MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Awkwardness surrounds Milei's presence in Prague

“We are on the right path,” Milei insisted

Argentine President Javier Milei Monday said from Prague that he would “probably” be awarded the Nobel Prize for “rewriting economic theory” with his administration's alleged achievements rescuing the South American country from hyperinflation and getting it back on track. Besides his political engagements with the Czech authorities, Milei's presence in town sparked another controversy regarding a new accolade he was presented after the organization allegedly behind the distinction said it had nothing to do with it.

Prague Liberal Institute President Martin Panek explained that Jiri Schwarz had falsely arranged the prize-awarding event in the name of the institution with which he had not been linked for years despite being one of its founders. Schwarz is currently the rector at the Anglo-American University in the Czech capital.

“That man is a liar,” Panek said about Schwarz and admitted the Institute was considering legal action. “We have nothing to do with that event, nor do we participate in it,” he stressed. Panek also claimed it was “premature to give this award to Milei.”

Organizational matters aside, Milei said during the ceremony that he and his Chief Advisor Demian Reidel were up for the Nobel Prize for “rewriting a large part of economic theory.” Argentina's first Economist President also explained that he was reviewing with Reidel some fundamental concepts, which could earn them the prestigious award.

Milei also highlighted the influence of authors such as Gary Becker on his intellectual work and admitted that he had removed a painting of him to make room for his pets Murray, Milton, Robert, and Lucas.

Before the ceremony, Milei held separate meetings with conservative Prime Minister Petr Fiala and President Petr Pavel, a retired General, to bolster bilateral ties and discuss assistance to Kyiv in Ukraine's war against Russia.

Interviewed by Buenos Aires broadcasters, Milei also said from Prague that opposition lawmakers delaying the final approval of the so-called Bases Law were “coup plotters.” The President blamed these political hindrances for the “whole situation where it impacted the bond market, and the price of bonds fell and the country risk went up.”

“The dollar did not jump because of a monetary problem or because of a problem in the exchange market,” Milei also explained while arguing that his administration's social policy had been up to the challenge. Otherwise, “it would have been a catastrophe,” he stressed.

“There is no country in the world where we are not recognized for our titanic task lowering inflation, for the fiscal adjustment we are making,” he added. He also claimed that the food inflation policy of June's third week was 0%, which “means that we are on the right path, there is still a long way to go, but there are signs that things are working.” He also denied a new devaluation of the peso was being considered because Argentina's competitiveness problem “cannot be fixed by devaluating.” Furthermore, he insisted that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) had not requested a 30% devaluation as some outlets had published.