essentially a loan—for Argentina announced last month “would be a total of $40 billion,” with funding coming from banks and sovereign wealth funds to enable the country to pay off its more than $300 billion in external debt.

The bailout is aimed at boosting Argentina’s flagging peso, which has fallen by nearly one-quarter against the US dollar this year. A decade ago, $1 was equal to 18 pesos. Today, a single dollar will buy 1,361 pesos. That’s a loss of more than 99% in value over the past 10 years.

The Argentine peso has lost more than 99% of its value against the US dollar over the past decade. (Image by xe)

Although poverty in Argentina has fallen significantly from over 50% shortly after Milei’s election, around 30% of Argentinians remain poor and prices and inflation are again rising significantly. While Milei has drastically slashed inflation, the reduction has come via the devaluation of the peso and massive cuts in government spending, including the evisceration of social programs resulting in more expensive housing, healthcare, and education.

Bessent’s announcement comes ahead of Argentina’s October 26 midterm elections that will test the mandate for Milei—an admirer and close ally of President Donald Trump—to continue with his slash-and-burn approach to streamlining government.

While meeting with Milei at the White House Tuesday, Trump said the bailout is contingent upon the Argentine president remaining in power.

“If he loses, we are not going to be generous with Argentina,” Trump told reporters. “I think he’s going to win, and if he wins, we’re staying with him, and if he doesn’t win, we’re gone.”

The combination of fiscal austerity, gutting of government agencies, dangerous deregulation, inflation, and currency devaluation have caused Milei’s unfavorability rating to soar to over 60% in some polls, it’s highest level ever.

Milei—a self-described anarcho-capitalist who was elected in November 2023 on a wave of populist revulsion at the status quo—campaigned on a platform of repairing the moribund economy, tackling inflation, reducing poverty, and dismantling the state. He made wild promises including dollarizing Argentina’s economy and abolishing the central bank.

However, the realities of leading South America’s second-largest economy have forced Milei’s administration to abandon or significantly curtail key agenda items, leading to accusations of neoliberalism and betrayal from the right, and hypocrisy and rank incompetence from the left.

“Let’s not get confused: Milei went to beg for money and a photo of Trump because his economic plan failed,” Argentine lawmaker Emilio Monzó said Tuesday.

Another lawmaker, Margarita Stolbizer, said on social media Tuesday that “freedom is crawling.”

“Trump tells us Argentines that if we don’t vote for Milei, we’ll be punished,” she added. “The interference is absolute, the libertarian surrender is total. Let’s have confidence in the pride of our people: We are millions who don’t want to be told what we have to do.”

US singer and political commentator Blakeley Bartley skewered Milei, “the based anarcho-capitalist conservative,” in a social media post on Wednesday.“

  Argentina, Money, trump