US bailout helped Milei, but Argentines wary of 鈥榚conomic Monroe Doctrine鈥�
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Howard LaFranchi Staff writer
| Buenos Aires, Argentina
The sign Claudia Ferdeghini holds aloft at a left-wing political rally in the Argentine capital鈥檚 tony Palermo district could hardly be more direct: 鈥淲e will not be one more star on the Yankee flag,鈥� it reads.
For good measure, the stars and stripes pictured on the sign are engulfed in flames.
As others around her hoist unflattering portraits of U.S. President Donald Trump and Argentina鈥檚 President Javier Milei, Ms. Ferdeghini, a Workers鈥� Socialist Party activist, explains her message.
Why We Wrote This
The Trump administration鈥檚 pursuit of 鈥渁 new economic Monroe Doctrine,鈥� in which the United States extends a hand to the president鈥檚 ideological soulmates in Latin America, as was the case in Argentina, is stirring historical suspicions of U.S. motives.
鈥淭rump says he wants to help Argentina and his friend Milei with his financial assistance, but no one lends billions and billions of dollars just to be nice,鈥� says the retired grandmother, smiling broadly.
鈥淗e wants our natural resources; he wants our minerals like lithium; he wants to control other economies like imperial powers have always done,鈥� she adds. 鈥淏ut we are not Trump鈥檚 colony. We are a sovereign nation.鈥�
The boisterous demonstration in a park within earshot of the U.S. Embassy revolves around a number of favorite leftist themes, from Mr. Milei鈥檚 harsh austerity program to Gaza and the Palestinian cause.
But none seems to motivate the crowd of several hundred quite like Mr. Trump鈥檚 $40 billion bailout package of currency swaps and credit lines aimed at propping up a teetering Argentine economy.
The initial $20 billion in currency swaps, put in place earlier this month, is widely credited with rescuing Argentina鈥檚 sinking peso from an untimely collapse. Such a collapse almost certainly would have been devastating for Mr. Milei鈥檚 prospects in crucial national legislative elections last Sunday.
Instead, the relative calm provided by the bailout seems to have been enough to reassure Argentines about Mr. Milei鈥檚 management of the economy 鈥� and thus give him the support he needs in Congress to continue his drastic reorganizing (and downsizing) of the Argentine state.
It鈥檚 exactly the outcome Mr. Trump wanted from a bailout that is part of what Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent unabashedly calls 鈥渁 new economic Monroe Doctrine.鈥�
In practice, that means the United States will extend a hand to Mr. Trump鈥檚 ideological soulmates in the region while firing broadsides at any country that dares to stand up to or challenge him, from Canada and Brazil to Colombia. Mr. Trump has called Mr. Milei, a libertarian iconoclast, 鈥渕y favorite president.鈥�
Renewed U.S. activism
The administration鈥檚 talk of a new Monroe Doctrine signals a new era of U.S. activism in the hemisphere after two decades of neglect, analysts say. And while a U.S. rescue package for a foreign country is hardly an everyday occurrence, it is also not unheard of.
In 1995, President Bill Clinton directed $20 billion in Treasury currency stabilization funds to be lent to Mexico as part of an international rescue package to stabilize a collapsing peso. Since then, the U.S. has only bought another country鈥檚 currency four times, including the recent Argentine peso purchase, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
For Mr. Trump, the new doctrine is working. 鈥淲e鈥檙e getting a real strong handle on South America,鈥� the president said Monday on his way to Asia in response to journalists鈥� questions about Mr. Milei鈥檚 election win. 鈥淗e [Mr. Milei] got a lot of strong support from us.鈥�
Mr. Trump鈥檚 rescue of Argentina鈥檚 economy 鈥� and of Mr. Milei politically 鈥� makes perfect sense in the eyes of many experts here.
鈥淭rump wants to be the leader of the world鈥檚 new right, and Milei is that new-right leader in Latin America,鈥� says Juan Luis Bour, chief economist at FIEL, the Foundation for Economic Research in Latin America, in Buenos Aires.
