News Round-Up, August 17, 2023
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EXCLUSIVE: Hawaiian Electric Knew of Wildfire Threat, but Waited Years to Act
Four years ago, the utility said it needed to do more to prevent its power lines from emitting sparks. It made little progress, focusing on a shift to clean energy.
WSJ by Katherine Blunt, Dan Frosch and Jim Carlton, Aug. 16, 2023 Russia’s War-Torn Economy Hits Its Speed Limit
Economists see this week’s currency gyrations not as the beginning of a financial crisis but rather as a symptom of the Kremlin’s sclerotic economic prospects
WSJ by Chelsey Dulaney and Georgi Kantchev, Aug. 17, 2023
Why Hawaiian Electric Is Facing a Lawsuit After Deadly Wildfires in Maui
TIME by SIMMONE SHAH, AUGUST 16, 2023 | ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: AUGUST 15, 2023 As Brazil's president, Lula is enjoying a favorable period with an approval rating of 60 percent.
Support for the leftist leader is increasing among evangelicals and in the southern part of the country, owing to the economic influence.
"El País" Naiara Galarraga Gortázar, São Paulo, August 17, 2023 - Translation and editing to English by Germán & Co.THE ANATOMY OF TWITTER
A POLITICAL TSUNAMI BY MILEI
IF THE FAR-RIGHT CANDIDATE WINS THE PRESIDENCY, HE WILL ELIMINATE SEVERAL MINISTRIES. TO CLARIFY HIS PROJECT, HE UPLOADED A VIDEO ON TIKTOK WITH AN IMPECCABLE STAGING THAT MATCHED HIS PROFILE.
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Burned cars in front of homes destroyed by the wildfire in Lahaina PHOTO: JUSTIN SULLIVAN/ Edited by Germán & Co.Hawaiian Electric Knew of Wildfire Threat, but Waited Years to Act
Four years ago, the utility said it needed to do more to prevent its power lines from emitting sparks. It made little progress, focusing on a shift to clean energy.
WSJ by Katherine Blunt, Dan Frosch and Jim Carlton, Aug. 16, 2023 During the 2019 wildfire season, one of the worst Maui had ever seen, Hawaiian Electric concluded that it needed to do far more to prevent its power lines from emitting sparks.
The utility examined California’s plans to reduce fires ignited by power lines, started flying drones over its territory and vowed to take steps to protect its equipment and its customers from the threat of fire.
Nearly four years later, the company has completed little such work. Between 2019 and 2022, it invested less than $245,000 on wildfire-specific projects on the island, regulatory filings show. It didn’t seek state approval to raise rates to pay for broad wildfire-safety improvements until 2022, and has yet to receive it.
Now, the company is facing scrutiny, litigation and a financial crisis over indications that its power lines might have played a role in igniting the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century. The blaze has caused more than 100 deaths, destroyed the historic town of Lahaina and resulted in an estimated billions of dollars in damage.
Electrical workers repair power lines leading into Lahaina on Tuesday. PHOTO: MIKE BLAKE/REUTERSThe fire’s cause hasn’t been determined, but mounting evidence suggests the utility’s equipment was involved. One video taken by a resident shows a downed power line igniting dry grass along a road near Lahaina. A firm that monitors grid sensors reported dozens of electrical disruptions in the hours before the fire began, including one that coincided in time with video footage of a flash of light from power lines.
Hawaiian Electric said it would investigate any role its infrastructure may have played and cooperate with a separate probe into the fire launched last week by the Hawaii attorney general.
“We all believe it’s important to understand what happened. And I think we all believe it’s important to make sure it doesn’t happen again,” said Shelee Kimura, Hawaiian Electric’s chief executive.
In response to questions about its wildfire-mitigation spending, a spokesman for Hawaiian Electric said the company reduces wildfire risk through its routine utility work, including trimming or removing trees and upgrading, replacing and inspecting equipment. It said it has spent about $84 million on maintenance and tree work in Maui County since 2018.
The utility has long been a force in Hawaii politics and business. In the wake of the fire, its finances are reeling. Its stock has plunged 49% this week, and its credit rating was downgraded to junk by S&P.
