US Treasury Secretary calls Argentina centerpiece for Latin America strategy

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Sunday that Trump’s endorsement and the US$20 billion U.S. currency swap with Argentina had enabled President Javier Milei to perform well in October’s midterm elections. Asked about the swap in an interview with La Derecha Diario owner Javier Negre, Bessent said: “[Trump] endorsed President Milei. Obviously, President Milei blew through all the polls, and had a great victory, and I think that what we were able to do was to use the U.S. balance sheets for statecraft.” Bessent claimed that it was “very clear” that the Kirchnerist opposition “were trying to cause a market disturbance to affect the elections.” He went on to say that Argentina has become “the centerpiece of the [United States] strategy in Latin America.” Bessent insisted that the White House aims to “regain our great Latin American allies within our sphere of influence.” He named Paraguay, as well as Chile and Bolivia, which have recently voted out left-wing governments in favor of right-wing leaders, and Colombia, where outgoing leftist President Gustavo Petro’s party is polling poorly. The US Treasury Secretary said Argentine president Javier Milei is “going from a great campaigner and great thinker to becoming a mature and great politician,” and called him “a great ally” to the U.S. “I think what was most important was that President Milei picked up a whole new group. Young people voted for him, and the poorest segment of society voted for him, because they ones who get hurt the most under Kirchnerism and Peronism,” Bessent said. Bessent also defended the decision to offer Argentina a currency swap, claiming the deal was misreported.  The U.S. financial support has been widely described as a bailout, both in the U.S. and in Argentina. A support package from Washington was originally announced in September. Initially, the U.S. authorities said it could include purchase of the country’s USD bonds, a stand-by credit line, and a Central Bank currency swap. Ultimately, the main form of support was the swap. Other aspects of the package, including a large deal with private banks, failed to materialize. In October 2025, the United States and Argentina agreed on a US$20 billion currency swap line, which Buenos Aires had to “activate” to access the funds. “Everyone was saying, ‘Oh, they’re giving the Argentines US$20 billion.’ No, we’re not. We never did that. It was a loan,” he said. “We were able to fortify Argentina, bridge the government, bridge the country, and most importantly, the people.” Bessent insisted that Argentina has already repaid US$2.5 billion and that the US earned money on the loan, calling it “a great deal for everyone.”  Even though the amount and terms remain confidential, Argentine economists analyzed Central Bank data last November and concluded that Argentina had used part of the swap. Experts stated that the country used those U.S. dollars to pay for the U.S. Treasury’s intervention ahead of the October 26 mid-term elections, when the Trump administration bought pesos to quell a run on the South American currency. Analysts calculated that the U.S. sank well over US$2 billion into propping up the peso, although the figure has not been made public.  In November, Bessent confirmed that Argentina had, indeed, activated the swap. Bessent wasn’t the only one to bring up the currency swap recently. On Saturday, comedian Marcello Hernández played Milei in a Saturday Night Live skit. Speaking in Spanish with an Argentine accent, at the “Trump Awards,” a parody of the Oscars, he presented the prize for best foreign-language picture, which turned out to be “nothing.” “Leader, visionary and the guy who, literally, handed me over US$20 billion,” he said. “All of this describes my best friend and ideal body type, Donald Trump.”