Argentine Elections 2023 LIVE | Latest news about Milei and Massa, news, votes and results

Argentina The vote goes to the vote this Sunday, November 19, to elect president among the Minister of Economy, the centrist Peronist Sergio Massaand the ultraliberal leader Javier Milei, in one of the most fierce and polarized elections in its 40 years of democracy. With an annualized inflation of 143%, Massa strives to show himself as a calm and experienced leader, capable of overcoming Argentina’s serious economic crisis with a government of national unity in which he would integrate leaders from other political forces, with a “strong and protective.”

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Milei, alien to politics until being elected deputy in 2021, presents himself as a libertarian and anarcho-capitalist. He promised to eliminate the Central Bank and dollarize the economy to end monetary issuance and inflation.

LOOK: Santiago Rodríguez on the debate in Argentina: “Massa was more professional and prepared than Milei in this format”

In the first round, on October 22, Massa obtained 37% of the votes and Milei 30%. For the second round, the far right received the support of former president Mauricio Macri and Patricia Bullrich, from the center-right coalition Together for Change (24%).

Javier Milei speaks during the end of his electoral campaign in Córdoba, Argentina, on November 16, 2023. (Photo by DIEGO LIMA/AFP). (DIEGO LIMA/)

Sergio Massa leaves the Carlos Pellegrini Superior School of Commerce after meeting with students as part of his latest campaign activities. (EFE/Enrique García Medina). (Enrique García Medina/)

For this second round, The polls predict a technical tie, and the two candidates try until the last minute to attract the undecided voters, who are crucial for victory.

“The economy is about to explode. I am very concerned about education and public health. I’m not sure who to vote for. I think about the future and none of them leave me satisfied. One has already brought problems and the other has brought very explosive ideas,” Máximo Alberti, a 17-year-old student who is going to an election for the first time, told AFP.

Inflation in Argentina. (AFP).

Milei, a 53-year-old economist, ended his campaign on Thursday with a passionate event in Córdoba in front of tens of thousands of followers, according to police, who filled the streets of this anti-Kirchnerist bastion. Shouting “Freedom, Freedom!” They applauded their idol with his disheveled hair and leather jacket looking like a rock star, who sang again on the podium before giving his speech.

Massa chose to meet with a group of young people from the Carlos Pellegrini school, in Buenos Aires, in an event without fanfare, more in line with the calm style cultivated by this 51-year-old lawyer, an experienced politician who in recent decades has served in several governments , party stores and electoral struggles.

Polarization

The campaign swung between feelings of anger toward the traditional politics Massa represents and fear of Massa’s disruptive approaches. Mileiwho has been in favor of the free sale of weapons and even declared that the supply of human organs could constitute “another market”.

“We are facing one of the most aggressive campaigns I have witnessed and society is even more polarized,” Paola Zubán, director of consultancy Zubán, Córdoba y Asociados, told AFP, who predicts a very close result.

“It will be a vote-by-vote election,” said Zubán.

The third largest economy in Latin America, Argentine society is historically proud of its extensive middle class. But the economy has not grown for more than a decade, and instead poverty has increased, reaching more than 40% of the population.

Argentina is indebted to the International Monetary Fund through a $44 billion credit program that requires a significant reduction in the fiscal deficit.

Poverty in Argentina. (AFP).

In this decline, the discourse of Milei against what he calls the “chorra (thieve) political caste” had a greater echo than imagined.

“I am concerned about the policies that the current government is implementing. They are not seeing the country or the people. I voted for Milei and I will vote in favor again. The only thing politicians do is look into their pockets,” said Alejandro Santacruz, a 49-year-old butcher.

Ghost of fraud

In recent weeks, La Libertad Avanza, the party of Mileireported an alleged fraud attempt, something unprecedented in Argentina.

Thus, on Sunday he refrained from sending all of his party’s ballot papers to the electoral centers, claiming he did not trust the custody mechanism.

Although experts consider that the electoral system is solid and in democracy no elections were contested, Zubán warns that the idea of ​​fraud “has penetrated a sector of the population”.

“It is a well-known resource for the radical right to report fraud before voting. Former presidents Jair Bolsonaro and Donald Trump did this. “There is an attempt to delegitimize the election if the other party wins,” said the political consultant.

For this election, which requires mandatory attendance, 35.8 million people are registered at the registry office. Around 86,000 military and police personnel are responsible for monitoring the process.

The new president is expected to take office on December 10th for a period of four years.

Source: Elcomercio