Javier Milei: neighborhood phenomenon

For the first time in Argentine history, a government is responding to a financial crisis by lowering taxes instead of raising them. Where populism would have grabbed producers' pockets, Milei eliminated export duties, that legalized theft which for decades was the banner of Kirchnerist plundering. The result was immediate: the agricultural sector replied with historic records, 2.4 million tons (5.3 million pounds) of grain sold in just two days and more than 7 billion dollars settled in 72 hours. The secret? Rewarding those who produce instead of punishing them.

The elimination of export duties is not only an economic triumph, it's a true cultural revolution. For years, the progressive narrative convinced us that squeezing the agricultural sector was a matter of social justice. In reality, it was a systematic plan of exploitation that condemned the productive interior and fed bureaucrats and political operatives. Today, that scheme is collapsing. The same prophets of doom who celebrated the "Plan Platita"—the issuance of three monetary bases that led us to hyperinflation—are now raising their voices in outrage because a distorting tax is being eliminated.

It's no coincidence that the free world looks at Argentina with admiration. At the UN, Milei stood firm as a statesman who knows which side of history he wants to be on. He called for the release of hostages in Gaza and denounced terrorism without mincing words. Something unthinkable in the K era, when deals were made with Iran, doors were opened to Russia, or there were dreams of turning us into another decaying Cuba.

The support came from the most powerful voice on the planet: Donald J. Trump. The American president did not hesitate to describe Milei as a "fantastic and powerful leader," a key ally of the United States and a fighter who will never let the Argentine people down. The photos and statements of Trump with Milei are not a minor detail: Argentina has ceased to be a satellite of authoritarian regimes to become a strategic partner of the world's greatest power. Meanwhile, Kirchnerism sold us as beggars to Caracas and Havana, Milei has once again brought us into the bloc of free nations.

Because we must never forget the K legacy that left us a minefield with $25 billion in burned reserves, bonds at 25 cents, hidden debts with importers, and a Central Bank turned into a time bomb, while today we have a fiscal surplus and monetary discipline, inflation is receding and the economy is growing by 5.3% in the first eight months of the year. Not bad for a government that, according to the doomsayers, "was going to last three months."

But perhaps the most devastating fact against the leftist narrative is that poverty has dropped by more than 21 points in a year, extreme poverty from 18.1% to 6.9%, and wages are outpacing inflation. Progressivism, which for decades used the poor as political hostages, is now choking on the evidence. It was not with the "Poverty Managers" nor with the "Hunger Table." It was with less government, lower taxes, more freedom, and outstanding work by the Minister of Human Capital, Sandra Pettovello.

Those who vandalized grain silos and pressured with the AFIP are now exposed by market evidence. Those who spoke of "anger" in the agricultural sector must explain why record sales abroad have been recorded. Those who accuse the government of being "for the rich" must look at the data, with real wages rising and child poverty at its lowest level in eight years. Milei has shown that true progressivism is not about spreading misery, but about unleashing productive forces.

The challenge is to sustain this in the face of an opposition that will do everything possible to undermine it. Today, productive Argentina breathes, the agricultural sector is liberated, and the world applauds us. Who can deny that we are witnessing a historic turning point?

Because when freedom breaks through, even the desperate cries of the left sound like what they are: the last gasps of a model that has died.