The destruction came in the form of an unconstitutional Presidential emergency decree (Decree of Necessity and Urgency) with 300 reforms. With the decree comes the end of Argentina's liberal foundations which had protected the country from the fascist abuses of the past.
Gone (for now) are laws regulating rent, hording, Argentine product preferences, retail regulations, regulations for the privatization of public entities, labor laws and other laws that protected the most vulnerable Argentinians from predatory capitalism. But also gone are many of the structures that had bankrupted the country and kept it in economic crisis.
For most of its post-colonial history, Argentina has lurched from one political extreme to the other, unable to find a balance between the excesses of the left and right. The fascists brought forced stability but horrific human rights abuses while the socialists brought more rights but less economic stability. Virtually every government has been corrupt and much of the tax money wasted on vote buying and enriching the political class and foreign corporations.
As an economist, Javier Gerardo Milei, should know what he is doing, and many Argentinians believe that he does. But few like the pain that comes from the deep destruction of their government and economy and many are pushing back.
This Wednesday, the country will be protesting Milei's decree and asking courts to rule them as unconstitutional.
If Milei wants the support of more Argentinians he will have to get a lot better at explaining the reasons for his actions.