Hawaiian Electric is the latest utility in the Western U.S. to struggle following large wildfires, many of which have been sparked by utility equipment in recent years. PG&E, the Northern California utility giant, sought bankruptcy protection in 2019 after its power lines ignited a series of major fires, including the 2018 Camp Fire that killed 84 people and destroyed the town of Paradise, Calif. That had been the deadliest wildfire in modern U.S. history until the Maui fire.
In recent days, Hawaiian Electric officials have conferred with their counterparts at PG&E, seeking legal guidance on how to weather a crisis, people familiar with the matter said. The company is speaking with restructuring-advisory firms, exploring options to address its financial and legal challenge, said people familiar with the matter.
Since PG&E’s bankruptcy, Hawaiian Electric has made reference in regulatory filings to the risks of power-line fires, but it waited years to take significant action, documents and interviews show. During that period, the company was undertaking a state-mandated shift to renewable energy.
Acres burned in Maui County
Source: Hawaii Wildfire Management OrganizationThe growing risk of wildfire on Maui had been known for years. The number of acres burned on the island soared to 39,000 in 2019, from 150 in 1999, according to data compiled by the Hawaii Wildfire Management Organization, a nonprofit that works with government agencies and the public.
Several reports released by the group and others in recent years have said the danger is increasing, in part, because of invasive plants that have overtaken former sugar and pineapple plantations. Roughly one-quarter of state land in Hawaii is now covered by invasive grasses and shrubs, according to a study by the University of Hawaii and think tank East-West Center.
Wildfires in Maui since 2000
Note: Grasslands as of 2017
Sources: NASA (wildfires); U.S. Geological Survey (grasslands)
Jake Steinberg/THE WALL STREET JOURNALIn 2018, winds from Hurricane Lane passing to the south helped fuel fires that burned more than 2,000 acres on Maui. The next year was far worse, with the most acres blackened in decades, data from the wildfire management group show.
That July, a 9,000-acre blaze blew out of control in Central Maui, burning 25 acres a minute, according to the Maui News. The blaze prompted hundreds of evacuations and came within 150 feet of Hawaiian Electric’s power plant on Maui, according to the paper. The plant accounts for as much as 80% of the island’s power supplies.
A view of the devastation in Lahaina. PHOTO: ELYSE BUTLER FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNALIt said it would install heavier, insulated conductors on Maui and Oahu to minimize the risk of sparks when winds picked up, as well as technology to detect disruptions when the conductors came into contact with vegetation or each other. It said it would apply fire retardant on poles in risky areas and consider installing cameras and other devices to monitor weather conditions during fire season.
In filings over the next two years with the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission, which is tasked with approving utility projects and spending, the company made only passing reference to wildfire mitigation.
Renewables push
Former regulators and energy company officials said the utility was focused at that time on procuring renewable energy. Hawaii has been on a push to convert to renewables since 2008, when a run-up in oil prices sent electrical rates at Hawaiian Electric—which relied on petroleum imports for 80% of its energy supply—through the roof. In 2015, lawmakers passed legislation mandating that the state derive 100% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2045, the first such requirement in the U.S.
The company dove into reaching the goals, stating in 2017 that it would reach the benchmark five years ahead of schedule.
In 2019, under pressure to replace the output of two conventional power plants set to retire, the company sought to contract for 900 megawatts of renewable energy, the most it had pursued at any one time.
“You have to look at the scope and scale of the transformation within [Hawaiian Electric] that was occurring throughout the system,” said Mina Morita, who chaired the state utilities commission from 2011 to 2015. “While there was concern for wildfire risk, politically the focus was on electricity generation.”
The drive to reach the renewable goals also preoccupied private energy companies working with Hawaiian Electric and state energy officials, said Doug McLeod, a consultant who served for several years as the Maui county energy commissioner.
“Looking back with hindsight, the business opportunities were on the generation side, and the utility was going out for bid with all these big renewable-energy projects,” he said. “But in retrospect, it seems clear, we weren’t as focused on these fire risks as we should have been.”
