What will Miley say in the Argentine Congress? The economy, allegations of possible corruption, and a “surprise”

(CNN) — Argentine President Javier Miley will open the regular session of Congress for the first time on Friday at nine o'clock in the evening Buenos Aires time (7 p.m. Miami time). Spokesman Manuel Adorni said, “The president is working on preparing his speech.” What will its axes be? An Argentine government source told CNN that the economic results, “what's coming” and alleged wrongdoing by the previous government were a “surprise.”

There are two definitions in Miley's speech that distinguish him from his predecessors: time and place.

Typically, the President of Argentina opens the regular session of Congress with a speech at around noon. However, Miley will do this at night “so everyone can see her,” according to the official explanation.

Miley is not expected to deliver his speech from the traditional place where presidents sit in Congress, which is the House of Representatives. In this case, a podium was set up in front of this chair that would place the president at the same height as the legislators sitting inside the chamber. This is the second time that the president has “broken” traditional political protocol. When he took office on December 10, 2023, he delivered his first speech outside Congress, unlike previous leaders.

Miley's speech topics

Economic trend

The president is expected to describe the impact of his government's first economic decisions, the same source in the Argentine government told CNN. These include devaluing the official dollar, reducing state fees, and eliminating January trust and surplus funds.

Regarding the future of the Argentine economy, Miley expressed this Thursday a 20% rise in each of the past two months, and a 28.5% decline in retail sales in January, as reported by the Argentine Confederation of Medium Enterprises (CAME).

Despite this, the president's optimistic expression on social media will also be linked in his speech to arranging public accounts and exiting exchange restrictions, which may arrive in the middle of the year, as he recently said.

In the field of monetary policy, it was the president himself, through social networks, who was responsible for denying the rumor of a possible announcement of dollarization before Congress.

Also, with regard to the technical exchange agreement signed with the International Monetary Fund during the presidency of Alberto Fernández, it was Economy Minister Luis Caputo who provided definitions in this regard: “The Fund is open to exploring a new program, but not “We are not negotiating anything at the moment.” .

Reports of alleged violations

This is another aspect that the president is expected to mention in his speech on Friday, according to a source in the Argentine government.

Presidential spokesman Manuel Adorni explained that Milley ordered a review of all areas of government immediately upon assuming the presidency. This report was prepared by the State Audit Office (SIGEN), a regulatory entity, in cooperation with the State Transformation Secretariat.

CNN contacted SIGEN and was told by a spokesperson that the work had been sent to the chief of staff, headed by Nicolas Bose, one of the men the president most trusts, after his sister Karina Maili and his advisor Santiago Caputo.

“As I come forward, there is a piece of information that perfectly represents the situation: anomalous employment and multi-million dollar debt. The amount owed amounts to approximately three billion pesos (about 3 million US dollars, according to the parallel quote),” Adorny posted about the audit ordered by the president.

CNN has not yet been able to access this report.

“a surprise”

This is the qualifier used by a source in the Argentine government familiar with the content of the president's speech. Despite CNN's insistence, no further details were provided.