Ultra-liberal economist Javier Milei will become Argentina’s next president after winning the second round of presidential elections on Sunday with 55.95% of the vote. His rival, centrist Economy Minister Sergio Massa, admitted defeat before the results were announced.
Published on: 11/20/2023 – 12:40 a.m. Modified on: 11/20/2023 – 12:45 a.m
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Argentina’s new president is an ultra-liberal “anti-system” economist who wants to be a “liberator” of the country. Javier Milei won the second round of the Argentine presidential election on Sunday, November 19th. According to partial official results, he received 55.95% of the vote compared to 44.04% for his opponent, centrist Economy Minister Sergio Massa.
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The results, which showed a lead of more than eleven points for Javier Milei, were announced by the General Secretariat of the Presidency, with more than 86% of the votes counted.
Also read System or Anti-System, the difficult choice of the Argentines on the eve of the second round
“It’s a historic evening for Argentina,” Javier Milei told several thousand supporters at his campaign headquarters in Buenos Aires. “The impoverished caste model is over, today we adopt the model of freedom to become a world power again.”
Even before the results were announced, Sergio Massa suffered defeat. Javier Milei “is the president that the majority of Argentines have elected for the next four years,” declared Sergio Massa, who came first in the first round of voting on October 22nd. Shortly before the official partial results were announced, he told his supporters gathered at his campaign headquarters in Buenos Aires that he had called Javier Milei to “congratulate him and wish him good luck.”
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Half-hearted congratulations
The reactions were quick. The Brazilian president wished the new Argentine government “good luck and success” in a message on the social network X in which he did not mention the winner. “I wish the new government good luck and success. Argentina is a great country that deserves all of our respect. “Brazil will always be available to cooperate with our Argentine brothers,” wrote Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
This is what a democracy has to do with, and it must be semper respeitada. We are members of the Argentine institutions that carry out the electoral process and part of the Argentine people participating in the democratic and peaceful electoral process.
Desejo boa sorte and êxito ao novo gouverno. HAS…
– Lula (@LulaOficial) November 19, 2023
For his part, former US President Donald Trump congratulated him on his social network Truth Social: “I am very proud of you. You will change your country and make Argentina a great country again.”
Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro declared that “hope is shining again” in the region. At
With AFP