Burned cars in front of homes destroyed by the wildfire in Lahaina PHOTO: JUSTIN SULLIVAN/GETTY IMAGES
A 2020 management audit of the company found that its enterprise risk analysis was largely focused on financial risk, with limited consideration of operational and business risk. And the division within the company that oversaw power line operations had significant management problems, the audit found.
Henry Curtis, who leads an environmental and community group that regularly weighs in on utility projects, said Hawaiian Electric officials told him privately that they didn’t believe Hawaii was prone to the type of devastating wildfires roaring through California. The utility officials thought the state’s parched grasslands were less of an urgent threat than California’s vast and dry timberlands, he said.
Shirley Daniel, a former Hawaiian Electric board member, said the utility hadn’t seen Hawaiian fires as a major threat. She likened the Maui disaster to the devastation Hurricane Sandy brought in 2012 to a New York City area that hadn’t before experienced so much damage from a tropical storm.
“I think the world is going to have to be realistic about these things,” she said about the changing nature of natural disasters.
Prompted by the increase in wildfires, a Maui county government commission in July 2021 examined the local prevention and response system and warned county and state officials of the growing fire threat.
“The investigation found that the number of incidents from a combination of wild/brush/forest fires appears to be increasing, and that this increase poses an increased threat to citizens, properties, and sacred sites,” the commission’s report concluded.
The report said not enough was being done to address the concerns. It recommended a number of solutions, including better management of vegetation around power lines and creating fuel buffers around the lines.
County and state officials didn’t return calls seeking comment.
Sweeping Wildfire
Fires started on Tuesday devastated Lahaina.
Sources: Whisker Labs; Maxar Technologies, Planet Labs (satellite images); OpenStreetMap (building footprints)The month the county report was released, Hawaiian Electric broached wildfire risk with the utilities commission. In a proceeding focused on modernizing the power grid, it proposed some wildfire-mitigation work on Maui, including upgrading power lines and installing weather cameras and smart technology—some of the initiatives mentioned in its 2019 announcement.
The regulatory proceeding stalled, and only recently resumed.
Jennifer Potter, who served as a state utilities commissioner from 2018 until November 2022, said the utility should have been more aggressive in presenting its plans on wildfire risk. “With the increase in wildfires that did occur, in particular on Maui, it wouldn’t have been unreasonable for [Hawaiian Electric] to have a more robust wildfire plan,” she said.
Potter also said the commission itself could have been more assertive in demanding that the utility give priority to wildfire mitigation. “Because it wasn’t an emergency, it didn’t receive the attention that it needed,” she said. She called it a “missed opportunity.”
In June 2022, Hawaiian Electric sought regulatory permission to raise rates to fund a more comprehensive plan to prepare the grid for new climate change-related stresses, including elevated risk of wildfire. It said it planned to spend about $190 million across Hawaii on removing potentially hazardous trees, replacing and upgrading power lines, and other protective measures, many of which have been undertaken by other utilities throughout the West.
As in many regulatory proceedings, the proposal has taken months to advance. The state utilities commission and other stakeholders asked dozens of questions of the company. In responses filed before the Maui fire occurred, Hawaiian Electric said it believed there was an urgent need to complete the upgrades, but that it wouldn’t start on the work until it has state approval to recoup costs from customers—a common occurrence when utilities seek to make large investments.
In a filing in June, the commission said: “In light of the asserted urgency of these transmission and distribution resiliency upgrades, why did Hawaiian Electric not begin to initiate some of these projects sooner?”
The company hasn’t yet responded.
This week, the ruble fell to its lowest level since the early days of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. YURI KADOBNOV/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSERussia’s War-Torn Economy Hits Its Speed Limit
Economists see this week’s currency gyrations not as the beginning of a financial crisis but rather as a symptom of the Kremlin’s sclerotic economic prospects
WSJ by Chelsey Dulaney and Georgi Kantchev, Aug. 17, 2023
The Russian central bank’s jumbo interest-rate increase to halt a tumbling ruble this week points to a new reality for the Kremlin: Russia’s economy has reached its speed limit.
