In a new exercise of political blackmail, donald trump threatened this Tuesday to withdraw financial assistance to Argentina if a political party that is not aligned with Washington wins in the next elections.
When meeting this Tuesday at the White House with his Argentine counterpart, Trump highlighted that the victory of the party of Javier MileiLibertad Avanza, in the upcoming midterm elections is “very important,” according to press reviews.
The Republican magnate went further and warned that he does not want to see the return of the left to power in the South American country. “If he loses,” he said, referring to Milei, “we will not be generous with Argentina,” he said while preparing to have lunch with the South American president.
“We are going to work a lot with the president, we believe he is going to win, he should win, and if he wins, we are going to be very helpful, and if he doesn’t win, we are not going to waste our time,” Trump reiterated. aforementioned by cnn.
In this way, the currency exchange line agreement for up to 20 billion dollars that was announced last week and which is intended to sustain confidence in the Argentine economy and maintain liquidity in dollars was conditioned on the electoral results.
Milei tested at the polls
The Argentine president’s economic reform program could fail and founder if the opposition achieves majorities in Congress and the Senate.
This October 26, in addition to the renewal of 127 seats of deputies and 24 national senators, the local ruling parties of four provinces will seek to ratify their efforts and consolidate legislatures with similar majorities.
In Mendoza, Catamarca, La Rioja and Santiago del Estero, provincial legislators and, in some cases, also municipal positions will be voted on.
According to cnnRegarding his threat, Trump did not clarify whether he was referring specifically to these legislative elections or the 2027 presidential elections, in which Milei could run for re-election or support a candidate from his party.
However, United States Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent did point to the upcoming legislative elections and said that the Trump Administration believed that in those elections the Milei coalition “would do quite well and continue its reform agenda,” but that if that did not happen, Washington could reconsider its financial assistance to the South American nation.
Shortly after the meeting with Trump in the White House, Milei wrote on social networks, in a blackmail plan, the scenario that Argentina faces: “The situation is very clear: if the country moves away from the path of the ideas of freedom to return to populism, the United States will stop supporting our country. Failing that, they will continue to accompany us.”
Trump’s meeting with Milei, a real event in Argentina, made former president Cristina Fernández, leader of the Kirchnerist opposition, react, who wrote on social networks that “Trump to Milei in the United States: ‘Our agreements are subject to whoever wins the elections’. Argentines… already know what to do.”
Before and during their meeting at the White House, Milei was full of praise for the American president, particularly for his peace plan for the Middle East, and said he felt “very honored” to be received by him “especially at this moment.”
Goals of the trip to Washington
Experts estimate that Milei visited the White House with two defined objectives: one, to negotiate exemptions or reductions in the tariffs imposed by the United States on Argentine products; the other, to see how Washington will implement a currency swap line to shore up the Argentine peso and replenish its dollar reserves before the midterm elections.
A third objective is to support Argentina to be the host of the first Stargate in Latin America, a joint initiative of OpenAI, Oracle and Softbank that will build a network of large data centers to promote OpenAI’s artificial intelligence technology, which is defended by Trump himself.
Along with the setbacks in Congress, where the opposition is the majority, the overwhelming defeat of the ruling party in Buenos Aires generated a crisis of confidence as voters in the capital expressed frustration with rising unemployment, shrinking economic activity and corruption scandals.
Alarmed that this could herald the end of popular support for Milei’s free-market program, investors dumped Argentine bonds and sold the peso.
Argentina’s Treasury began depleting its dollar reserves at a feverish pace to try to prop up the currency and keep its exchange rate within the trading band established as part of the country’s recent $20 billion deal with the International Monetary Fund. explained about it the American agency Associated Press.
