FOR WEEKS, some of the worst fires ever experienced have laid waste to large parts of Chubut, Rio Negro, Neuquen and La Pampa in Argentine Patagonia.

A contributory factor to the intensity of the blaze is the proliferation of commercial conifer plantations in some areas that have been permitted to grow against the advice of environmentalists at a time when climate change has reduced the amount of snow and rain.

Not that this argument would find favour with President Javier Milei who, in common with his idol Donald Trump, believes that man-made climate change is a myth.

One of his first acts upon taking power was to relegate the Environment Ministry to an undersecretariat. In 2024, he withdrew the Argentinian delegation from Cop29 and has publicly rejected the UN 2030 agenda for sustainable development.

Last year his government cut the budget for firefighting by 81 per cent and it was not until January 30 that the affected provinces were declared to be “fire emergency and disaster zones,” though it made little difference to the amount of practical assistance that was required.

Never one to miss an opportunity, Milei released a photograph of himself shaking hands with a firefighter which turned out to be a computer-generated fake as he went nowhere near the scene of the disaster, the cause of which he blamed on the local indigenous population: the equivalent of accusing your neighbour of setting their own house on fire.

Milei’s apparent indifference to the natural environment is reflected in his policy of removing all obstacles to foreign (mainly US) capital’s ability to exploit Argentina’s abundant natural resources.

Regardless of all his chainsaw-waving bluster about being a revolutionary anarcho-capitalist who will liberate Argentinian society, he is just one more in a long line who have opted for subservience to and dependence on the dominant imperial power of the day, formerly Britain and now the US.

In what has been described as a “reciprocal” trade agreement, Argentina has agreed to 113 treaty obligations with the US while they are only bound by two.

The accord was made by Milei in the US and is subject to ratification by the Argentine Congress. Nevertheless, such is the dominance of US influences; the treaty document was initially only published in English. Much of it runs directly contrary to Argentinian interests and includes commitments of the latter to import 80,000 tons of meat, 1,000 tons of cheese and 80,000 litres of wine — all duty-free and only subject to US food regulations.

Moreover, there is no limit or duty on US exports of agricultural machinery, computers, fibre-optic cables and other electronic goods. In addition, US companies must have first options on oil and mineral exploration licences and Argentina is forbidden from subsidising public services.

Added to this capitulation, Argentina is one of 11 countries that has signed an agreement with the US to secure for them the supply of critical raw materials such as copper and lithium, the other Latin American countries being right-wing regimes in Ecuador, Paraguay and Peru.

The Foreign Ministry has stated that earnings from mining could reach £22.3 trillion a time when the country’s foreign debt is ballooning as a direct result of Milei’s economic policies is a moot point as the potential environmental consequences of a new mining boom are being downplayed or ignored.

During the next session of parliament, Milei wants legislation protecting Argentina’s pristine glaciers to be “modified” in favour of allowing the mining of rare earths and precious metals to take place.

The proposal has caused alarm in provinces at the foot of the Andes mountains where the glaciers provide some seven million people with fresh water. In December of last year, the Mendoza provincial congress approved the first copper mining project in two decades, potentially contaminating the water supply and triggering large scale protests.

It has been estimated that, to mine one ton of “rare earth” would release 9,000 to 12,000 cubic metres of toxic gases, a ton of radioactive residues and hundreds of thousands of litres of contaminated and acidified water, so one can readily understand the anxiety in a region where water is a precious resource.

Milei is also supporting the expansion of Vaca Muerta (Dead Cow), in Neuquen, the second-largest reserve of fracked gas in the world. Already responsible for vast quantities of residues that are poisoning the local environment, it is proposed that 56 new wells are drilled and a 600 kilometre pipeline be constructed across Rio Negro province to a new port facility at the Gulf of San Matias, despite it being a Unesco World Heritage Site that is supposedly protected by national law.

Although it has been predicted that the demand for liquified natural gas (LNG) will decline as more renewables come on stream, it is reported that the EU is planning to increase its import capacity by 54 per cent by 2030.

According to Oil World magazine, a consortium of natural gas producers led by Pan American Energy Group and 50 per cent owned by BP has agreed to supply Argentinian LNG from late 2027 when the European ban on Russian gas will finally come into force.

The three pillars of Milei’s extractive economy are mining, energy and agribusiness, all of which come at considerable cost to the environment and public health, though, at present, mining only represents 4 per cent of the country’s exports and will have to overcome considerable local opposition to grow.

Meanwhile, Argentina’s domestic productive economy has effectively been abandoned. Only last month, a 100-year-old textile business in the northern provinces of Chaco and Corrientes, two of the poorest parts of Argentina, closed its doors for the last time, throwing 450 people out of work, unable to cope with collapsing demand and tariff-free imports from Asia.

The textile sector is operating at 45 per cent of its November 2025 capacity and in the last 18 months over 21,000 businesses have shut down with a loss of 177,000 jobs. The contrast with the new investment regime (RIGI) giving foreign corporations huge fiscal and financial incentives over and above those afforded to domestic firms could not be starker.

Milei is unrepentant, saying that the market must prevail and if local companies cannot compete with Asian exports, then they deserve to go under, which is completely disingenuous.

The reality is that foreign enterprises are effectively being subsidised by the Argentine state while indigenous enterprises are being replaced by firms operating in countries where wages and operating costs are far less.

It is difficult to envisage how this strategy will ever benefit the country’s population but Milei’s status as being the best Argentinian president the United States of America has ever had is undoubtedly assured.