Milei calls for May Pact to be signed in July

‘I wish that this year be remembered in Argentine history as the turning point in which we started to be great again’

Argentine President Javier Milei announced on Thursday that he would sign his protracted “May Pact” will be signed in Tucumán province in July.

During a ceremony celebrating Flag Day in Rosario, the President called for “political authorities, the governors of the Argentine provinces, the leaders of the main political parties, the former presidents of the nation, the members of the Honorable Supreme Court of Justice, businessmen, workers and, of course, all Argentine citizens” to meet in Tucumán to “turn the page of our history.”

As its name implies, the May Pact was originally going to be signed on May 25, a public holiday commemorating Argentina’s 1810 Revolution, in Córdoba province. Milei invited political leaders to sign it when he opened Congress on March 1, saying it would be centered around principles like the inviolability of private property, non-negotiable fiscal balance, and the reduction of public spending by 25% of GDP, among others.

However, since the May Pact was subject to the passing of the Ley Bases — which was approved by the Senate last week — the first iteration of the pact was scratched. The bill still has to go through the Chamber of Deputies for final approval, although a session date has not been confirmed.

During Thursday’s speech, Milei designated a new public holiday as a deadline: July 9, when Argentina commemorates its 1816 Declaration of Independence.

Speaking next to the Monument to the Flag, the president said the first version of the Argentine flag was designed by national hero Manuel Belgrano, who died 204 years ago and sewn by women “who wanted to make their contribution to the cause of freedom.”

“Belgrano was a maximalist of freedom. He understood that either we were free or we were not; there were no buts or intermediate points,” Milei said. “Freedom is an innate instinct of being Argentine and that is why, in the long run, it always makes its way, because freedom is inescapable, no matter how much some resist or want to contain it.”

You may also be interested in: Ley Bases: what exactly did the Senate approve?

Rosario Mayor Pablo Javkin, who was the first speaker, said that the national government is helping his district in the fight against drug trafficking and the violence related to it. “We are better off because today, after years of absence, we finally see the lights of the patrol cars of the provincial and federal forces,” he said amidst the booing and whistling from those present.

In early March, four people with no apparent ties to organized crime were murdered in crimes that have been linked to drug trafficking gangs. The killings came after authorities released photos of prisoners being forced to sit topless on the floor, tightly packed one behind the other during a raid. Two weeks after the unprecedented escalation of the organized crime security crisis, the Defense and Security ministries started to support the city’s national and provincial security forces.

Santa Fe Governor Maximiliano Pullaro thanked the national government for its assistance but called for “infrastructure works to be able to develop and deploy all the potential that the country has.” When he took office, Milei canceled all public works, although some funds for them have been unlocked after lengthy negotiations.

“I wish that this year be remembered in Argentine history as the turning point in which we started to be great again,” Milei said. “May God bless the Argentines, may the forces of heaven be with us,” the president said, concluding his speech with a slew of “Long live the homeland” and his trademark slogan “Long live freedom, damn it!”

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