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© Thomson Reuters 2023.Election victory of Argentina's Milei greeted globally by mix of hostility and support
By Steven Grattan BUENOS AIRES©2025 GPlusMedia Inc.
51 Comments
2020hindsights
From what I hear, the previous government was pretty bad for Argentina, so I guess voters just want something new and different.
Fighto!
Hard to believe that Argentina was once a very wealthy, first world nation. Where did it all go wrong?
I guess with inflation running at 140% the people wanted to give this economist a go. Milei has made a pledge to switch to the US dollar as Argentina's official currency as his main economic policy.
dagon
A lot of ahistorical fake news that this 'libertarian' buffoons victory was a response to 'socialism' as if that applied to the Peronists.
https://www.thoughtco.com/juan-domingo-peron-and-argentinas-nazis-2136208
But this is the same crowd who say the Nazis were national SOCIALIST and the same Democratic party in the US was the one of the Confederacy and segregation and the DPRK is a democratic republic.
wallace
Javier Milei said he wants the Falkland Islands back from the UK. It's not going to happen.
Elvis is here
Thatcher started the Falklands conflict for her own political gain
2020hindsights
Thuban
Democracy is the voice of the people, and it must always be respected
The previous president wasn't socialist, so no, they aren't.
dagon
Agreed.
As Dr. King stated, in Argentina and in the G20 nations largely we have socialism for the rich, rugged free market capitalism for workers.
bass4funk
You are just all over the place. I think at this point and time Argentina tried the socialist model for decades and it failed miserably.
He ran it using the socialist model.
Time to try something different.
Change is a good thing.
Moonraker
Another triumph for the hard of thinking. They will be the death of us all.
2020hindsights
Fighto!
Well, they have always been seen as a bit of a basket case.
I doubt that he will be able to do that, and I am dubious of what it would solve. It effectively gives him less control of the economy. Look at what happened to Greece, a decade ago, being pegged to the Euro and how that worked out.
virusrex
The comment was made as a reply to the criticism of Colombian president Gustavo Preto calling the result something "sad for Latin America". That would not be a positive spin but making fun of Preto's position.
Fighto!
The UK won the Falklands war in 74 days. Nowadays, with the state Argentina is in, they'd be bankrupt and surrender within 2 weeks.
He wouldn't be that stupid to challenge the UK again.
Moonraker
Around 1900, if you had been encouraged to bet on future success, considering current levels of development and development potential, Argentina would have been near or at the top of your choices. Yes, it has been squandered in the main.
TokyoLiving
That crazy extremist either saves Argentina or ends up sinking it...
He is a "Mini-Trump".. LOL !!!..
Alfie Noakes
Javier Milei 's mother, Alicia Luján Lucich, is the granddaughter of WW2 Croatian Fascist Dictator Ante Pavelic who escaped to Argentina in 1946, aided by the Catholic Church in Naples.
Milei is a firm supporter of Israel and its genocide of the Palestinians. The old cliche of the apple not falling far from the tree seems applicable in this case.
2020hindsights
bass4funk
The previous president wasn't socialist, so no, they aren't.
No he didn't.
bass4funk
Yes, he did, that is WHY Milei was elected.
https://pjmedia.com/catherinesalgado/2023/11/19/anti-socialist-javier-milei-wins-argentinian-presidency-n4924068
englisc aspyrgend
Juan Domingo Perón
Utter and complete ignorant boll*cks. The desperate and failing Argentine military Junta launched the invasion as a populist move to prop up their hold on power. The UK and Thatcher had no option but to react though every effort was made to get them to leave peacefully.
The Peronist’s have always espoused populist left wing/socialist policies regardless of what label is applied to them and have progressively destroyed the country’s economy, leaving the population in dire straits.
Milei purports to be a libertarian, though whether he is in the traditional John Stuart Mill sense or not or just misapplying the label and he is just another populist loose cannon will soon be seen.
