Jump into the cold water
The election of Javier Milei is a judgment on previous policies
A guest article by Susanne Käss, Buenos Aires
November 21, 2023, 8:49 a.m
Argentina is getting a president who is both eccentric and extremist. But the country did not vote for Javier Milei, but against “business as usual”.
The majority is clear: On November 19th, 55.69 percent of Argentine voters cast their vote for the libertarian Javier Milei in a runoff election, thereby electing him president by a clear margin over his opponent – the incumbent Peronist Economy and Finance Minister Sergio Massa.
Milei, who only entered the political stage two years ago with the founding of his party “La Libertad Avanza” (Freedom Advances), has so far attracted international attention primarily for his crude mix of extremist positions and personal eccentricities. During the election campaign, his brand essence was his tangled mane of hair, leather jacket and chainsaw during performances to loud rock music, during which he demanded the abolition of all privileges of the political establishment, which he described as the “caste”.
The basic principles of his election program are the liberalization of the markets, the abolition of the central bank and the dollarization of the economy. The more polemical demands include the liberalization of the organ trade and gun laws as well as the abolition of the right to abortion. Milei denies human responsibility for climate change and described the Argentine Pope Francis as a representative of evil on earth. His future vice president Victoria Villarruel, the daughter of a military man, is committed to a new culture of remembrance in which not only the civilian victims of the military dictatorship, but also the victims of left-wing terrorism in military circles should be remembered – a much criticized position in one Country that suffered enormously under the brutal military dictatorship.
Peronist government voted out with devastating economic record
But why did Argentines choose the economist who has made a living in the past as a rock musician, stand-up comedian, business commentator and tantric sex coach, among other things? In the first round of voting in October, Sergio Massa was well ahead of Milei with a lead of 7 percentage points. But the future president managed to mobilize most of the voters of the candidates who dropped out of the race in October. However, they did not primarily vote for Javier Milei, but rather against Sergio Massa and Kirchnerist-style Peronism. The outgoing government leaves behind a country with a record inflation rate of 143 percent, no foreign exchange reserves and an empty treasury.
Argentina, which was one of the richest countries in the world 100 years ago, has natural gas, crude oil, lithium and other mineral resources as well as ideal conditions for the production of green hydrogen with wind, sun and fresh water. It can produce food for ten times its population and yet over 40 percent of the population lives in poverty. The reasons for the devastating development lie in a chronic budget deficit caused by a bloated state apparatus, but also in the institutionalized corruption and cronyism that have ruined the country.
Voters want economic revival
The majority of Argentine voters do not support right-wing extremist positions, but rather demand liberalization of the economy. The fear of “business as usual”, of the progressive decadence of the Argentine economy and society, was greater than of the leap into the unknown with the crazy, extremist and eccentric Javier Milei, who now faces enormous challenges without any administrative experience. This is a devastating verdict for politics over the past decades.
The party of the newly elected president only has around 20 percent of the seats in the future Chamber of Deputies and 10 percent of the seats in the Senate. The politics of the next few years will therefore be characterized by constant negotiation processes. Because of Milei’s extremist positions, this is a good sign for Argentine democracy. It remains to be seen whether the possible partners can influence Javier Milei to moderate extremist positions and pave a path for the country that is viable for the majority of Argentines.
Susanne Käss heads the Konrad Adenauer Foundation’s foreign office in Argentina, based in Buenos Aires.