Change has already begun in Argentina, and not because a new government has taken office. Javier Milei, the ultra-candidate who stunned millions of Argentines with his calls to “exterminate the entire political caste,” has begun rapidly rebuilding the bridges he furiously burned in the first-round campaign. He came second in Sunday’s election with 30% of the vote, six points behind Peronist Sergio Massa. Since election night, he has lowered the decibels of his inflammatory words. El León, as he calls himself, needs votes to beat Massa in the second round of voting on November 19 and is no longer showing his teeth.
His new seduction strategy began with third-place conservative Patricia Bullrich, whom he accused during the presidential debate of being a “bomb-throwing Montonera” for her past in the Peronist guerrilla Montoneros. The new Milei reached a climax this Tuesday when she offered office to the traditional left, the same party that she described with burning eyes as “filth”, “scum” and “shitty left”.
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On Sunday evening, Milei had to face hundreds of fans waiting for a clear first place. He left the chainsaw under the stage, a symbol of his promises of total destruction of everything established, and spoke not of the abolition of the “political caste” but of Kirchnerist Peronism. The traditional right and left were suddenly removed from the country’s long list of enemies. “I come to end the process of attacks and create a clean slate to end Kirchnerism. Beyond our differences, we must understand that we have a criminal organization before us,” he said, referring to the current government.
Javier Milei, during election night this Sunday in Buenos Aires. MATIAS BAGLIETTO (Portal)
Milei then toured radio and television channels, offering accusations to yesterday’s enemies. Less than a month ago, Bullrich, President Mauricio Macri’s former security minister, was a terrorist who had “placed bombs in kindergartens.” The accusation brought the candidate a criminal complaint from the aforementioned. However, on Monday he said Bullrich had done an excellent job as minister and offered to include her in an eventual far-right government. “If she wants to, how can I say no,” he said. It is not unreasonable that Bullrich accepts the invitation. Macri’s flirtations with Milei began before the elections, particularly through Macri’s decision. The former president rightly saw Milei taking votes away from his Together for Change coalition and announced that his Pro party should support legislation in the future Congress that would be consistent with the movement’s liberal ideals. Macri’s offer was very poorly received by the moderate partners of Together for Change, and now the defeat accelerates the possibility of a breakup.
Like Massa, Milei went on the hunt for Together for Change’s 6.2 million votes. The Ultra used to call them “Together for the Position,” and now they’re learning how to swallow each other’s words most gracefully without losing their temper. His metamorphosis carries risks: it is not clear to what extent his voters, almost eight million people, will forgive him for now opening his hand to those he calls thieves, terrorists and murderers.
Milei’s new campaign strategy stipulates that only the unity of “defenders of freedom” can overthrow Kirchnerism from power. And he trusts former President Macri to win votes. “With Macri we understand the risk of the continuity of Kirchnerism with someone as skilled and perverse as Sergio Massa. If I am willing to open the dialogue so that we end Kirchnerism, the choice is very easy for me. “Do you want to continue discussing the events in the election campaign, or do we turn the tide and remove the Kirchnerists from power?” he said.
Javier Milei welcomes a group of fans this Sunday in Buenos Aires. Juan Ignacio Roncoroni (EFE)
From Macrismo’s point of view, they do not rule out finally accepting some kind of agreement with Milei, even if it means a break with the moderate parts of the coalition that they form. Federico Angelini, deputy and vice president of Pro, said this Tuesday that it will be enough for Milei to apologize to Bullrich to put an end to the problem of bombs against children. “The personal must take precedence over the general interest for Argentina to move forward,” Angelini said.
Milei’s invitation reaches Macri, but not the rest of his radical partners in Together for Change. The Ultra has a deep-seated hatred for the heirs of President Raúl Alfonsín (1983-1999), whom it accuses of betraying Bullrich by voting for Massa last Sunday.
He doesn’t think that way about the left, at least not now when he needs their 700,000 votes. During the final candidates’ debate, he accused them of defending communism, “an ideology that has killed 100 million people.” “You don’t have to negotiate anything with shitty leftists,” the Ultra repeated on social networks. This Tuesday he offered them a possible Ministry of Human Capital, with which he wants to end the current Ministries of Education, Health, Labor and Social Development. “People on the left know the most” about human capital, Milei said. In any case, his election campaign is no longer about the destruction of the entire political caste, the blowing up of the central bank, the dollarization of the economy and the legalization of carrying weapons. The new battle he is offering his voters is called “Freedom vs. Kirchnerism.”
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