President Milei Spoke Before Congress and Celebrated the Successes of His Administration.

The President of the Nation, Javier Milei, delivered his opening speech for the legislative sessions at the National Congress on Saturday night.

"Argentine society is one of the most familiar with political frustration in modern history," the head of state began saying at 9:00 p.m.

In this regard, President Milei compared the country to a carousel that for 100 years "spins on its own axis" and confirmed that his administration "will change the recipe."

"We come to break the carousel, take the handle from the ringmaster, and chart a horizon of progress forward with profound changes that attack the root of our ills. That's why we are committed to recovering economic rationality, shrinking the state, returning freedom to society, reestablishing the rule of law, and erasing the privileges that politics has accumulated over the years," the president stated.

The libertarian leader highlighted the economic achievements of his administration by stating: "We went from inheriting 15 points of consolidated deficit between the treasury and the BCRA, to having during our first year a financial surplus free of default. Something that hadn't happened in the last 123 years of history," and added: "Our program is the most successful to date."

He also highlighted the reduction in poverty: "Poverty dropped from 56% to 33% according to the latest quarterly data. This decline was driven by the decrease in inflation, the sustained increase in real wages and pensions, and the increase in the AUH in real terms and the Plan Alimentar."

"Since April, the economy hasn't stopped growing and you, Keynesians, can't stop crying," Milei stated, challenging his critics.

President Javier Milei assured that poverty in Argentina fell from 56% to 33%, meaning that "10 million people came out of the poverty line."

He explained that this improvement was due to "this decline was driven by the decrease in inflation, the sustained increase in real wages and pensions, and the increase in the AUH in real terms and the Plan Alimentar."

He also emphasized that "the adjustment fell on the caste and never on the most vulnerable sectors. Argentina went from being the worst student in the class to being the flag bearer."

He also highlighted that the country is now "one of the 5 countries in the world that enjoys a financial surplus," and concluded: "when the essentials of the program are maintained, the noise of the situation is just that: noise."

The president defended his first year of management by highlighting the elimination of public works and the drastic reduction of street protests. "We eliminated public works, which was one of the great scams of politics. It's false that it generates work. Let's eradicate that lie, public works generate taxes," he stated.

"We were the only ones who eliminated the advertising budget because we don't need to bribe the media, we don't need lying journalists paid by the public treasury," the president emphasized.

Regarding the reduction of street protests, Milei assured: "We took away the scam from the shameless picketers who forced the most needy to march. We managed to reduce the pickets from more than 8,200 to 0. In 2023 we had more than 30 pickets per working day and now it's been more than 10 months without a single picket in the street."

In terms of security, President Javier Milei highlighted the policies implemented by Minister Patricia Bullrich and the positive impact of her management on the reduction of crime.

"Under Dr. Bullrich's leadership during 2024, we saw the lowest homicide rate in the last 25 years. Having lowered it by 11 points compared to 2023. We had the lowest homicide rate in South America," Milei stated, acknowledging the work of the official, present in the chamber.

He also expressed his gratitude: "Thank you, Minister Bullrich, for returning order, security, and peace to good Argentines, making it a hell for criminals."

In this context, he differentiated himself from other political leaders and emphasized: "We have concluded that in our first year of management, that is, in 25% of our mandate time, we have already fulfilled or are fulfilling more than 75% of our promises," he revealed.

"If Argentine resignation is the product of unfulfilled promises, its redemption will depend on us keeping our word, and we will do it to the letter," the president assured.

During his speech, Javier Milei highlighted the fulfillment of his government plan and vindicated the work of his team of ministers.

"Our program is ambitious. During the campaign, we faced harassment and bullying from those who said we wouldn't be able to. The program was super ambitious. And we are doing more than we promised in the campaign. When you make this correction, we have fulfilled 95% of the promises in just one year," Milei stated, marking the success of his management.

He then paused to express his recognition to his cabinet: "In life, you have to be grateful and not stingy, so I want to thank my ministers, each one of them," he emphasized.

The president reaffirmed his commitment to the policy of state adjustment and assured that he will continue with his strategy of reducing public spending.

"Our chainsaw policy will continue until there is no more state in the long term. I prefer to shrink the state and have fewer poor people in Argentina," the president expressed, making it clear that his administration will maintain the course of adjustment and economic deregulation.

During the opening of the ordinary sessions of Congress, the Argentine president also questioned Mercosur and stated that the regional trade bloc has only served to benefit Brazilian industrialists to the detriment of Argentina.

In this context, he anticipated that he will be willing to leave Mercosur to finalize a free trade agreement with the United States.

In another part, Milei announced that his government will advance in a deep reform of the state with the aim of further reducing consolidated public spending to 25% of GDP by 2027.

In this line, he anticipated that the Government is working on a structural tax reform that will involve the elimination of 90% of national taxes, leaving only six essential taxes.

At the end of his speech, Javier Milei anticipated that in the coming days he will send to Congress the new agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). "We will solve the problem that previous governments started with the fiscal deficit and its financing," he stated, highlighting that this agreement will be key to ensuring Argentina's economic stability in the future.

Milei expressed his confidence that Congress will support this new initiative in a similar way to how it did with other decisions of his government.

"We hope that this Congress adopts the same stance it had with all other agreements, supporting the Government in this new agreement with the IMF, because it's what the country needs to grow and leave behind the legacy of crisis," the president concluded.