By Martin Sarano, economist at the International Bases Foundation, for La Derecha Diario.
While the doomsayers were licking their lips waiting for the devaluation, Toto Caputo was quietly preparing the final blow. On Thursday the 2nd, a week earlier, Toto Caputo, Santiago Bausili, Pablo Quirno, and Jose Luis Daza announced that they were heading to Washington on Friday night with the goal of finalizing negotiations with the United States Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent, and his team.
Almost two weeks after Bessent's now famous "whatever it takes," the excitement over the announcements had started to subside and the market was beginning to get anxious. The Argentine treasury had sold off almost all the dollars it had acquired as a result of the temporary exemption of Agricultural Export Taxes in the last few trading sessions.
On Thursday morning, everything started to look green. Strong rumors of "big ones are coming" began circulating on X, as well as through messaging among market participants. Mid-session, a message from Banco Santander circulated, notifying clients that it had carried out foreign currency operations on behalf and at the order of the United States Treasury.
At 3:45 p.m., the hammer fell. Scott Bessent, with a 365-word post on X, confirmed what had already been discussed in the market, but had not received official confirmation. The financial aircraft carriers that the US Treasury had stationed in the Río de la Plata had started firing. In an action that had only occurred three other times in history, the Treasury was directly buying another country's local currency.
