Two months after libertarian firebrand Javier Milei was elected president of Latam basket case Argentina, pledging to overhaul the economy and openly warning a period of brutal austerity and pain is coming, the initial euphoria is fading fast and is being replace with the shock and horror of what comes next. And sure enough, in the biggest show of resistance to date against Milei, Argentinian workers on Wednesday took to the streets for a general strike, bringing swaths of downtown Buenos Aires to a standstill.

In what has been called an "unprecedented mobilization" never before in modern Argentinian history has a mass strike been called less than seven weeks into a new presidency. But leaders from Argentina's largest labor union - the guys who are used to a steady drip of handouts from the government - said the nationwide protests reflect the urgency they feel as Milei pursues radical economic and political reforms he likens to "shock therapy".