How extremist Javier Milei became Argentina's president: A story of debt, crisis, and empire

Extremist Javier Milei won Argentina's presidential election on a far-right platform, pledging to abolish most government ministries, abandon monetary sovereignty, and adopt the US dollar, while cutting ties with China and withdrawing from BRICS. Ben Norton explains how a history of debt and colonialism keeps the South American nation trapped in seemingly endless crisis.

TOPICS
0:00 Meet Javier Milei
7:54 History of debt traps
13:38 Sergio Massa and Peronists
19:27 Economist Ha-joon Chang on dollarization
22:27 Cut ties with China and Brazil?
24:51 Far-right "libertarianism"
27:55 Inflation, IMF, and foreign debt
30:46 Alberto Fernández surrenders to IMF
33:58 Investocracy: Rule by foreign investors
38:09 Exports and imports
39:35 Dependency theory
43:09 Protectionism and kicking away the ladder
46:28 Past failed dollarization schemes
52:56 Outro

|| Geopolitical Economy Report ||

[moss]

If Argentinian people want to elect someone to solve all of Argentina's problems, they elected the right guy.
With policies like that, there won't be any Argentina left to have any problems.

[kaisuski]

So he is turning Argentina into a U.S colony..

[Tyiion]

Wow. The US has gotten real good at picking out the leaders of Latin American countries. This guy is made to order.

[Frankus]

Thanks for telling our story very very accurately, feeling really hopeless right now.. Probably leaving te country soon before everything starts to fall apart. I hug u bro for the effort, its impresive how u understand much better the situation here than the argentinians themselves. We just got sold as a nation

[Burtifly]

Is it just me, or is there 1 other person out there that finds it mind blowing to know that the Argentinean public voted to take their country from the brink of collapse to total oblivion?

[luckynyaa]

Rip Argentina, it was nice to know you.
Madman will destroy this country.
It was only hope to prosperity with brics.

[purmiishH]

To be an enemy of America can be dangerous, but to be a friend is fatal.

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

I'm not even surprised that his dog advised him to become underdog of US

[sarahjessicafarter]

Great analysis. So much better than the shallow drivel in mainstream anglophone media.

[lightning]

How bad the situation of a country must be for such a character to be taken seriously...

[CanTho]

Can’t tell me that this guy is NOT PLANTED by the CIA…😂😂😂

[willieteb]

The people of Argentina will live with the consequences of their choice.

[joseblanco]

Mexico and the USA should prepare for the millions of Argentinian people who will make their way in caravans to the Mexico/USA border.

[Anton-zupy]

The Irony is… Argentinians voted for Him, even though they knew it was suicidal, but apparently they were tired of the same worthless government.
“Best of luck to the Argentinian population “!

[aronestrada-gohk]

Once unemployment spikes, expect US military contractors to start recruiting heavily in Argentina.

[VickiNikolaidis]

Thank you Ben. Your reports are really needed! Much appreciated!

[lortega]

Thank you very much, Ben Norton, for your excellent reports on world’s geopolitics and your restless campaign for humanism and true democracy. My sincere regards and respect

[Peter-MH]

They’ve become uncle sam’s anti BRICS pawn!

[zhoubaidinh]

This is by far the best analysis anywhere on the subject.

[goransteen]

Very good journalism, thank you Ben!🎉