The government has flooded the Russian economy with money to keep its troops in Ukraine supplied and insulate its businesses and citizens from the war. Thanks to the state’s largess, demand in the economy is rising, helping it recover from last year’s sanctions-induced recession. Supply—increasingly constrained by Russia’s isolation and widespread labor shortages—isn’t.
That growing imbalance of Russia’s wartime economy was thrust into focus this week as the ruble fell to its lowest level since the early days of the war. A senior Kremlin official blamed the currency drop on loose monetary policy. A day later, Russia’s central bank hiked interest rates by 3.5 percentage points at an emergency meeting, citing the need to stabilize the currency and bring down inflation, which it said has been growing at an annualized rate of 7.6% over the last three months.
The ruble has staged a rebound, with $1 now buying roughly 95 rubles compared with as much as 102 on Monday. Economists see this week’s volatility not as the beginning of an imminent financial crisis but rather as a symptom of Russia’s sclerotic economic prospects.
How many rubles by $1
Russian invades Ukraine
Note: The Y-axis is reversed to show the ruble's depreciation against the dollar.One step Russia’s central bank is now considering to boost the currency would reimpose requirements—used earlier in the war—on exporters to convert foreign earnings back into rubles, according to media reports.
“Russia is one of the few countries that could sustain for the longest. I don’t think they’re necessarily going to run out of money or whatnot,” said Erik Meyersson, chief emerging-market strategist at Swedish bank SEB.
But the level at which the Russian economy can grow without stoking inflation is now much lower than before Western sanctions. The decline of this so-called potential growth rate sets up a dilemma for President Vladimir Putin as he needs to both boost military production and placate the domestic population ahead of the coming presidential elections in March.
Government spending as part of gross domestic product has jumped by 13.5% in the first quarter compared with the same period last year, the highest growth rate in data going back to 1996.
The International Monetary Fund has estimated that Russia’s potential growth rate was around 3.5% before 2014, the year it seized Crimea from Ukraine.
Analysts at Raiffeisenbank Russia estimate the long-term potential growth of the economy now stands at 0.9%. In the years running up to the 2008 financial crisis, Russia’s economy averaged growth of more than 7% a year.
“The devaluation of the ruble shows that the economic fireworks of booming public spending are not sustainable,” said Janis Kluge, an expert on the Russian economy at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs. “The speed limit is not what the government can finance, but what the economy can produce.”
Russia’s ability to increase production at its own factories is already stretched to the limit. In sectors supplying the military, plants are working multiple shifts to cope with orders. Statistical categories associated with military output, such as metal goods, optical products and special clothing, boomed in the first half of the year.
Nonmilitary industrial sectors, meanwhile, have languished, weighed down by the lack of access to Western parts, inefficiency and a history of weak investment in upkeep of machines and equipment. Auto output is down more than 10% year-over-year. As a result, Russia’s economy has become increasingly centered on its vast natural resources, with profits from energy and metals filling the government’s coffers.
Russia has tried to become more self-sufficient since it invaded Ukraine last February and was cut off from Western supply networks. Those efforts are slow-moving and so far having mixed success. Some 65% of industrial enterprises in Russia are dependent on imported equipment, according to a poll published in June by Moscow’s Higher School of Economics.
“Building up capacity in new sectors takes time,” said Iikka Korhonen, the head of the Bank of Finland Institute for Emerging Economies. “You need machinery, you need qualified technicians. All that takes resources and it takes time.”
Russia has turned abroad to fill the gap. Imports of goods were up 18% this year through July, according to data from the finance ministry. Imports from China have surged and Russia’s defense minister recently visited North Korea to view weapons systems.
Russia’s growing dependence on imports has major implications for its economic stability. The economy still runs a current-account surplus, broadly meaning it receives more from exports than it spends on imports. But that surplus has fallen 85% this year, which means less money is flowing into the economy and a lower demand for rubles. A weakening ruble also makes imports more expensive in ruble terms, driving up inflation.
Russia has been less successful at finding new suppliers for mid-tech and high-tech products such as aircraft parts that have been hit by Western sanctions. Those imports were down $7 billion in the final quarter of 2022 compared with a year earlier, according to an analysis published by the Centre for Economic Policy Research.
