(CNN Spanish) — “The West is in danger.” This is how Xavier Miley began his strong intervention at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. The Argentine President maintained a similar theme for his campaign speeches and his first days in office: criticism of socialism and “collectivist” policies.
The president said, “Those who are supposed to defend Western values find themselves co-opted by a vision of the world that leads inevitably to socialism and, as a consequence, poverty.”
These statements set the tone of the message that the Argentine President sent in his first intervention on the international stage. However, those weren’t the only phrases that resonated.
affirmation of capitalism
“Far from being the cause of our problems, free enterprise capitalism as an economic system is the only tool we have to eliminate hunger, poverty and destitution from across the planet.”
Defense of the free market was the central banner that Xavier Miley defended throughout his illustrious political career, which took him to the presidency in just three years.
social justice criticism
“The problem is that social justice is not fair, but it does not contribute to the general welfare; on the contrary, it is unfair because it is violent. It is unfair because the state is financed through taxes and the taxes are paid for It is done by force.”
From his appearance on the public scene to his entry into politics, Xavier Miley defined himself as a “libertarian liberal” who questioned social spending and so-called “earned rights”.
In more than one excerpt from her speech at Davos, Miley defended that capitalism is “just and morally superior.”
strong opposition to socialism
“It is an impoverishing phenomenon that has failed in all the countries where it has been attempted; “It was an economic, social and cultural failure and it also killed more than 100 million human beings.”
On several occasions, even before assuming the presidency in December 2023, he was close to right-wing political leaders like Donald Trump and Jair Bolsonaro. In this sense, his criticism of communism and socialism became almost a trademark.
“Socialism is a poverty-creating machine. That is, socialism in its pure version, when it was implemented, was an economic, social, and cultural failure, and it also killed 150 million human beings,” he told CNN in 2021.
Social conflict present in Miley’s speech
“Socialists changed the agenda and replaced the class struggle with other so-called class struggles such as the ridiculous unnatural battle between men and women. The agenda of radical feminism became more intervention by the state, employing bureaucrats who contributed nothing to society. Not provided, whether in the form of women’s ministries or international organizations, to promote this agenda.
In this case, Miley’s words have points of contact with some of the measures taken by her government, such as the abolition of the Ministry of Women and its replacement by the Undersecretariat for Protection against Gender Violence.
During his campaign, in an interview with LN+, he said that “It’s not about rights, it’s about privileges.”
He also questions the protection of the environment, arguing against the position that “humans harm the planet and it must be protected at all costs,” and linking it to other policies he rejects, such as the projected Population control system. Or what he called “the bloody agenda of abortion.”
A message for businessmen
At the end of his speech, Xavier Miley addressed businessmen present and absent at the World Economic Forum. He invited them not to allow themselves to be intimidated by the “political caste”, nor by those he called “parasites living off the state”, and not to “surrender to a political class that is in power.” Wants nothing more than to survive and remain in power.” Its privileges.”
Praising capitalism, he said that “the capitalist, the successful businessman, is a social philanthropist who, far from appropriating other people’s wealth, contributes to the general welfare.” “Let no one tell them that their ambitions are immoral,” he concluded.
To conclude, he trotted out his iconic phrase, which was born during the campaign and is now almost a registered trademark: “Long live freedom, damn it!”
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