Argentine President Javier Milei to Fire 70,000 Government Employees: ‘Chainsaw and Blender’

The libertarian president said his administration will continue to cut state expenditures and do it quickly.

Then-Argentine presidential candidate Javier Milei lifts a chainsaw during a campaign rally in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Sept. 25, 2023. Tomas Cuesta/Getty Images

Argentine President Javier Milei has announced plans to dismiss 70,000 government employees in the coming months, highlighting another step to implement the libertarian’s vision of a small-state society.

“We are convinced of carrying out a fiscal adjustment, which has a lot of chainsaw and blender,” Mr. Milei said in an hour-long speech at a March 26 event held in Buenos Aries by the International Economic Forum of the Americas, referring to his plan to rapidly bring the South American country’s hovering 250 percent inflation down to single-digit levels.