Russia’s growing technological isolation is expected to reduce its long-term growth prospects, which were bleak even before the war. The country’s labor force has been shrinking for more than a decade as its population ages. Productivity has been weak owing to a lack of investment and a business climate rife with corruption and bureaucracy.
How might the state of the Russian economy affect the war in Ukraine? Join the conversation below.
Those trends have only worsened over the past year. Russia is facing its worst labor shortage since the 1990s as hundreds of thousands are mobilized for the front or have fled the country.
“There’s almost no supply left in Russia’s economy, and the inevitable result of that is going to be inflation,” said Liam Peach, senior emerging-market economist at Capital Economics.
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A downed power line in Lahaina on Aug. 14.David Butow for TIMEWhy Hawaiian Electric Is Facing a Lawsuit After Deadly Wildfires in Maui
TIME by SIMMONE SHAH, AUGUST 16, 2023 | ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: AUGUST 15, 2023 In the wake of wildfires that ripped through Maui last week, many are seeking answers about what caused the deadliest wildfire in the U.S. in over a century. That search has put Hawaiian Electric, which serves 95% of the island state’s 1.4 million residents, in the spotlight. The utility provider is facing a lawsuit over alleged inaction in the face of the destructive Lahaina wildfire that has killed at least 99 people on the island of Maui.
Though an official cause of the wildfire has not been reached, Lahaina residents filed a class action lawsuit against the utility company, alleging that, in the days before the fires broke out, the company “chose not to deenergize their power lines during the High Wind Watch and Red Flag Warning conditions for Maui before the Lahaina Fire started.” The filing also claims that the company failed to shut off power lines even after the fires began.
No shut-off plan
Hawaiian Electric did not deploy a public power shutoff plan—an aggressive safety strategy used in other states, such as California, Oregon and Nevada—to proactively shut down power to communities with high wind conditions and increased risks of fire.
Intense wind gusts knocked down approximately 30 utility poles across the region on August 8, many onto trees and roads, and complicated evacuations, according to Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen, who confirmed that some electrical lines were energized when they hit the ground.
According to the Washington Post, Hawaiian Electric was aware that a power shut-off was an useful strategy, but didn’t include the step in it in its fire mitigation plans. Hawaiian Electric spokesman Jim Kelly, told CNN that the utility company does not have a formal shut-off program in place, since the power is needed to provide water for firefighters.
“Pre-emptive, short-notice power shut-offs have to be coordinated with first-responders and in Lahaina, electricity powers the pumps that provide the water needed for firefighting,” Kelly told the New York Times.
Research firm CoreLogic has estimated that the residential property damages stand at $1.3 billion, but Hawaii Gov. Josh Green estimates the losses “approach $6 billion.” On Friday, Hawaii Attorney General Anne Lopez announced a “comprehensive review” of the decisions and policies surrounding the fires, which the state’s emergency measures were largely unprepared for.
An emergency management plan published by the state of Hawaii in February 2022 rated wildfires as low and medium risk across the board for its effect on people, property, the environment, and emergency management program operations.
The state’s outdoor emergency siren system—which it says is the largest in the world—is meant to alert residents to tsunamis and other natural disasters, but it did not activate during the fires.
Scrutiny and lawsuit
Power lines have been responsible for the spread of many destructive wildfires in the U.S. From 1992 to 2020 federal, state and local fire services dealt with 32,652 powerline-ignited wildfires across the country, according to Inside Climate News. In California alone, the electric company PG&E has been blamed for more than 30 wildfires since 2017 that wiped out more than 23,000 homes and businesses and killed more than 100 people. The company recently reached a $150 million settlement for its involvement in the 2020 Zogg fires.
Documents filed in the Hawaiian Electric lawsuit allege that the company had studied wildfire mitigation plans filed by California utility companies, which included a shut-off plan during high wind and so-called “red flag”—when warm temperatures, low humidity, and strong winds combine to produce an increased fire risk—conditions to prevent wildfires. But the documents allege that Hawaiian Electric never created a plan of its own.
