“We’re here because we need food; people are eating less,” desperate housewives shouted. Roadblocks at dozens of entry points to Argentina’s major cities, staged by social movements and met with especially harsh police force in Buenos Aires, marked Javier Milei’s 100 days in office this Monday. Tear gas, baton blows, and water cannon trucks added intensity to a day that invites little celebration. The skies that the president often invokes with biblical imagery show no sign of mercy. The country faces inflation running near 60 percent for the quarter, poverty rising to 57.4 percent, and a recession in full swing. The gains claimed by the ultranationalist administration in slashing the fiscal deficit increasingly resemble a magician’s illusion. Polls suggest the prolonged honeymoon with a large portion of society is drawing to a bitter close.
“About 69.8 percent of Argentines feel things have gotten worse since Milei, who governs from behind the Congress, began his term on December 10,” reports the survey. A similar share, 71 percent, says the cost of the crisis is not borne by the political class that Milei has attacked since rising to power. According to the Zuban Córdoba debate, opposition to the Milei government moved from 54.7 percent to 57.4 percent, while support stood at 42.7 percent, three points lower than in February. Meanwhile, 55 percent believe the ultraright is moving in the wrong direction. The president’s popularity has slipped to 42.3 percent from a high of 60 percent.
“Crises of representation and leadership not only fed Milei’s victory,” noted La Nación. “That gap that steered the government’s early direction is now at risk of narrowing to mere symbolic gestures,” the article warned, pointing to missteps by the governing coalition and Milei’s own errors that threaten to entangle the government in a power struggle with external pressures and urgent needs that undermine that early balance of forces.
Milei acknowledged at taking office that the initial months would be hard and that worse might still come. His standoff with Congress—which blocked his Decree of Need and Urgency and the Omnibus Law—has further complicated governance. He has openly dismissed opponents as “enemies of society” when they vote against the DNU, and has signaled that without a new legislative version of his ambitious package, the so‑called “Pact of May” cannot be endorsed with the right- and center-right opposition. Peronists have found occasional allies to block measures that would grant the president extraordinary powers, dismantle the state, overhaul labor and environmental laws, and expand repressive capacity in the face of social unrest.
In one section labeled “Deceptive Numbers,” Argentines have seen about a 25 percent drop in purchasing power over Milei’s first 100 days. The reality is visible in everyday retail: a kilogram of tomatoes can be replaced by two or three smaller units; beef remains a looming question. Protests have surged in the streets—unions, cultural sectors, feminist collectives. Food shortages reach community kitchens feeding millions. Milei, antiabortion and often at odds with cultural institutions, faced quiet resistance even from the Vatican during a February visit. Yet the Buenos Aires archbishop, Jorge García Cuerva, recently echoed the pope’s call for a humane approach to the economy, urging policymakers to recognize the hungry by name and to place human faces on policy rather than abstract figures.
The anarcho-capitalist president boasted about his Davos showings and launched a critique of entrepreneurs deemed too comfortable to allow socialism to take root. Economists warn of a looming challenge: the pretended fiscal surplus lacks credibility given falling revenues and the prospect of a deeper downturn. The drastic cutbacks in spending in January and February largely deferred payments to energy generators, provinces, and construction firms, and squeezed pensioners’ incomes—factors that together create a dangerous time bomb for the economy.
On another front, the confrontation with Buenos Aires intensified. Governor Axel Kicillof condemned the economic plan as criminal, justifying tax increases to offset delayed state funds. The ultraright’s call for Buenos Aires residents to stop paying taxes created fertile ground for a dangerous escalation of conflict in the country’s most populous province.
“It is gravely worrying that a president encourages lawbreaking,” Kicillof warned. He noted that shrinking the state could lead not to anarchic capitalism but to narcocapitalism as criminal entities begin to erode the power of state institutions. In Rosario and Santa Fe, where violence has surged, law enforcement and public institutions appear increasingly infiltrated by crime, underscoring how weak state capacity can invite broader social breakdown. In this climate, Kicillof warned of the danger posed by criminal organizations filling the void left by weakened state authority.
Narratives of alliance and opposition also shaped Milei’s relationship with Vice President Victoria Villarruel. He insisted they were not at odds, while Villarruel warned that she would not become Cristina Kirchner. Social media saw fierce reaction against Villarruel for permitting Senate debate on the DNU, with columnists warning that a rebellion remains possible. Milei is set to travel to Miami to accept an award from the Jewish community for his political support of Israel.
— Attribution: Coverage reflects reports from major Argentine outlets and commentary from analysts observing Milei’s early presidency and its economic and political consequences. (Source aggregation from La Nación, Perfil, and Zuban Córdoba; no single author.)