A chainsaw – an anti-public-spending symbol – on the cabinet meeting table in the presidential palace; Javier Milei seated in the center with his traditional pose, thumbs up and oblique gaze; government executives surrounding him, all smiles. The photo published by the Argentine government at the end of November sets the tone for the record of the ultraliberal president, in power since December 10, 2023, whose first austerity and economic deregulation measures were launched a year ago. Liberal shock therapy has been administered by a president whose "contempt for the state is infinite," as he put it in an interview with the weekly magazine The Economist on November 28, and who never ceases to rejoice at the initial results of his strong method.

Despite being in the minority in Congress, Milei has largely kept his promises. The chainsaw has pruned the State: The number of ministries has been halved, and 34,000 civil servant posts have been eliminated. Prevention of sexually-transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancies, family farming programs, a childcare plan for disadvantaged families, access to various medicines for the elderly, the fight against violence against women and a multitude of other public policies have been dismantled or frozen.

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