Argentina President Javier Milei speaks during the Conservative Political Action Conference in Buenos Aires on Wednesday. Photo: Anita Pouchard Serra/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Argentina yesterday hosted its first Conservative Political Action Conference, an offshoot of the U.S. event.
Why it matters: The conservative conference is making inroads in South America.
CPAC also held a similar event in Brazil this summer.
Argentine President Javier Milei is a right-wing leader who has expressed admiration for Trump.
State of play: Among CPAC Argentina's keynote guests was Lara Trump, the co-chair of the RNC and daughter-in-law of Trump.
In her speech, she referred to cuts and austerity measures Milei's government has undertaken since last December, saying the U.S. hopes to do the same with the announced Department of Government Efficiency that will be led by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy.
Milei's government has slashed public education budgets, cut funding to certain provinces, eliminated ministries like the ones dedicated to the environment and to women's issues, advocated for book bans, and curbed the distribution of birth control and funds for teen pregnancy prevention programs.
While the fiscal budget has been balanced, poverty has increased dramatically in Argentina, reaching 53% of the population — 11 percentage points more than last year.
