In the aftermath of Sunday’s first round of presidential elections in Argentina, the mainstream right has been left with a pair of unappealable choices. After former Security Minister Patricia Bullrich finished the vote in third, being knocked out of next month’s runoff, the group must decide whether to back current Economy Minister Sergio Massa or the far-right libertarian Javier Milei.
Despite targeting a great deal of his campaign to bashing Ms. Bullrich, Mr. Milei made gestures to the establishment right after Sunday’s results. “Two-thirds of Argentinians voted for a change, an alternative to this government of criminals who want to mortgage our future,” he said. “All of us who want change have to work together.”
In her first speech after bowing out of the presidential race on Sunday, Ms. Bullrich delivered a strong anti-Peronist message. “We will never be complicit with populism nor with the mafias that destroyed this country,” she said. Despite her fierce opposition to Peronism, there is a wide gulf between Ms. Bullrich and Mr. Milei, who has expressed desires to dollarize the economy and shut down the central bank.
Former President Mauricio Macri, a major mainstream right-wing figure, has not yet commented on the election results, but has been open to backing Mr. Milei. “If [Mr. Milei] wins the election, I hope that our coalition will support any reasonable reform in Congress so that Argentina can leave behind this fraudulent system in which we are trapped,” he told local newspaper Clarín.
Many expect Mr. Macri to support Mr. Milei at some point. If that happens, his Together for Change coalition is expected to splinter immediately — with Horacio Rodríguez Larreta, the mayor of Buenos Aires who tried but failed to win the presidential nomination in August, not expected to follow.
The rise of Javier Milei has been compared to the leap Jair Bolsonaro made in Brazil, ascending from a far-right backbencher to holding the highest office in the land. In 2018, Mr. Bolsonaro squared off against the center-left — and was benefited by support from establishment conservatives.
Mr. Milei now hopes to repeat that story in Argentina.
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