The irruption of the United States in the heat of the electoral campaign in Argentina has the potential to be a game-changer for President Javier Milei. Donald Trump’s decision to fully backstop the Argentine peso in the context of a dangerous run on the currency, together with a hurricane of a political crisis, arrives as a much-needed remedy for the libertarian administration.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was personally involved in negotiations with Economy Minister Luis ‘Toto’ Caputo, announcing a US$20-billion currency swap, another potential US$20 billion in public and private debt financing and even engaged in direct purchases of Argentine assets in the open market. The unprecedented move marks a bold break with Trump’s “America First” foreign policy and mimics the historic “whatever it takes” moment when then European Central Bank President Mario Draghi vowed to defend the euro endlessly — many suggest this was the turning-point in the European sovereign debt crisis that had the potential to break the currency bloc.
But almost immediately, Trump added his usual level of entropy through confusing public remarks that wrecked havoc in financi
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