Lower thirds:

00:03 Report by / Alejandro Rebossio
00:21 Martín Arnal / Craft brewery owner
01:07 Rubén Acosta / Bookstore Owner
01:37 Javier Milei / Argentinian President
02:14 Juan Cantarella / Assn. of Argentinian Component Manufacturers President
02:47 Franco Vázquez / Former Flybondi cabin crew member
02:59 Gastón Pruneda / Former employee at a Flybondi supplier

Script:

0:01
Every day there are 33 fewer companies in Argentina, according to government data. That's the difference between those that opened and those that closed since the start of Javier Milei's government. 

0:10
A few weeks ago, the Gulliver craft beer factory emptied its tanks and handed over the warehouse. It had been running for 12 years, but its owner called it quits. 

0:20 
+++Martín Arnal, Craft brewery owner (dueño de la fábrica de cerveza Gulliver)+++
"The increases in prices for electricity, gas, and water services, which are the three services we use a lot, and increases every two monthskilled me. Getting by with 6,000 sold liters was fine. But in the last few months we were selling 2,000."
((Los aumentos de los servicios luz, gas y agua, que son los tres servicios que nosotros utilizamos mucho, y aumentos cada dos meses o cosas por el estilo que nos mató. Para salir hechos con 6.000 litros estábamos bien. Y los últimos meses vendíamos 2.000.))

0:40
The same explanation keeps coming up - higher costs and lower consumption. The brewery had to let seven employees go. They now work in informal jobs, which pay 20 dollars a day.

0:51
Bookstore En El Viento also closed after eight years. Most of the 30,000 businesses that have closed during the Milei era are in retail, followed by transportation, real estate and industry.

1:04  
+++Rubén Acosta, Bookstore Owner ((dueño de la librería En El Viento))+++
"The costs became unmanageable. Two years ago, I had to sell 300 books a month to cover the expenses at my store and at home. Today I would need to sell 600, but I'm selling less than 150. People don't have money."
((Los costos se hacen imposibles. Yo hace dos años tenía que vender 300 ejemplares al mes para cubrir los gastos de mi librería y de mi casa. Hoy tendría que vender 600 y estoy vendiendo menos de 150. La gente no tiene plata.))

1:18
More than 400,000 people are no longer employed by companies... Argentinian President Milei says that increase in joblessness was offset by self-employment and informal jobs. He advocates creative destruction, a concept that was identified by Austrian economist Joseph Schumpeter. 

1.35  
+++Javier Milei, presidente de Argentina (20/08/26 - Council of the Americas, Buenos Aires - imágenes de Oficina del Presidente de Argentina)+++
Yes, some companies are closing, but most are one-person businesses. At the same time, new companies are opening and hiring teams of ten or more. So, if you only look at the businesses that shut down, you're missing half the story. You have to look at businesses closing and the ones growing.
((Es cierto que desaparecen empresas, si, pero desaparecen empresas de una sola persona. Y aparecen empresas que contratan de repente diez personas. Primero, es muy deshonesto sólo mirar las que cierran. Hay que mirar las que cierran y las que abren.))

1:51
Most new companies are in personnel and administrative services, hydrocarbons, and mining. But official data shows they're still not replacing the jobs being lost. 

2:03
In the auto parts industry, the exodus of companies that began under previous governments has continued under Milei, with 11 more firms closing their doors.

2.13  
+++Juan Cantarella, Assn. of Argentinian Component Manufacturers (AFAC) President 
(presidente de la Asociación de Fábricas Argentinas de Componentes)+++
"Multinationals are increasingly concentrating their operations in Brazil, moving away from a market they say has been marked by uncertainty. At the same time, many local firms are exiting the market because they can no longer compete effectively."
((Las multinacionales buscan priorizar y optimizar las instalaciones que tienen en Brasil, tratando de irse de un país en donde tuvieron una gran incertidumbre para poder operar. Las empresas locales, principalmente por la percepción de pérdida de competitividad.))

2:33
Budget carrier Flybondi held a 25% share of Argentina's domestic market, but stopped operating last month. Around 1,000 workers lost their jobs. 

2.45 
+++Franco Vázquez, Former Flybondi cabin crew member (ex tripulante de cabina de Flyybondi)+++
"More than anything it had to do with company's limitations meeting deadlines and obligations with suppliers. It wasn't just the oil company, but also with the owners of the leased planes."
((Tenía que ver más que nada con estas limitaciones que tenía la empresa para poder cumplir en tiempo y forma con los proveedores, porque no solamente con YPF, sino que también era con los lessors, los dueños de los aviones.))

2:54  
+++Gastón Pruneda, Former employee at a Flybondi supplier (ex empleado de abastecimiento de Flybondi)+++
"I've had to start driving for ride-hailing apps like Uber just to make ends meet. That's what's keeping me afloat right now. But not everyone has that option."
((Tengo que recurrir a la conducción de vehículos como ya sea una aplicación de choferes como Uber y con eso yo me estoy manteniendo. Pero hay gente que no tiene la misma posibilidad.))

3:08
Protest by Flybondi employees - it's a familiar scene in Argentinia.  

END