TaiwanIsNotChina
If Manlo and Morales hate him, he might be everything Argentina needs.
Ah_so
John Stuart -Mill was a liberal, rather than an anarcho capitalist libertarian - there is a huge difference, even if there are elements in common.
elephant200
Argentina used to be a very wealthy country especially the two world wars of the 20th century has no devasive affect at all to the western hemisphere.
It was since 1960 after Cuba leader by Castro which became a Soviet ally especially the 70s Nixon/Kissinger's "Dirty War" putting army regime or "Junta" taking power in Latin America, things became worst. Those Junta regimes doesn't know how to run a country and causing decades of stagnation and most of the Spanish speaking Latin America were bankrupted or a few were doing drug trafficking business. If Argentina under this guy leadership choose not to work with the Chinese BRI, China has nothing to lose, we just go forward with the Portuguese Brazil with our business and the people of Argentina can continue singing their famous song in new lyrics : Don't cry for me.....China, we deserve all this hardships, cause we are so naive!
John
This man is a sociopath and this is going to be an absolute feces-fest.
bass4funk
Well, the Argentinian people don’t have any left to take from others. That free for all well has dried up, No more government handouts, so they all have to work or that country becomes another failed socialist experiment state.
u_s__reamer
Javier Milei 's mother, Alicia Luján Lucich, is the granddaughter of WW2 Croatian Fascist Dictator Ante Pavelic who escaped to Argentina in 1946, aided by the Catholic Church in Naples.
Milei is a firm supporter of Israel and its genocide of the Palestinians. The old cliche of the apple not falling far from the tree seems applicable in this case.
Milei's a poison apple that's going to give Argentina's "Deplorables" severe stomach pains to make them cry unless a remedy is found quickly before Milei's threatened chain-saw massacres do more damage to the economic mess he has taken upon himself to "fix".
proxy
Good luck to Milei. Socialism has failed Argentina, just like everywhere else. (except the elite)
Milei is much more than a "television pundit." I believe he holds 2 masters degrees; micro and macro economics and has a long resume of high level economic positions.
The downtown lefties in North America seem upset that another "model socialist" society has smartened up.
Dr Maybe
@John
This man is a sociopath and this is going to be an absolute feces-fest.
You are 100% correct, I'm afraid.
Well, they have always been seen as a bit of a basket case.
Not quite. Info like the below is at your fingertips, anytime.
"Argentina began the 20th century as one of the wealthiest places on the planet. In 1913, it was richer than France or Germany, almost twice as prosperous as Spain, and its per capita GDP was almost as high as that of Canada."
It's true that the outgoing government made some mistakes. A desire for change is understandable. But changing from pretty bad to disastrous is not a change worth making. Better to trust that decent people will improve their game, given time.
Milei is openly, unashamedly a fan of the military junta that ruled from 1976-83, killing thousands of its own citizens. Here's a taste of what he stands for, as described by a respected Argentinian author (By the way, note how words like "socialist" are trotted out by right wing nutters to describe pro-gay marriage/abortion views. So many people appear to have no clue what words like socialism or fascism actually mean. Take Thuban or Bass, for example):
Milei is often described as an outsider – but his revolutionary persona has been carefully crafted by one of the country’s richest men. Argentinian billionaire Eduardo Eurnekian plugged the wild-haired economist relentlessly on his A24 media network as an antidote to those he views as the dominant “political caste”. Milei has accused the Peronist establishment of being “socialist” because they had legalised gay marriage and abortion, put on trial and sentenced the perpetrators of Argentina’s genocidal 1976-83 dictatorship and threatened to impose new taxes on wealth.
Milei has pledged to review all these achievements, and has even proposed a referendum on the legality of abortion. His party is already working on slashing taxes as soon as it takes office next month, and he has signalled he may exonerate Argentina’s imprisoned dictatorship officers. During a presidential debate, he said that the military were guilty only of “excesses”.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/nov/21/argentina-new-leader-extreme-abortion-gay-rights-javier-milei
Dr Maybe
Socialism has failed Argentina, just like everywhere else. (except the elite)
Note to the mentally challenged. Socialism is (was...it hardly exists anymore) aimed reducing the extremes of economic inequality in society. The only ones who have anything to fear from it ARE the elite.
