Milei challenged businessmen with insults and promises, denied a crisis of consumption and employment

Argentine President Javier Milei delivered a defiant, hour-long speech at the annual conference of the Council of the Americas, employing his characteristic histrionic style. He addressed business leaders, diplomats, and his cabinet, asserting that he has fulfilled all his promises and characterizing the nation's economic trajectory as the "best movie in Argentine history," despite acknowledging the current situation appears "horrible."

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I fulfilled everything I promised (...) The photo is still horrible, but the movie is still the best movie in Argentine history.

Milei directly challenged criticisms regarding economic indicators, particularly the reported drops in consumption and employment, which polls suggest have surpassed inflation as the primary concern for Argentines. He dismissed these concerns as "imbecilic" and a "monument to ignorance," rejecting the notion of a "two-speed growth" as "gross intellectual precariousness."

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The growth, excuse the Latin, but it's a hell of a mess.

He adamantly denied that unemployment had risen or that wages had fallen, comparing himself to Moses, who was questioned by the Jewish people after crossing the Red Sea. "Why so much spite? Well, part out of ignorance, part out of bad intentions, part out of abstinence from envelopes, and part because they hate me," he explained, before admitting to personal self-reproach.

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This imbecility, a monument to ignorance, is this two-speed growth. The truth is that it is gross intellectual precariousness.

The President fiercely defended his Economy Secretary, Federico Sturzenegger, against internal and external criticism. "When you see a piece of shit, a human piece of shit, criticizing Federico, it's because he's touching the business of a beneficiary, a thief, and a corrupt person," Milei vociferated. He also linked the "passion for killing children in the womb" to economic costs, referencing the abortion debate.

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Unemployment did not increase, nor did wages fall.