As of Sunday 19 November, Argentina has a new president, and it’s not good news. Elected with 55.7% of the votes, the ultra-liberal economist Javier Milei was elected against Sergio Massa, the current Minister of Economy.
Presenting yourself as a candidate “anti-system”the 53-year-old man, accustomed to television, immediately received compliments from Donald Trump and former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro.
“Hope shines again in South America. May these good winds reach the United States and Brazil so that honesty, progress and freedom return to us all”Jair Bolsonaro declared in particular on the X network (formerly Twitter).
An ultra-liberal economic program
Because behind his rocker look, Javier Milei is a profound reactionary, elected on a far-right program that spoke to the Argentine people, mired in poverty (40% of the population lives below the poverty line) and with a record inflation (143% in one year).
A populist and polemicist, he began his political career by founding the La Libertad Avanza movement two years ago. Defining himself as a “anarchocapitalist” and libertarian, against whom he has repeatedly taken a stand “the parasitic caste” and declared that he wanted to cut “ L’“Enemy State” In “dollarize” the Argentine economy. This would mean abandoning the national currency, the peso, and adopting the US dollar, as other Latin American countries such as Panama and Ecuador have previously done.
In favor of the liberalization of the firearms market, Javier Milei also wishes to create a “market solution” to organ donation by monetizing this practice, which is however defined by very strict ethical and medical conditions.
An enemy of women and the climate
On the social program level, Javier Milei has never hidden his aversion to the thesis of climate change, which he defines as a “socialist lies”. According to him, the various extreme climate events that Argentina has faced in recent years (regular droughts, fires, etc.) are not attributable to human activity, but are just one “cycle”.
The new Argentine president is also an enemy of women’s rights. Against abortion, legal in Argentina since 2020, during the presidential campaign he insisted on voluntary termination of pregnancy “it is not an acquired right” and that, if elected, he “would organize a plebiscite” on the right to abortion “remove the law”.
During his victory speech, however, Javier Milei assured his “commitment to democracy”. A slim hope for the Argentines compared to all the alarming signals it has given so far.
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Source: Madmoizelle
Mary Crossley is an author at “The Fashion Vibes”. She is a seasoned journalist who is dedicated to delivering the latest news to her readers. With a keen sense of what’s important, Mary covers a wide range of topics, from politics to lifestyle and everything in between.
