A centrist economy minister, Sergio Massa, and an “anti-system” ultra-liberal who wants to “cut up” the state, Javier Milei, will face off in the second round of Argentina’s presidential election in November in a duel between two opposing visions of the country.
Sergio Massa, 51, candidate of the governing bloc (center-left), overcame the handicap of a struggling economy and record inflation of 138% to take first place in the first round of voting on Sunday with 36.6% of the vote, according to the Electoral Authority more than 97% of the votes counted.
He is ahead of the “anarcho-capitalist” economist – as he defines himself – Javier Milei, 53, who with 30% confirms his breakthrough since entering the political scene two years ago, but is below what polls had predicted.
They will compete in a second round on November 19th, with an eye on the inauguration on December 10th.
The candidate of the opposition bloc (center-right) Patricia Bullrich, a former security minister under the protection of former Liberal president Mauricio Macri (2015-2019), is eliminated with 23.8%.
Argentines voted in a climate of uncertainty and concern rare since the return of democracy 40 years ago, against a backdrop of chronic debt, one of the highest inflation rates in the world and a currency that has been steadily losing value for two years.
Change or jump into the void
The words “fed up”, “fear”, “no magic formula” appeared again and again among the voters addressed by AFP, reflecting an agony between a genuine desire for change and the fear of a “leap into the void”.
“We need a change. “This country is really a disaster, between poverty and inflation, people are not doing well,” complained Gabriela Paperini, 57, near a polling station in the Palermo district.
Milei, a polemicist who emerged from television onto the political stage in 2021, has since followed this “clearance thread” against what he considers a “parasitic caste”, Peronists (center-left) and liberals, who have alternated in power for twenty years Years.
On Sunday evening he hailed “the best election in the history of liberalism,” a “historic day because two-thirds voted for change,” referring to his and Ms. Bullrich’s voters. And he extended his hand to the losing candidate so that “all who want this change will work together to restore our country.”
His snappy formulas and his electric style appealed to an often young, hopeless audience. But his proposals, such as “cutting” government and “dollarizing” the economy – replacing the dollar with the dollar – have also sown doubt, even concern.
“People began to perceive a risk in Milei,” analyzes political scientist Raul Timerman. The initially funny topic of “chainsaw” turned into something frightening (…) They said to themselves: “This one is coming to destroy everything.”
Disappointment was clearly palpable at his campaign headquarters on Sunday evening after hope had been raised in the polls. “But I’m sure we’ll manage. “Many votes that do not go to him will come back to him in the second round,” explained Nahuel Pasquale, 27 years old.
Sergio Massa, an ADN centrist who had already run for president against his current Peronist allies in 2015, was careful to distance himself from the executive branch during the election campaign – neither President Alberto Fernandez nor former head of state Cristina Kirchner appeared.
He wanted to insist that “the worst of the crisis” is over thanks to an impending export boom and the end in 2022-23 of a historic drought that deprived Argentina, an agricultural giant, of $20 billion in revenue.
“Too much to lose”
But above all, in recent months it has increased its budgetary generosity: reducing the number of taxpayers, subsidies, VAT exemptions to cushion the inflation shock. “Electoral irresponsibility,” his opponents shouted, as Argentina struggles to repay a $44 billion loan to the IMF with a pathological budget deficit.
On Sunday evening, Mr. Massa vowed to convene a “government of national unity” if elected, a first in democratic Argentina, and made an appeal to the radicals, the moderate wing of the opposition alliance, “to everyone.” those who share our democratic values.”
His headquarters consisted of hugs and songs, including the old Peronist anthem played by a brass band.
“We knew we would cause a surprise. “People are much smarter than we think when it comes to defending the homeland,” Angelo Laredo, a 55-year-old accountant, told AFP. “If not today, it will be November. Massa will be president.”
For economist Benjamin Gedan, a specialist for Argentina at the Wilson Center think tank, nothing has been decided yet. Mr. Massa “remains economics minister in a fundamentally unpopular government.” But in Argentina there is “a deep fear of the idea of drastically changing the role of the welfare state; many have too much to lose.”