The ultraliberal economist Javier Milei will be the next president of Argentina, after his resounding victory on Sunday in the presidential election, which opens a period of uncertainty for the 3rd largest economy in Latin America.
An admirer of Donald Trump
“Long live freedom, carajo!” (Long live freedom, damn it!”) shouted, meeting after meeting, the one who promised austerity, deregulation and privatization, to whip an economy to its knees, with 143% inflation over one year, and four out of ten Argentinians under the poverty line.
A polemicist popular on TV sets for years, but emerged in politics two years ago, Milei, 53, promised to make Argentina “a world power” again, as when it was a “promised land” of emigration , at the beginning of the 20th century. A theme of “rediscovered greatness” which is reminiscent of Donald Trump, for whom he expressed his admiration.
His favorite tool: a chainsaw brandished many times at meetings
His tools? A chainsaw brandished many times in meetings, symbolizing the coming cuts in public spending, to put an end to “this aberration called social justice, synonymous with budget deficit”.
Ending twenty years of Peronist or liberal governments, Milei also promised to dollarize the economy and eliminate the Central Bank, once the greenback had replaced the peso, the national currency which he treated as “excrement “.
An “anarcho-capitalist”
He describes himself as “anarcho-capitalist”, libertarian, with a libertarian touch and far-right postures. Very present on social networks, Milei resonates with a rather popular and young, disillusioned public with his speech of meritocracy and degagism. “People started to hear this indignant, angry gentleman, and said to themselves ‘finally someone who thinks like me!'”, underlines Belen Amadeo, political scientist at the University of Buenos Aires.
“Milei’s proposals to take over Argentina give us hope to stay, because if we continue like this, all the young people will leave the country,” Carolina Carabaja, a 20-year-old fan, explained to AFP. He knew how to cultivate an atypical profile: a faded rocker look, sometimes in a leather jacket, and unusual gestures, such as offering his parliamentary allowance by drawing lots. “I am not here to guide lambs but to wake lions!” is one of the favorite slogans of the “lion” Milei, an emblem that he cultivates, evoking his mane-hair.
“One of the reasons for his success is that he appeals to emotion. He is a + TikTok politician +”, summarizes economist Andres Borenstein, from the Econews think tank. It also had a novelty effect: “Milei is the only one we have never tried,” notes sociologist Mariana Luzzi of the national research institute Conicet.
Ideas that frighten
But Milei also frightens with controversial ideas, such as the deregulation of the sale of arms, a “market solution” for organ donation, or his opposition to abortion, legalized in 2021. And for him, climate change is just a “cycle”, not “a human responsibility”.
Aware of shocking – as when he insulted the Pope – Milei lowered his voice after the first round, where his centrist rival Sergio Massa had beaten him. Fewer appearances, less clear-cut, and a message: “don’t be afraid of change”. “We are not going to privatize health, not privatize education,” he assured in his latest clip.
“Crazy” or not, but winner
What will a President Milei actually do? Compromises, undoubtedly, in a Parliament where his young party, La Libertad Avanza, is only the 3rd force (38 deputies out of 257). But inevitably also, painful budgetary adjustments. “It brings with it an ingredient of political-social confrontation,” worries Gabriel Vammaro, political scientist at the University of San Martin.
As media-friendly as it is, the private Milei is intriguing: his circle is restricted, secret, with his sister Karina Milei at the forefront, “the boss”, he describes her.
His family on a daily basis? Four enormous English mastiffs, his “sons” as he calls them, with whom he lives in a neighborhood in the north of Buenos Aires. Recently, he appeared with a 42-year-old comedian, Fatima Florez.
Javier Gerado Milei grew up in the suburbs of Buenos Aires in a middle-class family, with whom he admitted a “complex” relationship, marked in particular by paternal violence. A graduate in economics, he alternated between consulting in the private sector and teaching, writing economics books and columns, some of which earned him accusations of plagiarism. More than once, his political rivals have pointed the finger at his “aggressiveness”, trying to portray him as “emotionally unstable”, even “crazy”. “The difference between a genius and a madman is success,” Milei likes to say.