LETTER FROM BUENOS AIRES

Emily and Ethan are friendly twins who travel through time with their grandmother. On their adventures, they meet various liberal or libertarian thinkers: John Locke, Milton Friedman, Ludwig von Mises. Initially skeptical, the twins end up eagerly listening to the lessons of these historical figures. Public assistance? That's bad. Currency issuance? Also bad, since it inevitably fuels inflation. Single-parent families are stigmatized: Children whose fathers have left are said to be more likely "to commit crimes and drop out of school."

In Argentina, the upcoming broadcast of the cartoon Tuttle Twins on the public children's channel Paka Paka (starting in July) demonstrates the determination of far-right libertarian President Javier Milei's government to wage his so-called "culture war" against progressive values on every front, including childhood. Since its unveiling on May 22, this new program has sparked controversy. The arrival of the American production, which has been dubbed in Spanish, has also placed a spotlight on the international alliances the government is forging with conservative and libertarian groups. Milei, who has been in office for more than a year and a half, called for an international alliance in December 2024, declaring that Argentina could even serve as a "beacon for the world."

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