President Javier Milei’s approval rating fell in March to 36.4 percent, the lowest level since he took office, as unemployment rose and corruption allegations kept piling up around his government. The monthly AtlasIntel poll, conducted for Bloomberg News, shows the La Libertad Avanza leader losing ground with ordinary Argentines while the machinery of power keeps grinding on. **Who Pays for the Top-Down Mess** The numbers tell the story from below: Milei’s approval dropped five points from February, while his disapproval rating climbed six percentage points to nearly 62 percent. The decline put him behind Axel Kicillof in the monthly AtlasIntel poll, after Milei had held the top spot in public image for most of his first two years in office. The survey found that the president’s slide coincided with corruption allegations against his government, rising unemployment, and Argentines’ dissatisfaction with his trade deal with the Donald Trump administration. Monthly inflation in Argentina is closer to three percent, despite Milei’s vow to reduce it below one percent this year, and it has not cooled since June 2025. Unemployment climbed to 7.5 percent at the end of 2025, the highest fourth-quarter figure since the Covid-19 pandemic. Nearly three-quarters of survey respondents described the labor market as “bad,” and 65 percent viewed the economy negatively. Corruption was the top concern for Argentines, followed by unemployment and inflation. **The Deal From Above, the Costs Below** The trade agreement with US President Donald Trump, solidified in February 2026, saw its support among Argentines fall to 41 percent in March, down from nearly 60 percent in a January 2025 poll when the accord was under negotiation. According to AtlasIntel, Argentines anticipate the pact will likely lead to the closure of factories and small businesses. That is the familiar logic of elite bargaining: agreements made at the top, with workers and small operators left to absorb the damage. A cryptocurrency scandal from February 2025 resurfaced in recent weeks, with new details emerging about Milei’s alleged involvement. Cabinet Chief Manuel Adorni faced scrutiny two weeks ago after his wife flew on the presidential plane with Milei’s delegation to New York, and questions arose regarding his payment for a private jet to Uruguay for a family vacation. The article does not offer any relief from the spectacle of officials treating state resources like private property while the labor market worsens. **The Polls, the Parties, the Same Old Trap** Buenos Aires Province Governor Axel Kicillof, a potential presidential candidate for the opposition Peronist party, surpassed Milei for the first time in March, with a positive image of 38 percent compared to Milei’s 37 percent. Kicillof’s party won a provincial vote in September 2025, which triggered a market sell-off and subsequently led to a US$20-billion currency swap line for Argentina from the Trump administration. Milei’s party secured victory in the national midterm race in October 2025, including in Buenos Aires Province. The AtlasIntel online poll surveyed 5,037 people in Argentina between March 20-24, 2026, with a 95 percent confidence level and a margin of error of plus or minus one percentage point. President Javier Milei delivered his annual speech to parliament on March 1, 2026, ahead of the inauguration of the 144th ordinary session of Congress in Buenos Aires. The same political class keeps rotating through office while the pressure lands on everyone else, from workers facing unemployment to people watching prices and corruption eat away at daily life. Other regional leaders, including Brazil’s Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Mexico’s Claudia Sheinbaum, also experienced dips in their approval ratings. Chile’s new President José Antonio Kast is facing voter backlash due to his decision to hike fuel prices.
