Key to Sunday’s elections
Argentine voters are facing a third-party scenario unprecedented in 40 years of democracy in Argentina, in which the parties that have fought for control of politics so far this century are yearning to fight for second place in order to win next year to force a second round of voting. November 19th. These are some of the keys to these elections, the most uncertain since the return to democracy.
Who are the candidates?
Argentines will choose between Javier Milei, an ultra who has set the pace of the campaign against government spending and traditional politicians; Sergio Massa, the economy minister in an exhausted Peronist government, and Patricia Bullrich, a conservative former security minister who prevailed in the traditional right’s internal elections. The stage is open. The far right is leading the polls, but none are producing the results needed to avoid a second round.
The economic crisis is at the heart of the campaign
Argentina hit an annual inflation rate of 138.3% last month. The minimum wage in the country is 132,000 pesos, or about $380 at the official exchange rate; Two of them are not enough to cover the family’s basic basket. 40% of Argentines, about 18 million people, are poor, although unemployment is at its highest level in almost two decades: only 6.2% of working-age adults are unemployed. In addition, Argentina’s Central Bank reserves are in deficit, foreign currency revenues are down due to an unprecedented drought that has affected the agro-industrial sector and a $44,000 million debt to the IMF that the Macri government took on in 2018 , declined sharply.
A discussion was moved to the right
Milei’s histrionics set the agenda and his program took over the electoral debate on budget adjustments, the abolition of state offices, the public defunding of education, health and scientific research… However, his main proposal was the dollarization of the economy. The Argentine constitution prohibits the replacement of the Peso as official currency. The Ultra have managed to get the country to debate for months about the free carrying of guns, reopening the debate on legal abortion, and even the viability of a hypothetical organ market.
For more keys, see this article by José Pablo Criales.