In an emailed statement to TIME, Hawaiian Electric said it does not comment on pending litigation. "Our immediate focus is on supporting emergency response efforts on Maui and restoring power for our customers and communities as quickly as possible," the statement added. "At this early stage, the cause of the fire has not been determined and we will work with the state and county as they conduct their review."
Amid the scrutiny, Hawaiian Electric has seen its share price tumble, plunging over 40% to a 13-year low, on Monday morning following the lawsuit. The company’s shares were down more than 30% on Tuesday.
Government filings show that the company reported its plans to make infrastructure more resilient, including putting lines underground in vulnerable areas, hardening poles and launching a program to remove hazardous trees.
“The risk of a utility system causing a wildfire ignition is significant,” the company wrote in one filing, noting that a large objective was to “minimize the probability of the Companies’ facilities becoming the origin or contributing source of ignition for a wildfire”.
Image: Germán & CoCooperate with objective and ethical thinking…
Image by Germán & Co.As Brazil's president, Lula is enjoying a favorable period with an approval rating of 60 percent.
Support for the leftist leader is increasing among evangelicals and in the southern part of the country, owing to the economic influence.
"El País" Naiara Galarraga Gortázar, São Paulo, August 17, 2023 - Translation and editing in English by Germán & Co.
Eight months after taking the reins of Brazil's presidency, 77-year-old Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is currently experiencing a favorable period despite facing a coup attempt within the first week. According to the Genial/Quaest poll released on Wednesday, 60 percent of Brazilians approve of Lula's performance as president, marking the highest approval rate of his third term, while 35 percent disapprove. His growing popularity is due to the current economic situation, which his compatriots view optimistically, mitigating the previous reluctance towards left-leaning politicians in the south and among evangelical voters. Both groups overwhelmingly supported his opponent, Jair Bolsonaro, in the elections.
These recent results indicate that, compared to the previous poll two months ago, Lula has gained four points in support for his work as president, and his rejection rate has fallen by five points. These levels of support are a relief for the president, primarily since he has just hosted a major summit in the Amazon and presented his grand investment plan.
Lula has a packed international schedule, which includes his upcoming trip to Africa next week. During a phone conversation on Wednesday that lasted 30 minutes, he spoke with his counterpart, US President Joe Biden, who acknowledged "the obligations of developed countries [in relation to climate change] and the necessity of assisting developing countries [in coping with the consequences]," as per a statement issued by the Brazilian presidency.
The ambitious objective is to inject $350 billion into the economy through public and private works in all states. During the revealed plan, Lula announced that it is no longer the time for ministers to propose new ideas; instead, the objective now is to deliver what has been pledged. A few experts express doubt regarding the consistency of the growth acceleration programme because it needs to elucidate the source of funds or priorities fully.
The federal government's job receives less endorsement and criticism than the president's, with 42 per cent approving, 29 per cent considering it neutral, and 24 per cent negative.
Backing for the leader of the Workers' Party (PT) in the wealthier and less diverse southern region of the country has surged by an impressive 11 points, reaching the national average. Although the south of states are considered strongholds of Bolsonarism, the Safra (harvest) initiative, targeting support for farmers, has had an impact. The far-right leader Bolsonaro maintains a low profile amid daily press reports exposing new insights into the manoeuvres of his closest aides to sell valuable gifts he received while in office.
The economic scenario experienced by Lula since he assumed office has been favorable. Millions of families have welcomed the program he launched to encourage debt negotiation with banks stuck in debt. The unemployment rate is approximately 9%, although the informal sector employs 40 million of the workforce (in a country of 203 million people). In the first quarter, GDP grew by 4% compared to the same period last year.
And among evangelicals, a group that votes fairly homogeneously, for the first time, Lula has more supporters (50%) than opponents (46%), although the difference is small and well below the national average. The leaders of the main evangelical denominations have a political alliance with Bolsonaro that Lula is trying to erode as he seeks to broaden his parliamentary support in search of a majority in Congress, which is currently dominated by Bolsonaro's supporters. While Brazilian legislators are always willing to negotiate, it is a question of agreeing on the price.
