Javier Milei leads a charm operation with major Tech leaders

Argentina’s anarcho-libertarian President Javier Milei is visiting Silicon Valley, US, for a series of one-on-ones with the CEOs of Apple, Google and Meta, which enlightens us on the political project of the Argentine head of state.

Javier Milei has been in power for a little over 5 months and this is already his fourth return trip to the United States. In April 2024, the Argentinian posed for the photo with his thumbs up, in a leather jacket and tired fatigues pants, alongside Elon Musk in front of the Tesla gigafactory in Texas. The two men are in the middle of a romance and find each other on many points. Both are fierce defenders of the free market and soldiers of the right-wing populist international. This week, Javier Milei will meet with the CEOs of Apple, Google, Open AI and Meta, other disruptive embodiments of decentralized power.

Javier Milei takes care of these meetings with the big fish of the world economy, because they represent everything Milei dreams of for Argentina. They have revolutionized or created their sector of activity, they embody economic success and their power comparable to that of a head of state. The Argentine president wants to be part of this family, which defends the freedom to do business without regulation and without constraint. That’s it “assignment”he repeated it again a few days ago in an interview given to an Argentine political news site: “I am the ultimate representative of freedom on a global level, like it or not. The truth is that before, the agenda of Argentine politicians was a Lilliputian agenda ! I play in another category and everywhere I go, I cause an earthquake.”

It’s the chainsaw method: shake up everything to bring down the institutions, and make Argentina’s potential available to the private sector. At the beginning of the year, Javier Milei signed a decree authorizing Starlink, Elon Musk’s company, to deploy over Argentinian territory. He now hopes to sell him his lithium reserves for Tesla’s electric batteries. The Argentine technology sector is one of the most promising in Latin America, so Javier Milei will promote it this week in Silicon Valley.

However, given Argentina’s disastrous economic situation, analysts strongly advise against betting on this country. This is what undoubtedly explains the double game of the anarcho-libertarian. To deal with the emergency and obtain financial extensions, Javier Milei rubbed shoulders with the IMF, the kind of institution he despises. But its real objective is to get closer to the new decentralized places of power. He is working hard to abolish Argentina’s central bank and his government has just authorized Bitcoin transactions. All this is in line with his libertarian faith: a single law, that of the market, and a State reduced to its strict minimum.