The Argentine Javier Milei, the Brazilian Eduardo Bolsonaro, and the Chilean José Antonio Kast shared the same stage in Brazil. Exponents of some of the liberal and -at the same time- conservative positions in their countries, met to share the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), in São Paulo. And talk about “confronting socialism.”

The meeting was organized by the Conservative-Liberal Institute, a think tank of Deputy Bolsonaro, one of the sons of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, and who has already expressed his sympathy for Milei on more than one occasion. The frequent agitator on social networks, where more than once he targeted Kirchnerism in Argentina, the deputy gained notoriety in these lands for sharing heavily armed images, ranting against Covid-19 prevention measures, or attacking Dyzhy, the son of President Alberto Fernandez.

Kast, also a right-winger, was one of the surprises of the last presidential elections in Chile, where he managed to win the first national contest and then be defeated by Gabriel Boric. Kast had a meteoric rise in recent years, after serving for two decades in the Independent Democratic Union (UDI), but his assumed Pinochetism put him in trouble in the final stretch of the campaign.

The battle against socialism was one of the main topics of the event. “You have to understand that socialism is not an honest adversary, it is the enemy. Not understanding that implies taking lukewarm positions that lead to greater doses of socialism until it leads to the dictatorship of the left itself,” said Miley. “Latin America is in danger! ¡Viva la Libertad Carajo!”, affirmed for his part the Chilean leader in his social networks.

As reported by La Libertad Avanza, one of the questions that Milei answered in the forum pointed to the lack of fuel and the restrictions on meat exports. “The shortage is the result of State regulations and continuous advances in property rights,” she replied. Regarding the ban on the export of cuts of meat, she indicated that “it is a reflection of the lack of understanding of the monetary nature of inflation, which leads them to think that it is combated with price controls. Given that food weighs a third in the index, they prohibit exports to increase the domestic supply so that the price falls.”

“It is immoral for restricting your freedom to spend the fruit of your labor on whatever you want,” he continued, about capital control, complete: “Since the peso is not a reserve of value, it also affects your future consumption. While in parallel it makes you increase the demand for money by increasing the taxable base of the inflation tax. In turn, it generates excess demand in the foreign exchange market that squanders reserves, blocks capital inflows, and implies excess supply throughout the economy. All this results in high-interest rates, less activity, less investment, fewer jobs, lower real wages, and poorer and more indigent which leads to more public spending, issuance, and controls. This becomes a vicious cycle of decadence.”

The event was organized in Campinas, São Paulo. It is inspired by the conference that has been held in the United States since the 1970s. The original edition of CPAC was created in 1973 by the American Conservative Union and Young Americans for Freedom. It is the largest conservative event in the United States.