Milei in Mendoza: 'If we don't give in, we'll take off in a way that we can't even begin to imagine'

President Javier Milei delivered a speech this Thursday before the Chamber of Commerce, Industry, and Agriculture of San Rafael, where he reaffirmed his reformist agenda and presented Mendoza as an example of the economic success possible under a model based on freedom and private initiative.

In his address, Milei highlighted the growth of Valle de Uco as "a testament to Argentine exceptionalism" and stated that "when we're allowed, when the State doesn't interfere, any adversity pales in comparison to the talent and capacity of our people." The president emphasized that the province managed to transform a desert into a global center of winemaking, positioning Malbec as "an essential piece of our national brand."

Milei used Mendoza as the core of his argument to criticize "the so-called model of the interventionist State, based on social justice," pointing out that "20 years of populism" have been a drag on the country's economic development. "The State gradually crept into every area of human activity, suffocating private initiative to the point that producing was no longer viable," he stated.

The president highlighted the progress of his administration: "We've reduced the tax burden by two points of GDP during the first year of our administration, and we've eliminated or reduced 19 taxes to achieve this," he said, adding that this achievement is part of a broader plan to reform the tax and labor system. In this regard, he stressed that "creating jobs must be simple so that more and more companies are hiring staff."

Regarding his vision for the future, Milei indicated that his goal is to "turn Argentina into the freest country in the world," and stated that "the greater the freedom, the greater the prosperity." He also pointed out that the freest countries "are 12 times richer than the repressed ones" and have "25 times fewer poor people in the standard format and 50 times fewer in the extreme format."

In his speech, Milei also highlighted the importance of security and order: "Order is a precondition for the progress of all of us... if you don't have order, you won't be able to take ownership of the results of your work." In that sense, he emphasized the decrease in the number of roadblocks and the drop in crime rates as indicators of his administration's success.

The president concluded his address by calling for unity and citizen commitment to the reforms: "We must choose between becoming the prosperous country we once were or returning to the impoverishing model of the last century... Argentina has too much potential that decades of political pettiness have left untapped."

"I assure you that if we don't give up, if we make all the effort we're making worthwhile, we'll take off in a way we can't even imagine," the president concluded.