After half a year of waiting, Argentina is approaching the last day. The country is eagerly awaiting the second round of presidential elections on November 19 after five months of campaigning, but for thousands of people it was this Thursday: Taylor Swift’s first appearance in Buenos Aires. The current pop star’s visit took place parallel to the election campaign. While the parties were deciding on their candidates for the primary elections in June, their three concerts at River Plate Stadium were sold out within minutes. While half the country now fears a victory for the right-wing extremist Javier Milei next Sunday, numerous fan groups of the singer are protesting against him. “We ‘Swifties’ are not voting for Milei,” reads a poster plastered around the stadium in the north of the Argentine capital. The reason is simple: Milei admires Donald Trump and Taylor Swift doesn’t like the former American president.
The politicization of Taylor Swift’s Argentinian fans has divided opinion. After the October 22 election, in which Milei came second to Peronist Sergio Massa and forced a second round, a group of Taylor Swift fans called for people not to vote for Milei in the second round. Taylor Swift had said in a documentary that she needed to be critical of Trump in order to be “on the right side of history,” and a group of Argentine “Swifties” took up the gauntlet. They called Milei’s party “undemocratic right-wing” and criticized its candidates for “thinking equal marriage is unnecessary, that feminism is a lie, that there is no gender pay gap and that they believe the sale of organs should be allowed.” , in a statement on social networks.
Poster against Javier Milei around the River Plate Stadium.JPC
Not all “Swifties” think alike. This Thursday, before the first of three concerts that Taylor Swift will give in Buenos Aires, the area surrounding the River Plate Stadium was wallpapered with slogans against Milei. “Taylor spoke out against Trump because he is racist and homophobic, but in Argentina the story is more complicated,” said Malena, a 27-year-old fan who arrived alone at River Plate Stadium around two in the afternoon. “Of course, some things about Milei scare me, but I think Argentina needs a change from the usual.” Malena is self-employed and manages social networks for various clients. She reiterates that she will vote for Milei because “it can’t be that she kills herself at work and barely has enough to save for the ticket price.”
He has an argument. Seeing Taylor Swift in Buenos Aires became a bargain for foreign audiences. Taking into account the difference changes for tourists and cards issued abroad, the most expensive ticket was $155. While many Argentine teenagers couldn’t afford their ticket in June, hundreds of fans abroad did the math: Between the plane ticket to Buenos Aires and the ticket, it was cheaper to travel to Argentina than to try to buy a ticket from resale in the United States.
“The whole trip wasn’t really cheap, but I couldn’t see her in Chicago, and when I decided to buy tickets to see her in Buenos Aires, we planned a whole trip,” says Maddie, 30, who traveled with her Boyfriend arrived Wednesday from the US after planning a vacation to Argentina after getting Taylor Swift tickets. “I don’t know anything about Argentine politics, but the country is very cheap if you have dollars that you can exchange on the street. It’s good for tourists, but I imagine it’s terrible for Argentinians. Will you vote for someone who admires Trump? “I don’t think it’s the solution.”
“I would rather not talk about politics,” said Horacio Diez, 24, who was visiting Taylor Swift from Buenos Aires province. “I will not vote for Milei because I am convinced that he endangers the country’s democracy, and not because Taylor thinks for or against.”
—Will what I say about the election have an impact?
– I don’t think he’ll say anything. But I think today is an opportunity to refocus on what matters. Argentina is a country of endurance, today we are here in thousands for the love of Taylor and that must be contagious. Would Milei believe that we gays, foreigners, young people, old people are here just because we love someone? I do not believe that.