Javier Milei
President Javier Milei’s chainsaw approach to budget cuts has not caused significant financial suffering for many Argentines, but it is also jeopardizing the country’s Oscar-winning cultural landscape.
Actors, directors, and musicians both at home and abroad accuse the self-proclaimed ‘anarcho-capitalist’ leader of disregarding their sector as he cuts funds and rails against those who challenge him.
Milei himself has stated the government must choose between funding movies that nobody watches and feeding people.
Argentina’s President has labeled at least one artist who has criticized his funding cuts as a parasite living off state money at the expense of hungry children.
The cultural industry in Argentina employs over 300,000 people.
“However, under Milei, they are dismantling everything related to culture in general and cinema in particular”, award-winning Argentine actress Cecilia Roth, who has featured in several films by Spain’s Pedro Almodovar, said during a press conference on Friday in Mexico.
On top of the loss in direct governmental backing, the industry is also suffering from the average Argentine having much less money to spend on such pleasures as films or plays as disposable income has dropped and poverty rates have soared to 60 percent.
Also read: Tehran Warns Israel Again, Says “Our Next Response Will Be At Maximum Level”
