Trump-like far-right libertarian leader Javier Millay becomes Argentina’s new president

Argentina’s Javier Milei, a far-right libertarian with a commitment to eliminating inflation, was elected president of the country with a potentially turbulent future for South America’s second-largest economy, The guardian reported on Monday.

With more than 90% of the vote counted, with 55.69% of the vote to his opponent’s 44.3%, centre-left Finance Minister Sergio Massa – Milei’s victory is often compared to Donald Trump’s – triggered a potential economic recession.

“Today begins the reconstruction of Argentina. Today is a historic night for Argentina,” TV celebrity-turned-politician Mick Jagger told cheering supporters at his campaign headquarters in Buenos Aires, calling his victory a “miracle”.

According The guardian, Millay promised “drastic changes” to address Argentina’s “tragic reality” of soaring inflation and widespread poverty. He also sent a message to the international community: “Argentina will return to the place in the world that it should never have lost.”

Earlier, Massa conceded defeat and said “the Argentinians chose another path”.

Massa also said he had called Miley to congratulate him on his victory before announcing he would retire from the political front.

“Obviously, these are not the results we hoped for and I spoke to Javier Milei to congratulate him because he is the president chosen by the majority of Argentines for the next four years,” added Massa, whose Peronist movement has ruled for 16 years . the last 20 years.

The 53-year-old leader’s victory was celebrated by pro-Milei activists, who believe he is an economic visionary capable of leading Argentina out of a severe financial crisis.

Millay, who will take office on December 10, has pledged to abolish the central bank and dollarize the economy to tackle poverty and inflation, which has left 40 percent of Argentina’s 45 million citizens in poverty.

“I know how to kill the cancer of inflation,” Milei said during last Sunday’s final presidential debate, which most pundits believed Massa had won.

Other prominent members of the global far-right community applauded Miley’s triumph, including Jair Bolsonaro, the former president of Brazil, who had backed his campaign and pledged to attend his inauguration.

“Hope is shining in South America once again,” Bolsonaro wrote on X, formerly Twitter, hailing what he called a victory for “honesty, progress and freedom.”

Former US President Donald Trump wrote: “The whole world was watching! I am very proud of you. You will turn your country around and truly make Argentina great again.”

His victory was also celebrated by the owner of X, Elon Musk, who posted: “Prosperity lies ahead for Argentina.”

Meanwhile, his left-wing opponents were surprised and dismayed by the election of a “notoriously erratic figure whose radical ideas include legalizing the sale of organs, cutting ties with Argentina’s two biggest trading partners, Brazil and China , and the closure of more than a dozen ministries. ,” according The guardian.