Milei destroys industry and gives away resources: the true anti-Argentina campaign

“Well, in Argentina we would only eat dulce de leche. We would have tremendous weight problems because that would be the only thing we would eat. And we would only ride the bus with biromes. In other words, we don’t have much else,” President Javier Milei had stated when asked about the productive disaster caused by the indiscriminate opening of imports and a scenario that favors national industry. The contemptuous phrase would be a sad anecdote if it were not almost the motto of a battery of measures aimed at surrendering sovereignty.

And now this same government pretends to be implacable as the flip side of the anti-Argentina campaign promoted by foreign countries after the outcome of the 2026 World Cup. During the competition and, especially, after the display of the Malvinas flag in the semifinal against England, a campaign against the attitudes of the Argentine National Team emerged. However, after the final against Spain, criticism of being Argentine extended to the whole society. Media outlets and cultural figures from different countries became spokespersons for accusations revolving around racism and questionable human behavior.

Various libertarian figures, such as Gordo Dan, Agustín Romo, or Felipe Nuñez, targeted the campaign on social media and argued that it is a “revenge” of international progressivism against the Government for taking a stance in favor of Western values. Of course, they blame the opposition for having fostered and defended the external attacks. On top of that, they also demanded stricter immigration policies and access to Health and Education for foreigners living in the country.

The defense simulates an exclusionary nationalist attitude, when it is the Government that promotes the surrender of sovereignty to foreign nations through a globalizing plan of trade openness and renunciation of economic policy management. The industricide, the bases and conditions of the Regime of Incentives for Large Investments (RIGI), and the project to foreignize land are three pillars that explain Javier Milei’s real stance.

“The principle of economic freedom is not violated, nor even tarnished when the State directs the economy, just as the freedom to travel freely through the country is not affected when it is channeled or directed along certain routes, instead of allowing, galloping across the countryside, causing irreparable damage to third parties, without obtaining any benefit for the traveler. The State can guide social and economic ordering without thereby interfering in the individual action that corresponds to the industrialist, the merchant, the consumer. These, preserving all the freedom of action that the fundamental codes grant them, can adjust their achievements to the great plans that the State outlines to achieve the political, economic, and social objectives of the Nation,” said former President Juan Domingo Perón on September 6, 1944. The Argentina that Milei proposes is a bridge to the counterpoint of this statement.

Economic activity indicators reflect that the situation is not due to isolated episodes, but to a sustained process of deterioration of the productive fabric. Manufacturing industry again recorded in May a decrease in its production level compared to the same month of the previous year and extended the recessionary phase that much of 2026 is going through. According to the latest available data from Indec, the Manufacturing Industrial Production Index fell 5.7% year-on-year, while in the accumulated first five months of the year the contraction reached 3.1%.

With these results, the industrial sector accumulated five consecutive year-on-year declines and four monthly setbacks between January and May. The performance highlights the difficulties of a scenario marked by weak consumption, the rampant increase in imports, and a domestic market that continues to show low demand.

In parallel, registered employment in Argentina and the business fabric continue to shrink. Since the beginning of Milei’s administration, more than 28,000 companies have ceased operations and around 350,000 workers have lost their jobs. This emerges from a report prepared by the National University of Avellaneda (UNDAV) based on statistics from the Superintendence of Labor Risks (SRT). The survey indicated that in April alone, 1,814 companies ceased their activities, equivalent to an average of nearly 60 closures per day.

Alongside the destruction of companies and jobs, the Regime of Incentives for Large Investments offers in its political sales pitch a framework of regulatory stability for 30 years for projects exceeding 200 million dollars in investment. However, its wording implies a strong cession of economic policy tools and favors large foreign capital in the exploitation of natural resources considered strategic. Who is running the campaign in this case?

In an international context marked by the energy transition, the acceleration of technological changes, and the new demands of the global economy, Argentina should prioritize policies aimed at strengthening industrialization, innovation, and the development of local value chains. In contrast, the RIGI deepens a profile based on the export of raw materials, with a more flexible tax scheme for large investments and few incentives for national production.

The possibility of importing capital goods with tax and tariff benefits creates unequal competition for small and medium-sized enterprises. This type of policy reinforces an enclave investment model, in which extractive projects operate with little articulation with the rest of the economy. Under this neocolonialist logic, the inflow of external capital does not necessarily translate into greater productive integration, development of local suppliers, or generation of quality employment, but can deepen economic concentration and dependence on the exploitation of natural resources.

As a final act of renunciation of national defense, the Senate is scheduled to consider the bill called “Inviolability of Private Property.” The initiative proposes repealing the Land Law, in force since 2011, which sets limits on the acquisition of rural land by foreign citizens and companies. Various specialists and social organizations warn that the change could modify the protection regime over territories considered strategic, such as Patagonian lakes, native forests, mountain areas with mineral resources, aquifers, and border zones.