Dollarisation sooner than we thought?

Anything's possible I suppose but it's too early to say. We'll see how things are in six month's time. According to the missus the money brabbing supermarkets are getting the wind up em. They're starting to discount more items in order to get rid of stock they've been left with due to the greedy bastards overpricing.

Quote from UK Man

Anything's possible I suppose but it's too early to say. We'll see how things are in six month's time. According to the missus the money brabbing supermarkets are getting the wind up em. They're starting to discount more items in order to get rid of stock they've been left with due to the greedy bastards overpricing.

Yip , i have seen quite a few things drop in price in the last week.

I have just read an Italian article on the "brutal repression" by Milei against the protesters outside of Congress. The article specified that the police used tearing gas and that has been spraying the crowd with water mixed with chemicals to disperse the crowd (!). They article also mentions a nurse-doctor tent being mounted nearby to treat the injured protesters. I have not heard about this in the local news (I have not been paying attention).

An AI translation into English is provided below. The original article is behind a paywall here.

Quote from La Repubblica

Among the barricades of the protest that inflames Buenos Aires: 'Milei traitor'

by Elena Basso

The reportage. After the partial approval of the controversial Omnibus law wanted by the new president, the anger of the thousands of protesters who have been contesting the measure for days is growing. And police repression is getting tougher

03 FEBRUARY 2024 AT 12:34PM

3 MINUTES OF READING

BUENOS AIRES - In the centre of Plaza del Congreso, right in front of the Argentine Parliament, two hooded young men with a bandana covering their faces are smashing the floor of the square with a metal stick. Behind them is a fountain on which someone has recently written with a spray can 'Milei traitor'. The noise made by the metal stick echoes in the square, overpowering the sirens and gunfire of the military. The two boys bend down, pick up the pieces of tile they have broken, and throw them at a cordon of policemen deployed in front of Parliament.

It has just been announced from the Congreso that parliamentarians have approved the Ley Ómnibus, the maxi-bill presented by Argentina's newly-elected president Javier Milei that envisages drastic changes in every aspect of society in the Latin American country. While the two boys throw the stones, thousands of people are chanting choruses in the square. Most of them have been here for three days protesting while the parliament debates the draft and, now that it has been approved, they are angrily pouring into the capital's square trying to break through the military cordons to get under the Congreso.

Javier Milei, a political outsider with ultra-liberal and right-wing ideas, became world famous for the images of his controversial election campaign in which he brandished a chainsaw to symbolise the public spending cuts he would make if elected. To convince voters to vote for him, he promised a 'shock therapy' to solve the severe economic crisis that has gripped Argentina for years and that the last Peronist governments have been unable to resolve. However, nobody expected Milei to act so quickly and so radically, presenting the Ley Ómnibus during his first six weeks in government.

The draft originally consisted of more than 600 articles, while those approved by parliamentarians today number 382 and will bring radical changes, including the privatisation of state enterprises, increasing the powers of the country's president, and cutting state aid to citizens, health and education. The bill was approved by parliament with 144 votes in favour and 109 against. In the coming days, parliamentarians will be asked to vote article by article and then the Ley Ómnibus will go to the Senate for discussion.

A few steps away from the parliament, a large red gazebo was erected with the inscription 'Health Point'. Here nurses and volunteer doctors have gathered to help injured protesters. Since the protests in front of the Congreso began, the repression by the police, led by Security Minister Patricia Bullrich, has been brutal. On the evening of Thursday 1 February alone, at least a hundred citizens were injured by the agents, mostly by rubber bullets fired very often at close range and by the indiscriminate use of tear gas and chemicals contained in the water of the water cannon trucks used to disperse the crowd. "Yesterday people kept arriving in the gazebo. They came running and grabbed onto us to try to save themselves, they couldn't see anything because of the tear gas and their skin was burning from the chemicals. It was crazy, it's the first time I've seen such repression in Argentina,' says Malena, 24, a nurse.

The atmosphere in the Plaza del Congreso is surreal. Sirens echo among the buildings, and shots are fired by officers as the chants of protesters grow louder. There is no lighting, and the only light comes from the parliament building and the dumpsters set on fire by the protesters. There are thousands of deployed agents, marching in riot gear accompanied by dozens of soldiers on noisy motorbikes: they are in pairs, one driving and the other pointing a big gun at the protesters. Before it was announced that the bill had been passed by parliament, the demonstrators in the square were protesting peacefully.

Some were holding mate (the typical Argentine drink) or a cold beer, some had the national flag tied around their necks, or some were wearing Messi's jersey. Huge trade union flags were flying everywhere and groups of pensioners and state workers were demonstrating side by side. Among them was Mabel, 57, a civil servant, who said: 'I am here today because this bill will create even more inequality, poverty and unemployment. These are changes that will worsen conditions for everyone working in the public, social, educational and health sectors'.

While Marisol, 58, an integral part of the Movimiento Territorial de Liberación Carlos Chile, adds: 'With these new laws all our territory, which is very rich in natural resources, will be put up for sale and the population will not benefit from it. Just think of the importance of lithium in the global market and how much of it our country has. With this project, foreign companies will have the green light to plunder our territory'.

The protests that have been going on since the morning today ended around 10pm. The repression by the agents was brutal, but there were fewer injured and fewer protesters hit by rubber bullets.

A few days ago, President Javier Milei announced that his government has no 'plan b' and that the first signs of economic recovery should arrive within two years. In the meantime, the devaluation of the national currency, price increases, lay-offs and cuts in state subsidies will continue. In the square there are now a few hundred people, two demonstrators are protesting in front of the officers. A short distance away a man is handcuffed and another is slammed violently to the ground by a policeman. As a small group of citizens walk towards the nearest underground shouting 'the people are hungry', five federal police officers take a smiling picture of each other.

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Hmmmmmm....OTT reporting methinks.

No mention in the European press about the brutal behaviour of the so called protestors?

I watched Milei's speech at Davos a week or so ago and I was really quite impressed. He is well-educated, that we knew I suppose, but it shone through. I observed he has an independent mind and some refreshing and unique ways of looking at things. I wish him the best.

Quote from BBC Mundo 1

Christian Castillo, diputado del Frente de Izquierda, informó que el abogado Matías Aufieri, asesor del diputado Alejandro Vilca, recibió un balazo de goma en un ojo.

Quote from BBC Mundo 2

Durante las manifestaciones ha habido fuertes choques con la policía, que aplican un "protocolo de seguridad" que restringe la protesta en espacios públicos.

Los enfrentamientos escalaron y tomaron un giro violento el jueves por la noche.

Policías y gendarmes dispararon balas de goma, gas lacrimógeno y cañones hidrantes para tratar de dispersar las protestas. Varias personas resultaron heridas, entre ellas periodistas y un asesor parlamentario.

Quote from Euronews

La policía de Buenos Aires disparó balas de goma y utilizó gas pimienta contra los manifestantes que se negaron a abandonar sus posiciones frente al Congreso de Argentina. Decenas de miles de personas reunidas allí están en contra del plan de reforma global propuesto por el recién elegido presidente ultraliberal Javier Milei.

Argentina’s lower house votes for Javier Milei’s sweeping reform package

Far-right president’s measures aimed at tackling the country’s severe economic problems passed easily despite public protests

www.theguardian.com

From that left wing rag....

Cordialement...

No reports on the Holy Innocents who were protesting. I saw them assault police officers but this is not being reported in Europe.