Javier Milei

Rule Changes

Cleared of fraud charges on October 23; the PIA has asked to reopen the case and other parties have appealed, so the ruling is not yet final

On October 23, Federal Judge Marcelo Martinez de Giorgi cleared President Javier Milei, his sister Karina and nine others of fraud over the $LIBRA token. He ruled that promoting it was not a crime. About 40,000 buyers lost money after the token, launched at roughly a cent, spiked near $5 and collapsed within hours.

Updated 2 days ago

Money Moves

In office since December 2023

Argentina's current account swung from a $2.45 billion deficit to a $2.21 billion surplus in the second quarter of 2026, driven by a record export haul. The central bank has bought more than $16 billion in the foreign exchange market this year, over 60% above the $10 billion target in its IMF program. Gross reserves slipped back below $50 billion on November 5 after an $880 million payment to the IMF.

Updated 3 days ago

Rule Changes

His government introduced the program

Argentina plans to sell citizenship for a $350,000 payment to the national treasury, or $800,000 in a government bond held for seven years. Economy Minister Luis Caputo announced the program on October 2 in Paris. The government says applications will open in the fourth quarter of 2026.

Updated Oct 26

New Capabilities

In office; has publicly doubted the 30,000 disappearance figure

On October 23, a federal judge in Córdoba named eight more people killed under Argentina's 1976-83 military dictatorship. Forensic anthropologists matched their remains, taken from a mass grave at the La Calera military garrison, to family DNA. The total identified there since September 2025 is now 38.

Updated Oct 26

Rule Changes

Signed agreement, plans to submit to Congress for ratification

Negotiations between the EU and Mercosur began in 1999. Twenty-six years later, on January 17, 2026, representatives signed a comprehensive free trade agreement in Asunción, Paraguay—the same city where Mercosur itself was founded in 1991. The deal eliminates tariffs on more than 90% of bilateral trade and creates the world's largest free trade zone, covering over 700 million consumers and roughly a quarter of global GDP.

Updated Oct 23

Rule Changes

In office since December 2023

Argentina and the United States signed the Agreement on Reciprocal Trade and Investment on February 6, 2026. It cuts tariffs on 1,675 Argentine products and 221 categories of American goods, and quadruples Argentina's duty-reduced beef quota.

Updated Oct 23

Rule Changes

Demanding an end to the Sea Lion project

Argentina asked the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea on October 13 to halt British-authorized oil drilling near the Falkland Islands. The tribunal has set a public hearing on the request for November 10 and 11.

Updated Oct 17

Rule Changes

In office since December 2023; refusing to implement the University Funding Law

Buenos Aires police fired tear gas and water cannons at students, professors and staff outside Congress on October 15. The fifth mass march since Milei took office ended with 31 people detained, including two minors, and 10 injured. The government filed a criminal complaint the next day against protesters it accuses of throwing stones and assaulting officers.

Updated Oct 16

Rule Changes

As of July 2026: In office, pursuing fiscal surplus

In December 2024, Argentina cut value-added tax on restaurant meals after a year in which prices roughly doubled and the sector shed more than 10,000 jobs. Hotels and restaurants then grew 7.4 percent in 2025—the fastest of any major sector—per national statistics agency INDEC.

Updated Jul 9

Force in Play

As of May 2026: Attended summit; close Trump ally

The United States has not built a new military coalition in the Western Hemisphere since the Cold War. On March 7, President Trump gathered leaders from 12 Latin American nations in Miami to launch the 'Shield of the Americas,' a military-intelligence framework against drug cartels, and the Americas Counter-Cartel Coalition—a 17-country pledge for lethal action against transnational criminal organizations.

Updated May 30

Rule Changes

As of May 2026: Driving pro-mining economic reforms

China controls roughly two-thirds of global rare earth mining and about 90 percent of processing, a concentration the United States now treats as a national security threat. On February 4, 2026, Secretary of State Marco Rubio convened ministers from 54 countries in Washington to launch a preferential critical-minerals trade bloc with price floors, billions in financing, and FORGE, a new coordinating body.

Updated May 27

Rule Changes

As of May 2026: Delivered third consecutive Davos speech; defended China trade ties

This year's World Economic Forum (the first in 55 years without founder Klaus Schwab) became an emergency diplomatic summit when Trump's tariff threats over Greenland drew record attendance from 60+ heads of state. By week's end, a NATO 'framework deal' had defused the immediate crisis, and Canadian PM Mark Carney declared to applause from European and middle-power leaders that the U.S.-led rules-based order is over.

Updated May 22

Force in Play

As of May 2026: In office since December 2023

Brazil protected Argentina's embassy in Caracas for 14 months after Nicolás Maduro expelled Argentine diplomats in July 2024. That arrangement ended January 16, 2026, when Italy assumed custodianship. The shift was triggered by Brazil's opposition to the U.S. military operation that captured Maduro two weeks earlier, and accelerated by Argentine President Milei's sustained social media attacks on Brazilian President Lula.

Updated May 21