Milei's Push To Privatize Companies Is Running Up Against Congressional Pushback

The December 2026 issue of Reason explores Argentine President Javier Milei's accomplishments and what is yet to be done.

After winning the presidential election, Javier Milei maintained that "everything that can be in the hands of the private sector will be." That would be a striking change indeed in a country where the government, as of 2025, supervised about 60 "public companies." These bodies do not function as ordinary private businesses. They largely operate under special rules that generate monopolies, and the government absorbs their losses.

The Milei administration has explored several different approaches to rolling back state ownership. These include full privatization, partial privatization through the sale of shares, converting state enterprises into corporations as a preliminary step toward privatization, contracting with private companies to operate state-owned public services, and closure of enterprises deemed unviable. But the end goal is the same: a more open society where everyone can freely exercise their rights and be held responsible for their own decisions. In Milei's words, "The smaller the state, the greater the liberty." … [Subscribe to continue reading]