Sturzenegger: Deregulation is Argentina's Moral Reconstruction

The Minister of Deregulation and State Transformation, Federico Sturzenegger, stated that the deregulation process promoted by the government aims at a profound cultural change, not just the elimination of rules, and maintained that the transformation of the State represents a 'moral reconstruction.' Sturzenegger pointed out that for decades, Argentina was trapped in an excessive web of regulations that did not promote development but 'seemed designed not to help, but to watch, hinder, and tame the country's creative energy.' The official explained that the country faced two simultaneous battles: a regulatory one and a cultural one. 'The real battle is not regulatory, it's cultural,' he affirmed, and added that no structural change can be sustained over time without a transformation in the way society thinks. 'Deregulating was not to remove controls capriciously. Autonomy generates vertigo when one has lived for years leaning on an artificial scaffolding,' he indicated, and warned that freeing the country means breaking with that logic. Sturzenegger insisted that 'the transformation of the State is not a cutback: it is a moral reconstruction,' and added: 'Deregulating is not opening the door to chaos; it is closing the door to arbitrariness.' In an opinion column for Clarín, accessed by the Argentine News Agency, the minister expressed that 'when one unleashes society's energy, society responds,' and highlighted the emergence of projects, creativity, and investment in sectors that were previously paralyzed by bureaucracy. Finally, he underscored the role of President Javier Milei in guiding the process and concluded that 'Argentina has stopped walking in circles.' 'It was like removing the ballast from a country that had forgotten how to run,' expressed Sturzenegger, while describing a system that had naturalized 'the absurd: asking for permission to ask for permission.' Sturzenegger maintained that 'the political, business, and union caste knew how to manage that discretionary universe where stagnation was a business for a few and a silent tragedy for many.' The minister affirmed that freedom is uncomfortable but is necessary for development. 'Freedom is uncomfortable.'