At a midnight ceremony in Tucumán, President Javier Milei finally signed his May Pact. He promised tax, pension and educational reforms in a 40-minute speech — much of which was spent likening his government’s plans to Argentina’s Declaration of Independence.

The event was held in the northern province at the invitation of the province’s governor, Osvaldo Jaldo, a rare Peronist ally. It took place at the Historic House of Tucumán, where the Declaration of Independence was signed on July 9, 1816. The formalities took place late on Monday night and in the early hours of Tuesday, to allow Milei to return to Buenos Aires for a te deum service and military parade to mark Argentina’s Independence Day.

The document consists of a list of 10 broad principles his government believes Argentina’s political parties should be able to overcome their differences and agree on. The points are not laws — but Milei announced the creation of a “May Council” tasked with developing the 10 points into projects to be sent to Congress. 

He said that it was “not the first time that after years of internal warring, representatives of the various parts of the political map meet to set down their arms and come together around a new order.” He thanked the 18 provincial governors in attendance for their presence, as well as the other officials and functionaries, including ex-President Mauricio Macri. Milei said the presence of these figures showed a “change of epoch”, before taking aim at the opposition. Most Peronist provincial governors refused to attend. Buenos Aires Province Governor Axel Kicillof vocally rejected the pact on several occasions. 

“There are many political, social and union leaders who are not here today […] in some cases because their ideological blinkers prevent them from recognizing the root of Argentina’s failure, others for fear or shame of having persisted in their error for so long, and unfortunately, in many cases because of their obstination about not wanting to yield the privileges that the old order offered them,” he said, calling them “addicts to the system.”

Vice President Victoria Villarruel was also absent, because she was reportedly suffering from the flu.

The points of Milei’s pact

He dedicated most of his speech to explaining the 10 points of the pact. The final version, which was published on Wednesday, includes the following points:

• Inviolability of private property

• Non-negotiable fiscal balance

• Reduction of public spending by 25% of GDP

• Useful and modern kindergarten, primary and secondary education, with full literacy and no school abandonment

• Tax reform to alleviate tax pressure and promote trade

• Re-examination of the federal tax revenue sharing system and an end to the current “extortive” system

• Progress on exploiting the country’s natural resources

• Modern labor reform to promote formal employment

• Pension reform to make the system sustainable

• Open international trade so Argentina can become a key player in the global market

As he promised to cut public spending and fight inflation, he noted that “those under 25 probably don’t even remember what it is to live without inflation.” Argentina exited the dollar peg system known as “convertibility” in January 2002, amid an epoch-marking financial crisis. He then reiterated a promise to cut public spending by 25% of GDP, emphasizing that this would affect local and provincial governments as well as national. 

Discussing the role of the state, he argued that its role should be limited to enforcing the law and respect for private property, preventing and punishing crime, maintaining Argentina’s borders, and guaranteeing access to education and health.

Milei lashed out at Argentina’s education system, accusing previous governments of focusing on higher education at the cost of ensuring basic literacy at primary level. He continued that the university system produces “a hypertrophied quantity of lawyers and accountants who are only required because in Argentina there are too many lawsuits, too much bureaucracy and too many taxes,” as well as too many graduates whose skills will only be used by the state. Promised that he would make education “modern and useful.”

Tax reform in Argentina

He reiterated his frequent promise to cut and simplify Argentina’s tax system, because “Argentines […] deserve to dedicate their time and resources to deploying their creativity and talent, to creating wealth, not to filling out forms and paying dozens of incomprehensible taxes.” This, he said, would include a rejig of the federal tax sharing system, known as coparticipación.

With regard to natural resources, the president accused politicians of putting “noisy minorities and environmental organizations financed by foreign millionaires” over Argentina’s need to develop, arguing that the environmental movement should “put the individual at the center.”

He also called for an overhaul of both the pension and the employment system. He stated that only two in 10 people of working age are in formal employment and that Argentina has just 1.8 working people for every retiree, arguing that the ratio should be at least four to one for the system to be sustainable. 

This, he said, would require labor legislation changes that make it easier for businesses to hire. “It’s time to accept that the best thing for a worker is a business owner, and that for there to be more workers and better-quality work, there must be more businesses,” he said, adding that hiring staff should be profitable, not “an act of solidarity.”

Milei initially intended to sign the pact in Córdoba on May 25, the anniversary of the 1810 May Revolution. However, the president also said he would not sign it until the Ley Bases had been approved. Ultimately, the legislation was not passed until late June.