Argentinian President Milei to answer for regressive social policies

Argentinian president Javier Milei was summoned to the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights (IACHR) last week to answer for his administration's regressive social policies since his election last year.

Lawyers, human rights activists, unions and NGOs filed complaints against the self-described 'anarcho-capitalist' to the Commission, which held three hearings in Washington on 14 November. Juliana Miranda of the Centre for Legal Studies, one of the petitioners, described it as a ‘crucial’ moment in the country.

‘The hearings show that international mechanisms are taking notice that the human rights situation is in fact deteriorating in Argentina,’ she said.

The first hearing tackled the Milei administration's dismantling of social policies and food insecurity. Milei, who campaigned with pledges to fix the decades-long economic crisis, has slashed public spending in an effort to tame chronic inflation and eliminate the budget deficit. While he has indeed succeeded in lowering monthly inflation, his austerity measures have hit the poorest hardest. Over half of the population is now living below the poverty line, while soup kitchens are on the brink of closure.

The second hearing focused on the eradication of gender-based violence. Argentina has long been known as one of Latin America’s most socially progressive countries, and was one of the first in the region to legalize abortion in 2020. But Milei has regularly attacked abortion rights as ‘aggravated murder’. He has denied feminism as an ‘unnatural battle between man and woman’, dissolved the government department for tackling gender violence, and in October was the only leader of a G20 country to reject calls for gender equality.