Javier Milei, a radical libertarian economist and first-term congressman, has won a decisive victory in Argentina’s presidential election, promising “drastic” changes to the country’s economic strategy amid the worst crisis in two decades.
Milei won 55.8 percent of the vote, compared to 44.2 percent for Economy Minister Sergio Massa of the center-left Peronist government, with over 99 percent of votes counted.
“Today is the end of Argentina’s decline,” Milei told a crowd of supporters at the Libertador Hotel in Buenos Aires on Sunday. “Today is the end of the model of an omnipresent state that impoverishes Argentines.”
He promised quick reforms for the country’s fragile economy. “I want you to understand that Argentina is in a critical situation. The changes our country needs are drastic. There is no room for graduality.”
Massa revealed that he had called on Milei to give in before the official results were published, adding that he had promised to maintain Argentina’s “economic, social, political and institutional functioning” before Milei’s inauguration on December 10.
At the heart of Milei’s campaign was a promise to take a “chainsaw” approach to the state – cutting spending by up to 15 percent of gross domestic product – and dollarizing the economy to curb inflation. Argentina’s annual price increases reached 142.7 percent in October.
After the results were announced, thousands of Milei’s supporters filled the area around Buenos Aires’ famous Obelisk monument.
“This is what I’ve been waiting for all my life: no more Peronists, no more thefts, no more lies,” said Leonardo Estarone, a 57-year-old physical therapist who beat drums on the street. “My children will live in a free country.”
Milei, a self-described “anarcho-capitalist,” courted controversy throughout the campaign, voicing his support for ideas such as legalizing the sale of human organs and abolishing all gun laws.
He also called China, Argentina’s largest trading partner, “murderous,” Argentina’s Pope Francis “a dirty leftist” and climate change “a socialist hoax.”
However, Milei walked back several of these statements in an attempt to win over centrist voters in the weeks following the initial election in October, in which he came second to Massa. Milei was bolstered by the support of former President Mauricio Macri and Patricia Bullrich, the candidate of the center-right coalition Juntos por el Cambio (JxC), who was eliminated in the first round with 24 percent of the vote.
Former US President Donald Trump – with whom Milei has often drawn comparisons – congratulated the libertarian outsider. “I am very proud of you,” Trump wrote in a post on his Truth Social platform. “You will transform your country and truly make Argentina great again!”
Argentina’s Economy Minister Sergio Massa waves to his supporters after conceding defeat on Sunday © Gustavo Garello/APThe victory by Milei, a former television commentator who became known for his tirades against economic mismanagement and corruption among Argentina’s governing elite, is a rebuke to Massa’s Peronist movement, which has dominated politics since the country’s return to democracy in 1983.
Over the past two decades, left-leaning Peronist governments have doubled the size of the public sector and introduced expensive subsidies and strict regulations across the economy.
The Peronist model has been under unprecedented pressure this year amid rising inflation. Massa has resorted to printing money to finance spending and tightened strict trade and foreign exchange restrictions to protect scarce foreign reserves.
Milei’s critics had argued that he and his vice president, Victoria Villarruel, a longtime defender of Argentina’s 1976 to 1983 dictatorship, posed a threat to democracy. Milei, who has no managerial experience, also faces questions about his ability to implement his plans, analysts said.
Ana Iparraguirre, an Argentine political analyst and partner at Washington-based strategy firm GBAO, noted that Milei won more votes than any other presidential candidate since 1983, albeit in a runoff. “This result gives Milei a high degree of legitimacy, but he has enormous institutional weakness,” she said. “He will have to base his reforms on popular support.”
Milei’s La Libertad Avanza (LLA) coalition, founded in 2021, will hold only eight of 72 seats in the Argentine Senate and fewer than 40 of the 257 in the lower house. There is no governor in any of Argentina’s 23 provinces.
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While Macri has stated that the JxC coalition will support the LLA in “sensible” reforms, other coalition leaders remain harsh critics of Milei.
Most economists in Argentina say Milei’s flagship plan to replace the peso with the U.S. dollar is unworkable in the short term because Argentina has almost no dollars in its central bank and no access to international credit.
The official exchange rate is just over 350 pesos per dollar, but the black market rate is as high as 900 pesos. The gap, which has widened dramatically as the parallel exchange rate crashed in recent months, has led to widespread price distortions.
Fernando Marull, director of Buenos Aires-based economic consultancy FMyA, said Massa would likely try to avoid an official devaluation before he leaves office, while Milei’s victory would put further pressure on the exchange rate on the black market.
“But for government bonds and stocks, Milei’s victory will be positive despite questions about his ability to govern and his plans,” he said. “This puts an end to the idea that Argentina never changes – Argentina just voted for a big change.”