Milei Vetoes Pension Hike Bills as Protests Grow in Austerity-Hit Argentina

Argentina’s libertarian president Javier Milei has pulled the plug on two bills that would’ve increased pensions and disability benefits, saying the country just can’t afford it — even as protests against his deep spending cuts continue to grow across the country.

The vetoes, announced Monday, come less than three months before crucial midterm elections that could either give Milei more room to push his radical economic agenda or slow it down. Lawmakers had approved the bills in July, but the president — whose party holds only a small chunk of seats in Congress — called them “irresponsible” and slammed them for lacking any real funding plan.

In a statement posted on X (formerly Twitter), the presidential office claimed the proposed spending hikes would’ve cost nearly 1% of Argentina’s GDP this year, jumping to almost 1.7% by 2026.

“This president prefers to tell an uncomfortable truth rather than repeat comfortable lies,” the statement read. “The only way to make Argentina great again is with effort and honesty, not the same old recipes.”

The nod to Trump’s catchphrase was no accident — Milei has openly styled himself after the former U.S. president.

Since taking office in late 2023, Milei has gone all in on his “chainsaw” economics — slashing government spending, axing tens of thousands of public jobs, freezing public works, and gutting social programs. He says it’s all part of a plan to kill inflation and fix Argentina’s broken economy.

And in some ways, it’s working: the country posted its first budget surplus in 14 years, and inflation finally dipped below 2% in June — the lowest since 2020.

But for millions of Argentines, the pain is real. Unemployment is up, poverty has deepened, and prices are still 40% higher than they were a year ago. Retirees, in particular, have taken the brunt of the cuts, and they’ve been hitting the streets in weekly protests demanding action.

Still, despite the public backlash, Milei’s party is polling strong ahead of October’s elections — which are shaping up to be a big referendum on his shock-therapy reforms.