by Sara Gandolfi
The right-wing extremist candidate beats the outgoing economics minister. Now Milei is promising draconian measures for a country on its knees: inflation at 142% and national debt at $419 billion
FROM OUR REPORTER
BUENOS AIRES – Javier Milei is the new president of Argentina. The anarcho-capitalist defeated the Peronist Sergio Massa in the runoff with almost 56 percent of the vote and a lead of over 11 points. The incumbent economics minister acknowledged the defeat even before the official results were published: They were not what we had hoped for. I congratulated Milei and wished him good luck. From tomorrow, the elected president will be responsible for ensuring the social, political and economic functioning of the country, said the Unin por la patria candidate, defeated for the second time in the presidential election.
In central Buenos Aires, outside and inside Milei’s bunker at the Hotel Libertador, there was a riot of blue and white flags and supporters wearing Argentina national team jerseys, waiting for the man who promised to lift them out of a hundred years of decadence . The future president, who watched the count from the 21st floor suite with his sister Karina, his friend and future first lady – a television impersonator – and his closest aides, waited a long time before giving in to the embrace of the crowd, which invaded the streets of the capital as the hours passed.
Milei first introduces himself to the believers and journalists gathered in the hotel lounge. She first thanks her sister Karina: Without her none of this would have happened. And then: I say to the Argentines: Today begins the reconstruction of Argentina and the end of decadence, today ends the impoverishing model of the omnipresent state that only benefits some while the majority suffers – he promises – today ends the idea that the State exists As a spoils ends up being shared between politicians and their friends, today we return to the model of freedom to be a world power again. Then he adds: To all those who are watching us from abroad, I say that Argentina will return and take the place in the world that it should never have lost. We will work side by side with all nations of the free world. And finally, at 10:30 p.m. (2:30 a.m. in Italy), he surrenders to the huge crowd cheering him outside: Long live freedom, darling! (which can be translated in many ways, most diplomatically. Long live freedom, damn it!).
I am very proud of you – wrote former US President Donald Trump in a message, encouraging Milei –. You will completely transform your country and make Argentina great again.
The candidate of the right-wing extremist alliance La Libertad Avanza managed to rally the anti-Peronist voice and also the discontent behind his name in a country hit by a very serious economic crisis. He notably won the support of former conservative President Mauricio Macri and much of the traditional center-right party, which was orphaned by its candidate Patricia Bullrich, who came third in the first round of voting in October. A support that will also be fundamental in Parliament, where La Libertad Avanza has only 23 deputies.
The new president will take office on December 10, the day Argentina’s young democracy, which emerged after the military dictatorship, turns 40. Now the ultra-liberal economist who became famous on television talk shows, the anti-system politician who promised to destroy the Peronist caste with chainsaw blows, must prove that he knows how to lead Argentina out of the crisis. If he keeps his election promises, he will immediately address the enormous economic problems with draconian measures: inflation at 142%, a national debt of 419 billion dollars, dwindling foreign reserves and the tough negotiations with the International Monetary Fund, to which Argentina owes 44 billion Dollar. Milei has already announced that he wants to privatize much of the state’s industry, dollarize the economy and dismantle the central bank, which is responsible for inflation. On Calle Florida, the pedestrian mall of Buenos Aires’ microcenter, blue dollar traders were nervous and impatient yesterday afternoon. Change, change, they shouted. One hundred dollars on the street is worth 93,000 Argentine pesos. According to the official and not very real exchange rate, it is only 35,000 pesos. If Milei passes, the dollar will skyrocket, they predicted on the black market.
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November 19, 2023 (modified on November 20, 2023 | 02:59)
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