US Debt Trap: How Libertarian Javier Milei Is Selling Argentina to Wall Street – for $82 Billion
By SheerPost- Ben Norton - October 31, 2025
The United States is propping up Argentina’s failing libertarian President Javier Milei and his ultra-neoliberal “anarcho-capitalist” experiment with $82 billion in debt.
In fact, Trump basically bought Milei a victory in the October 2025 legislative midterm elections with this money. It was a successful US form of election meddling.
People in Argentina now say openly that Milei is turning their country into a “colony of the US”.
The US empire has clearly ensnared Argentina in a devastating debt trap. Milei has gleefully overseen the abrogation of his nation’s sovereignty, while cynically portraying himself as a “rebel”.
This enormous new dollar-denominated debt taken on by Milei is close to the value of all of Argentina’s exports in one year.
This new debt represents a staggering 12% of Argentina’s GDP at market exchange rates (or 5.5% of GDP measured at purchasing power parity, PPP).
This $82 billion in new debt consists of $40 billion from the Trump administration and an additional $42 billion from so-called “international financial institutions” that are in reality controlled by the US. These include:
- $20 billion swap line with the US Treasury,
- $20 billion in private-sector loans facilitated by the Trump administration,
- $20 billion from the International Monetary Fund (IMF),
- $12 billion from the World Bank,
- $10 billion from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).
Before Milei took power, Argentina already owed $43 billion to the IMF — which was more than any other country, by far.
Argentina’s IMF debt is projected to reach 1352% of its quota by 2026, according to internal documents. 1,352 percent. That is not a typo.
This was because the first Trump administration ordered the US-controlled IMF to give the South American nation’s previous right-wing multimillionaire President Mauricio Macri the biggest IMF loan in history, $57 billion, to try to help him win Argentina’s 2019 elections — although that time the US meddling was unsuccessful.
The $43 billion that were ultimately disbursed were used by Macri and his cronies to sustain the carry trade for rich investors and provide the exit liquidity needed to facilitate capital flight for oligarchs (in violation of the IMF’s supposed rules).
It is impossible for Argentina to earn enough foreign currency to pay off this dollar-denominated debt. It is unpayable. Period. It will not be paid. (And it should not be paid; it is politically motivated, odious debt.)
However, this debt taken on by Milei and Macri — and by the JPMorgan veterans who ran their Ministry of Economy — will guarantee that the US-controlled IMF will govern Argentina and control its fiscal policies for the foreseeable future.
The US empire is doing to Argentina what it did to its colony Puerto Rico, with its notorious, unelected Financial Oversight and Management Board, known as La Junta, which governs the occupied archipelago without the input of the Puerto Rican people.
What this means is that there can be no real democracy in Argentina; the IMF (read: the US) will run Argentina by and for the wealthy stockholders and bondholders.
This is what Milei’s libertarian/ancap project truly represents: rule by Wall Street.
Editor’s Note: At a moment when the once vaunted model of responsible journalism is overwhelmingly the play thing of self-serving billionaires and their corporate scribes, alternatives of integrity are desperately needed, and ScheerPost is one of them. Please support our independent journalism by contributing to our online donation platform, Network for Good, or send a check to our new PO Box. We can’t thank you enough, and promise to keep bringing you this kind of vital news.
You can also make a donation to our PayPal or subscribe to our Patreon.
Ben Norton
Ben Norton is a journalist, writer, and filmmaker. He is the founder and editor of Geopolitical Economy Report, and is based in China.Author Site
In fact, Trump basically bought Milei a victory in the October 2025 legislative midterm elections with this money. It was a successful US form of election meddling.
People in Argentina now say openly that Milei is turning their country into a “colony of the US”.
The US empire has clearly ensnared Argentina in a devastating debt trap. Milei has gleefully overseen the abrogation of his nation’s sovereignty, while cynically portraying himself as a “rebel”.
This enormous new dollar-denominated debt taken on by Milei is close to the value of all of Argentina’s exports in one year.
This new debt represents a staggering 12% of Argentina’s GDP at market exchange rates (or 5.5% of GDP measured at purchasing power parity, PPP).
This $82 billion in new debt consists of $40 billion from the Trump administration and an additional $42 billion from so-called “international financial institutions” that are in reality controlled by the US. These include:
- $20 billion swap line with the US Treasury,
- $20 billion in private-sector loans facilitated by the Trump administration,
- $20 billion from the International Monetary Fund (IMF),
- $12 billion from the World Bank,
- $10 billion from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).
Before Milei took power, Argentina already owed $43 billion to the IMF — which was more than any other country, by far.
Argentina’s IMF debt is projected to reach 1352% of its quota by 2026, according to internal documents. 1,352 percent. That is not a typo.
This was because the first Trump administration ordered the US-controlled IMF to give the South American nation’s previous right-wing multimillionaire President Mauricio Macri the biggest IMF loan in history, $57 billion, to try to help him win Argentina’s 2019 elections — although that time the US meddling was unsuccessful.
The $43 billion that were ultimately disbursed were used by Macri and his cronies to sustain the carry trade for rich investors and provide the exit liquidity needed to facilitate capital flight for oligarchs (in violation of the IMF’s supposed rules).
It is impossible for Argentina to earn enough foreign currency to pay off this dollar-denominated debt. It is unpayable. Period. It will not be paid. (And it should not be paid; it is politically motivated, odious debt.)
However, this debt taken on by Milei and Macri — and by the JPMorgan veterans who ran their Ministry of Economy — will guarantee that the US-controlled IMF will govern Argentina and control its fiscal policies for the foreseeable future.
The US empire is doing to Argentina what it did to its colony Puerto Rico, with its notorious, unelected Financial Oversight and Management Board, known as La Junta, which governs the occupied archipelago without the input of the Puerto Rican people.
What this means is that there can be no real democracy in Argentina; the IMF (read: the US) will run Argentina by and for the wealthy stockholders and bondholders.
This is what Milei’s libertarian/ancap project truly represents: rule by Wall Street.
Editor’s Note: At a moment when the once vaunted model of responsible journalism is overwhelmingly the play thing of self-serving billionaires and their corporate scribes, alternatives of integrity are desperately needed, and ScheerPost is one of them. Please support our independent journalism by contributing to our online donation platform, Network for Good, or send a check to our new PO Box. We can’t thank you enough, and promise to keep bringing you this kind of vital news.
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You can also make a donation to our PayPal or subscribe to our Patreon.
Ben Norton
Ben Norton is a journalist, writer, and filmmaker. He is the founder and editor of Geopolitical Economy Report, and is based in China. Author Site