鈥淢ilei is doing the things Trump thinks countries should do, like shrinking the state and slashing public sector jobs, so of course Trump would want to do what he could to avoid Milei鈥檚 failure,鈥� he says. 鈥淓ven better if he can give an unfinished reform agenda a new boost.鈥�
In the days since the election victory, a triumphant Mr. Milei has said he plans to move on quickly to two key pieces of his vision for a new Argentina: labor law reform and an overhaul of the retirement system.
But the Trump bailout also risks reviving latent misgivings among Argentines about what such a close relationship with the U.S. might mean.
Mr. Bour cites recent polls showing about 45% of the population 鈥� which he assumes is 鈥渕ostly people on the political left鈥� 鈥� opposed to the U.S. bailout, with about 30% favorable or very favorable.
鈥淭here鈥檚 always a streak of anti-Yankee sentiment in Argentina,鈥� he says, 鈥渏ust as there is across the region.鈥�
Who benefits?
Fury over U.S. intervention in Argentina goes back at least as far as the mid-1940s, when a U.S. ambassador openly campaigned against the populist president, Juan Per贸n. U.S. support for the military dictatorship in the late 1970s and early 鈥�80s remains raw for some, while the U.S. taking Britain鈥檚 side in the 1982 Falklands (Malvinas) War was seen by many as a blow from a hemispheric neighbor.
Argentines who remain dubious about the intent of the Trump bailout are anxious to point out that the second half of the $40 billion package is private sector financing through major U.S. banks.
Indeed, in the days leading up to Sunday鈥檚 vote, the Buenos Aires press ran front-page stories chronicling the visits of top U.S. investment bankers to the Argentine capital. Some reports highlighted unnamed Milei officials revealing the government steps that the bankers were demanding in exchange for the financing.
Such reports fed the idea circulating on the streets that the Trump bailout isn鈥檛 about helping Argentina at all, but about rescuing the investments of the U.S. president鈥檚 wealthy backers.
Secretary Bessent has taken great umbrage at such speculation.
鈥淭his trope that we鈥檙e helping out wealthy Americans with interests down there couldn鈥檛 be more false,鈥� he told CNBC recently. 鈥淲hat we鈥檙e doing is maintaining a U.S. strategic interest in the Western Hemisphere.鈥�
Competition with China
For many analysts, that 鈥渟trategic interest鈥� wouldn鈥檛 be anywhere near what it is without China鈥檚 expanding, and in some ways already dominant, presence in the region.
鈥淢ore than anything, this is a geopolitical issue,鈥� says FIEL鈥檚 Mr. Bour. Noting that Argentina has an $18 billion swap deal with China, he says the U.S. wanted to prevent Argentina 鈥� South America鈥檚 second-largest economy 鈥� from becoming any more beholden to China than it already is.
鈥淭he U.S. doesn鈥檛 want Argentina to use any more of the China swap,鈥� Mr. Bour says, 鈥渨hich is one reason why the U.S. package has fewer restrictions than China鈥檚.鈥�
Indeed, Mr. Bessent said in a recent Fox News interview that the U.S. was acting in order to stop China from gaining more influence in the region. And he said Mr. Milei is on board with that goal, asserting that the Argentine leader is 鈥渃ommitted to getting China out of Argentina.鈥�
That seems unlikely, given China鈥檚 importance to the Argentine economy.
In any case, it鈥檚 the U.S., and not China, that some Argentines 鈥� or at least those of the traditional anti-Yankee left gathered in a Buenos Aires park recently 鈥� want out of their country.
鈥淭rump is taking advantage of Argentina鈥檚 weakness to swoop in and take our natural riches,鈥� says Carlos Toledo, a directorate committee member with the Workers鈥� Socialist Movement in Moreno, a city in Buenos Aires province. 鈥淢ilei is more than happy to go along with that to stay in power, but we the people are not.鈥�
As for what he thinks Argentines can do to reverse U.S. interference in their country, Mr. Toledo shrugs: 鈥淲e will continue to raise our voices at events like this and cry, 鈥楾rump, go home!鈥欌��
