Assignment: Argentina - Milei's Chainsaw
The Documentary Podcast
BBC
4.3 • 2.7K Ratings
🗓️ 17 December 2024
⏱️ 27 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
It has been a year since chainsaw-wielding Javier Milei won the Presidency in Argentina. During his campaign, his chainsaw became a symbol of how quickly and drastically he wanted to cut the Argentine state. And he has slashed government budgets and sliced subsidies on power, food and transport. He stopped printing money to try and halt inflation which was running at 211.4% annually when he was sworn in.
How have his actions changed life for ordinary Argentines? Buenos Aires based reporter, Charlotte Pritchard, talks to Argentines about how they're feeling now. From the gauchos at the annual event to show off their herds of horses, to those taking advantage of a scheme to 'whiten' black-market money they have hidden under their mattress - is there hope or despair?
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is the documentary from the BBC World Service. |
| 0:02.9 | I'm Charlotte Pritchard on assignment this week in Argentina. |
| 0:08.6 | It's 11.30 a.m. and Franco has just left a glassy skyscraper in downtown Buenos Aires, Argentina. |
| 0:15.7 | He's holding a bottle of rum and is carrying a black backpack. |
| 0:19.6 | It's one he usually uses for work, but today it's |
| 0:23.0 | filled with 500,000 US dollars, cash. This is the scariest day of his life. He walks down some |
| 0:35.0 | steps to cross the road and get into his car. |
| 0:43.4 | He checks left and right, and then again and again, just to make sure no one is watching him. |
| 0:47.4 | It was terrible, he tells me. |
| 0:50.5 | Earlier that morning, he arrived at the skyscraper alone. |
| 0:53.3 | He met two men who handed him the cash, and between them in a tiny nondescript room, they spent |
| 0:56.4 | two hours counting it. |
| 1:00.0 | They were counting the $500,000 by hand. |
| 1:04.0 | They were counting the $500,000 by hand. |
| 1:07.4 | The market is very particular, when dollars are not Argentina's actual currency. |
| 1:13.6 | Then they use a counting machine to confirm the total and Franco puts the wadges of money into his |
| 1:19.7 | backpack. Now he has to drive 10 blocks to another office. It's a 20-minute drive. His backpack is on the passenger seat to his right. |
| 1:29.7 | He just keeps touching it to make sure it's still there |
| 1:32.1 | and watching his mirror for thieves. |
| 1:35.8 | When he arrives, he can't find the office's door. |
| 1:38.6 | He starts to get into a panic. |
| 1:40.5 | He didn't ask anyone where it is, |
... |
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