BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — The factory floor used to roar.
Walking around his textile mill in southern Buenos Aires, Luciano Galfione pointed out the up-to-the-minute machines that once whirred and clattered as 200 employees churned out fabric to be transformed into athleisure and other apparel for Argentina’s vast middle class.
But on Monday afternoon, the factory was so quiet that Galfione’s footsteps rang clear through the compound. A handful of workers at the Galfione Group factory in Argentina’s capital spooled yarn and dyed cloth.
Almost two years after libertarian President Javier Milei stormed to power on a promise to rescue Argentina’s crisis-stricken economy through harsh austerity and free-market reforms, falling orders and surging competition have forced Galfione to cut ope