Javier Miley elected President of Argentina, victory for “Trump of the Pampas”

At 53, the winner of Argentina’s presidential election continues to generate excitement. Anti-system and far-right polemicist Javier Miley won with 55.95% of the votes, according to official partial results, in the second round this Sunday, November 19th. His rival, Economy Minister Sergio Massa, conceded defeat, acknowledging that Miley would be “the president that the majority of Argentines will elect for the next four years.” And now this country, having just celebrated forty years of the return of democracy, is leaping into the unknown. This person stands out with his ideas and his style.

The trained economist, easily offended and disheveled, emerged victorious at the end of an eventful campaign that electrified the country. Like this scene that happened last Friday. Javier Miley attends the ballet at the Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires. When the audience recognizes him, there is applause in the hall, then whistles. In the pit, orchestra members sing a Peronist march in support of the other finalist, outgoing Economy Minister Sergio Massa, a member of the center-left coalition in power. Outgoing Peronist President Alberto Fernandez, who was unpopular, did not run again.

“Anarcho-capitalist” with a meteoric rise

Javier Miley knew how to capture the voices of angry Argentines, exhausted by years of economic wandering, in a country where inflation reaches 140% a year. Miley campaigned by criticizing “the caste of politicians, these corrupt thieves.” When he officially takes office on December 10, he promises to abolish the central bank and replace the peso with the dollar in a move he says will prevent the ruling classes from manipulating the currency to finance their electoral clients. He intends to sharply cut government spending (like the chainsaw he often used during the election campaign) and close several ministries (tourism, women’s rights, etc.).

A fan of libertarian movements, he calls himself an “anarcho-capitalist” and chose as his campaign slogan: “Viva la Libertad, carajo” (Long live freedom, m…). At home, he gave his five dogs, the result of cloning his beloved dog Conan in the United States, the names of liberal economists. For example, one of them is called Milton (Friedman). His rise in politics was meteoric. “It is based on the formulation of a discourse against the state and a discourse against the elites,” summarizes researcher Gabriel Vommaro, professor of political sociology at the National University of San Martin.

A follower of the occult, at odds with his parents (“my parents”) but allied with his sister, this childless fifty-year-old is an admirer of Reagan, De Gaulle, Churchill and Thatcher, despite his role in the World War. Falkland Islands. If he is economically liberal, the populist Miley, on the other hand, is ultra-conservative on the social level. An anti-abortion, pro-gun and climate skeptic, the “Trump of the Pampas” is often compared to former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro.

Flamboyant antics and sublime extravagances

Having received a Catholic education, the new president then turned to Judaism. Lately he has attacked (Argentine) Pope Francis several times: “Ass, ignorant, harmful”, “son of the left b…”, “turd…”. He accuses him of promoting a redistribution ideology based on envy and resentment. Its vice president, Victoria Villaruel, has made no secret of her support for the former military dictatorship that lasted from 1976 to 1983.

On diplomatic matters, the new president praises the alliance with the United States and Israel. Conversely, he wants to sever ties with the “communist” countries, “Russia”, “China” and “Brazil”, whose President Lula (“corrupt”) he hates. However, his radical program faces two pitfalls: Javier Miley does not have a majority in parliament. He will therefore have to deal with other forces, including those of former head of state Mauricio Macri, with whom he allied himself at the finish line.

Finally, his caustic antics and his sublime extravagance sparked intense debate in Argentine society about the mental health of the country’s new powerful man. A topic that continues to cause a lot of controversy.