Argentina: election of Javier Milei, the “Trump of the pampas”

On Sunday 19 November, Argentina elected far-right polemicist Javier Milei as its new president. He won 55.6% of the vote in the second round against his centrist opponent Sergio Massa. Argentina is facing a dramatic economic crisis, with inflation at 143%, abysmal inequality and a collapsing currency. Milei, who advocated dollarising the economy during the campaign, won the election by following in the populist, anti-system, ultra-liberal and reactionary footsteps of Donald Trump and Jair Bolsonaro. He also borrowed a certain sense of showmanship and outrageousness from them: the symbol of his campaign is a chainsaw, which he brandished on several occasions, promising to “chainsaw the enemy state”. Libertarian, anti-abortion and climate sceptic, Milei has made a number of controversial statements, even going so far as to play down the number of victims of the military dictatorship.

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