Argentina, president Javier Milei: who is the anarcho-capitalist with the chainsaw

Javier Milei is the new president of Argentina. The far-right and ultra-liberal candidate defeated Economy Minister Sergio Massa in the second round. With 99.4% of the votes counted, Milei obtained 55.7% of the preferences against 44.2% for the representative of the center-left coalition. This is the largest margin of victory in a presidential race since the South American country returned to democracy in 1983. Massa admitted defeat even before the official results were released, congratulating the winner. Milei will replace Alberto Fernandez, the outgoing center-left president.

Libertarian outsider Javier Milei sensationally won the presidential elections in Argentina. Now, in the South American country suffocated by a paralyzing economic crisis, a new era is opening, at a time of total uncertainty. The self-described “anarcho-capitalist” thrilled Argentines, fed up with decades of economic stagnation under the long-running populist Peronist coalition. Milei, a 53-year-old economist with unkempt hair and bushy sideburns, has drawn comparisons to former US President Donald Trump and Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro for his “abrasive” style and controversial comments. His strong point was his plan to abandon the burden of the crisis for the US dollar and to “energize” the Central Bank to eliminate the “cancer of inflation”.

Milei is anti-abortion, pro-guns, promised to cut ties with Argentina’s main trading partners, China and Brazil, insulted Pope Francis, questioned the death toll of the brutal Argentine dictatorship and supports that humans are not behind of climate change. He had softened his rhetoric before the runoff to appeal to more moderate voters, but at the start of the campaign he took to the stage brandishing a chainsaw to symbolize the drastic cuts he plans to make in a bloated state.