Copyright bbc
These elections were the first national test of President Milei's popularity since he took office in 2023, pledging to shrink state spending by taking a metaphorical "chainsaw" to it. He brandished a real one during his campaign rallies. He's since cut budgets for education, pensions, health, infrastructure, and subsidies, and laid off tens of thousands of public sector workers. Supporters, including Trump, hail him for taming inflation - which hit triple figures annually before he took office - cutting the deficit, and restoring investor confidence. His critics, though, argue the price has been job losses, a decline in manufacturing, crumbling public services, a fall in people's purchasing power and an imminent recession. Juliana, who works with children with disabilities in Tucumán province, is concerned that a law to increase funding for people with disabilities - which Milei vetoed, before being overturned - could be "in danger" with the president's position strengthened in Congress. "Our salaries are low, it remains the same, while other things are increasing. We still don't see a change," she added. Veronica, a retired police officer, has been hit by Milei's pension cuts. "You see a lot of poverty," she said. "It's very hard: for retirees, for people with children with disabilities, for young people. There's a lot of unemployment. Many factories have closed." Milei has also kept inflation down by propping up the peso, leaving it overvalued and draining reserves ahead of $20bn of debt repayments next year. This had caused alarm that Argentina could be hurtling towards an economic crisis. That, coupled with a poor election result in Buenos Aires province in September, spooked the financial markets that Milei's cost-cutting agenda may not be politically sustainable.
