(Matthew Doarnberger, Headline USA) Argentinian President Javier Milei recently fired Labor Secretary Omar Yasín and informed the public of his firing live on the air.
During an interview with the Argentina-based television station LN+, Milei stated that the secretary of labor had been fired.
The interviewer then asked the president when the firing had taken place.
“At this moment they’re notifying him,” was Milei’s response.
The reason for the firing stemmed from salary increases to government officials that Milei claimed were a mistake.
“This is an error that should not have been made, because moreover, this was cleared up in January,” he said. “The consensus of the ministers was that we have to manage with our salaries frozen.”
Recently, the new president—a fiscally conservative populist-libertarian folk hero and friend of U.S. Republican leader Donald Trump—rescinded a 48% pay raise for himself and his Cabinet.
Prior to that, Argentinian lawmakers had announced that they would present a bill to overturn increases of around 30% to their own salaries.
“I don’t agree with the salary raise,” the president said while speaking of the 30% lawmaker pay raise. “I understand that they might have needs, but 60% of Argentines are poor and 10% are destitute.”
Milei has previously called the nation’s congress a “rat’s nest” and accused politicians of being out of touch with the economic problems of the local population.
He has taken an aggressive approach to cutting spending since assuming office three months ago. As a result, Argentina achieved their first budget surplus in 12 years back in January.
He also fired 5,000 government employees soon after becoming president.
Yasín had been serving as Milei’s secretary of labor since the president first assumed office in December 2023.
