In a surprise upset, right-wing populist Javier Milei won the open presidential primary in Argentina on Sunday, putting his libertarian-leaning La Libertad Avanza (Liberty Advances) party in the running to take power in the October general election. Milei, an outspoken fan of former US President Donald Trump, is running on a platform of accountability and radical change amid an ongoing struggle against inflation.
Javier Milei, 52, is a former television pundit and economist who has been a lawmaker in the lower house of Argentina’s Congress since 2021. His campaign focused on protecting citizens’ right to own firearms, resisting the Climate Change agenda, and opposing gender ideology’s attacks on the nuclear family.
His status as a political outsider, his unconventional hairstyle, and his focus on ending “the parasitic, corrupt and useless political caste” in Argentina drew frequent comparisons to former President Trump—which Milei has taken as a compliment.
One of his most radical proposals is the complete dissolution of the Argentinian Central Bank, replacing the peso with the US dollar in an attempt to curb runaway inflation. As the New York Times reported, “The Argentine peso has plummeted in value, annual inflation has surpassed 115 percent, nearly 40 percent of the population is impoverished and the country is struggling to repay its $44 billion debt to the International Monetary Fund.”
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Milei also demonstrated an openness to cryptocurrency in the hopes of returning money to the private sector.
“The first thing we have to understand is that the Central Bank is a scam. It is a mechanism by which politicians cheat the good people with the inflationary tax.”
— Javier Milei, likely to be the next president of Argentina #Bitcoin pic.twitter.com/fjqwXLiFiM
— Alan ₿ Watts ⚡️ (@alanbwt) August 14, 2023
In addition to determining which candidates will appear on the ballot in October’s general election, Sunday’s primary was also seen as a nationwide poll to assess the desires of the people. Milei was previously considered a protest candidate without much of a base. However, following his first-place finish with 30% of the overall vote, he is now considered a real contender.
The candidates in the main opposition coalition, United for Change, were at 28% and the current governing coalition, Union for the Homeland, had 27%.
“Today we took the first step toward the reconstruction of Argentina,” Milei said at his campaign headquarters in celebration of his victory. “A different Argentina is impossible with the same people as always.”
However, despite his primary victory, Milei’s path to the presidency is still not free of challenges. Given the distribution of votes on Sunday, it is likely that the October election will head into a runoff in November if no candidate successfully clears 50% of the national vote.
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