In any case, the president's current popularity ratings are a far cry from Lula's record, a fact he likes to point out. When Brazil's first workers' president left power in 2010, he enjoyed more than 80% support. None of his predecessors or successors came close. There was no way of knowing then how strong the anti-Petism would become, fueled by Bolsonaro and his supporters, and that the former president would spend time in prison before staging an equally unexpected political resurrection.
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Javier Milei was pictured in Buenos Aires on 14th June after an interview on the television programme 'A dos voces'
Tomas CuestaTHE ANATOMY OF TWITTER
A POLITICAL TSUNAMI BY MILEI
IF THE FAR-RIGHT CANDIDATE WINS THE PRESIDENCY, HE WILL ELIMINATE SEVERAL MINISTRIES. TO CLARIFY HIS PROJECT, HE UPLOADED A VIDEO ON TIKTOK WITH AN IMPECCABLE STAGING THAT MATCHED HIS PROFILE.
"El País" Federico Rivas Molina, 17th August 2023, translation and editing to English by Germán & Co.Javier Milei, a figure with curly black hair who pledges to eliminate 'the political elite' in Argentina, has already become a significant phenomenon in his country. On Sunday, August 13th, he emerged as the most-voted candidate in the primary elections and now stands a strong chance to win the initial round of the general elections in October. Self-proclaimed as an 'anarcho-capitalist', he is an ultra-liberal libertarian who advocates for the elimination of the state in a mixture of ideas that include promises of unrestricted firearm ownership, legal trading of organs, and adoption of the US dollar to combat inflation.
Milei is a television product - his continuous staring into the camera while making derogatory remarks amplified his popularity and secured him a spot on talk shows and social media platforms on a daily basis. It was too late by the time the monster fled. While Milei is a provocative figure, he is above all a self-promoter. He is known for wearing black leather and never smiling in front of a camera. He even goes by the moniker 'the lion'. One of his most memorable speeches showcases him smashing a box that represents the Central Bank with a cane. Milei vows to 'set it on fire' in order to put a stop to the issuance of money.
On October 22nd, the economist will compete against the conservative candidate Patricia Bullrich, who came second in the elections for the Juntos por el Cambio alliance, and Sergio Massa, the Peronist candidate and current Economy Minister. At the beginning of the week, Milei unexpectedly gained political fame, and he recently announced some of his proposed policies if he were to assume power. He remembers that controversy fuels his campaign. For instance, Milei stated that he would repeal the abortion law, which has been in force since December 2020, through a referendum. The progressive electorate is opposed to this, making it a particularly sensitive topic. However, the left did not come out to denounce him. Candidate Bullrich, who was the security minister under Mauricio Macri's (2015-2019) government, called it madness to spend time on popular consultations when it is urgent to reduce inflation and address poverty.
Argentina is currently facing its umpteenth economic crisis. Inflation has risen above 110% per month year on year, the value of the peso is declining daily against the dollar, and the Central Bank's reserves are critically low, while the International Monetary Fund awaits. Minister and political candidate Massa will be traveling to Washington this week to finalize a new agreement with the multilateral forum. Milei boasted on television on Tuesday. He stated that he had already received a call from Kristalina Georgieva's offices. He was asked if they are afraid of him at the IMF. He replied, stating that he was not afraid of them as the fiscal adjustment he has in mind is much tougher than the one demanded in Washington to open the financing tap.
Most of this adjustment will be paid for by the state, as per Milei's proposed plan of jibarization. He has said that if he reaches the Casa Rosada, he will eliminate the ministries of education, health, and social development. He argues that "social justice" is a robbery paid for by those who work, and he will fire hundreds of thousands of state employees who are on precarious contracts. He uploaded a video on TikTok with a mise-en-scène suitable for his profile to make his project clear. Milei's state will only handle matters pertaining to defense, internal security, and foreign relations. Its main international partners will be the United States and Israel; he has vowed to relocate the Argentine embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. The Milei wave has rocked Argentine politicians. It remains to be seen if he will succeed in sustaining the wave and confirming his triumph in the final election.