First it happened in the U.S. Then it happened in Brazil. Now it is happening in Argentina.
Libertarian economist Javier Milei, an eccentric political outsider with anti-establishment rhetoric who promised to “burn down the central bank” to end the country’s inflationary crisis, will be Argentina’s new president, confirming a rightward shift after two decades of leftist dominance.
With 99 percent of ballots counted, Mr. Milei won 56 percent of the vote in a runoff against Economy Minister Sergio Massa, leaving no doubt about the winner shortly after polls closed.
Mr. Massa conceded defeat even before official results were announced. “I have called Javier Milei to congratulate him,” he told supporters gathered at his campaign headquarters in Buenos Aires.
Shortly afterward, Mr. Milei told a jubilant crowd chanting about freedom: “The rebuilding of Argentina begins today. Thank you to the team that has been working to transform the country over the last two years, that has made possible the miracle of a libertarian president.”
“We know that some people will resist change. And to them I want to say: within the law, everything, but outside it, nothing. There will be no place for violence, and we will be ruthless with those who use force to defend their privileges,” Mr. Milei added, warning of an impending economic crisis but promising a return to Argentina’s prosperous past.
The result is yet another example of the strong anti-incumbency sentiment that has swept Latin America, where ruling coalitions have lost 18 of the 19 presidential elections since 2019.
The pandemic exacerbated pre-existing issues across the continent, but the situation was even more dramatic in Argentina, where inflation soared to 150 percent this year as lockdown-era money printing added fuel to the fire of massive macroeconomic imbalances that have been building up since the beginning of the last decade.
This proved the perfect backdrop for the rise of a candidate like Javier Milei, who has spent most of his public life highlighting the indiscipline of policymakers.
An uphill battle
The 2023 election was always seen as an almost Sisyphean struggle for the ruling Peronist coalition, which returned to power in 2019 with promises of renewal but sorely disappointed voters, offering a disjointed government marked by constant bickering between President Alberto Fernández and the powerful Vice President Cristina Kirchner, who ruled the country between 2007 and 2015 and is still seen by...
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