Glossary
Twenty-four terms you need to read about Milei's Argentina — the slogans, the policies, and the institutions.
Afuera
“Out!” — Milei’s campaign-trail shout while crossing ministries off a whiteboard in viral videos, promising their abolition. He cut the cabinet from 18 to 9 ministries at inauguration.
Anarcho-capitalism
The political philosophy Milei claims: all state functions, including money and security, could be provided voluntarily or privately. Milei calls himself an anarcho-capitalist “in philosophy” and a minarchist “in practice.”
BCRA
Banco Central de la República Argentina — the central bank. Milei campaigned on “dynamiting” it; in office the bank has remained, operating under the fiscal anchor and (since April 2025) a managed float.
La casta
“The caste” — Milei’s term for the entrenched political class he pledged to displace. Rally chant: “la casta tiene miedo” (the caste is afraid).
Cepo
“The clamp” — Argentina’s currency and capital controls, in place since 2019, restricting dollar purchases. Mostly dismantled 14 April 2025 under the IMF program; some individual-purchase limits were later partially reinstated, per market reporting.
Chainsaw (motosierra)
The campaign’s central prop and metaphor: a running chainsaw brandished at rallies to symbolize cutting state spending. See The Chainsaw.
Convertibility
The 1991–2001 regime pegging the peso 1:1 to the dollar — Argentina’s last hard-money experiment, ended in crisis. Milei’s dollarization talk revived the debate over fixed exchange regimes.
Cultural battle (batalla cultural)
Milei’s framing of politics as a war of ideas against left-wing dominance of universities, media, and international institutions — “the mother of all battles.”
DNU 70/2023
The December 2023 “necessity and urgency” mega-decree deregulating rents, labor, aviation, and more. Partially blocked by courts; a landmark of rule-by-decree.
Dollarization
The campaign promise to replace the peso with the U.S. dollar and abolish the central bank. Not implemented; policy moved to “currency competition” and the 2025 managed float. See Dollarization.
El Jefe
“The Boss” — Milei’s nickname for his sister Karina Milei, who runs his political operation as Secretary General of the Presidency.
El Loco
“The Madman” — Milei’s schoolyard nickname, later embraced as a badge of his outsider persona.
Fiscal anchor
The government’s core economic doctrine: a sustained fiscal surplus (no deficit) as the precondition for ending inflation, enforced by spending cuts rather than tax rises. See Shock Therapy.
INDEC
Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos — Argentina’s official statistics agency, source of the inflation, poverty, and unemployment figures cited across this site.
Kirchnerismo
The Peronist movement led by Néstor and Cristina Kirchner (2003–2015, and the Fernández presidency 2019–2023), defined by state intervention, subsidies, and confrontation with markets. Milei’s defining antagonist.
Ley Bases
Ley de Bases y Puntos de Partida para la Libertad de los Argentinos — the sweeping June 2024 reform law: privatizations, labor reform, delegated powers, and the RIGI investment regime. See Deregulation.
Libertarianism (liberalismo)
In Argentine usage, liberal means pro-market liberalism (not U.S. “liberal”). Milei’s movement reclaimed the word for anarcho-capitalist-flavored free-market politics.
Motosierra
See Chainsaw.
PASO
Primarias Abiertas Simultáneas y Obligatorias — Argentina’s mandatory open primaries. Milei’s first-place finish on 13 August 2023 announced his arrival.
Peronism
The political movement founded by Juan Perón in the 1940s — nationalist, labor-based, historically interventionist. Argentina’s dominant political force for 80 years and Milei’s principal opposition.
RIGI
Régimen de Incentivo para Grandes Inversiones — the large-investment incentive regime inside Ley Bases: tax, customs, and legal-stability benefits for projects over $200m, aimed at mining and energy (Vaca Muerta shale, lithium).
Shock therapy
Rapid, front-loaded economic adjustment — devaluation, spending cuts, deregulation all at once — as opposed to gradualism. The name of Milei’s program and its defining gamble. See Shock Therapy.
Vaca Muerta
The giant Patagonian shale formation — among the world’s largest unconventional oil and gas reserves — central to the government’s bet that energy exports will fund recovery.
¡Viva la libertad, carajo!
“Long live freedom, dammit!” — Milei’s signature sign-off at rallies and speeches. See Sayings.
Source notes
- Definitions compiled from Argentine press usage, official legal texts (DNU 70/2023, Ley 27.742), and INDEC/IMF publications.
- Slogan usages dated from broadcast archives; see sayings.