Dr Maybe
He sure is triggering the left.
He triggers people who don't believe that murdering ones citizens is an acceptable response to those with opinions that differ from those of the ruler.
Blacklabel
I didn’t see that campaign promise. Link?
2020hindsights
That's got no chance of winning. If you give people rights over their own bodies, don't expect them to vote for you to remove them.
2020hindsights
Dr Maybe
Well, they have always been seen as a bit of a basket case.
OK, they weren't a basket case 110 years ago. I meant since around WW2.
Dr Maybe
I didn’t see that campaign promise. Link?
Strangely enough, I don't believe he came out and said I promise to "disappear" anyone I choose to. BUT...
During the campaign, Milei attacked some of the basic consensuses built after the end of the military dictatorship (1976-1983). The ultra-rightist and his future vice-president, Victoria Villarruel, question many of the agreements reached during the democratic transition and believe that in Argentina there is a “fraud” surrounding human rights. Both deny state terrorism during the dictatorship, which has been recognized by the justice system, and instead maintain that the systematic plan promoted by the military juntas was “a war” in which “excesses” were committed. Milei’s running mate also promotes what she calls “complete memory” and recently proposed dismantling the Museum and Site of Memory at the former ESMA naval academy, where the dictatorship’s largest detention and extermination center operated and which was declared a World Heritage Site in September.
https://english.elpais.com/international/2023-11-20/javier-mileis-proposals-for-argentina-economy-security-foreign-policy-and-human-rights.html#?rel=lom
When you plan to whitewash history, play down the brutality of a loathed dictatorship etc., you can see which way the wind is blowing. You choose not to notice, obviously.
Blacklabel
All those words and more words and I see nothing about murdering his own citizens who disagree with him?
Dr Maybe
All those words and more words and I see nothing about murdering his own citizens who disagree with him?
This is the court of public opinion, not a court of law. You like to act as if it is, and pretend that that proves everything is okay. As I said, no one promises in advance to murder their own citizens.
No impartial observer could sit back and watch him trivialize the violence of past dictators, in fact praise them as "defenders of democracy" etc., and pretend that there's nothing to be concerned about.
dagon
That would be the rightist, Nazi loving governments in Argentina and Chile that the USA supported.
You really have no knowledge of even recentl history, and that is part of the problem.
UChosePoorly
He knows about helicopter rides. Trust me on this.
Bad Haircut
Typical of the dross served up here as "news," this biased diatribe refers to Milei simply as "The former television pundit," an obvious but feeble attempt to draw comparisons with the former The Apprentice guy, whatsisname, er, Donald Trump.
What they conveniently omit is that he's been an economics professor for the last couple of decades, specifically in the field of Austrian economics. No wonder the leftists and other collectivists are spewing so much invective at him. So he knows a thing or two about economics and how it actually works, and can easily pick holes in the science of wishful thinking dominates leftist "economics". Granted that no economic model is perfect, but at least voluntarist Mises/Rothbardian economists understand this and aren't hellbent on shaping economies to their will. They prefer letting individuals decide what is in their own best interests to the extent that doing so doesn't intentionally cause physical or economic harm to others. It's a balancing act and there are no absolutes of course, and involves people making their own decisions instead of letting governments and allied authorities do their thinking for them. Is that why it frightens the collectivists so much?
Dr Maybe
the science of wishful thinking dominates leftist "economics".
Oh, that lovely Liz Truss must have been a leftie then. Silly me. If you need an example of wishful thinking, her economic "plan" was a beauty. Nearly ruined the UK overnight. Have a sneaking suspicion she might be a Milei fan too.
letting individuals decide what is in their own best interests to the extent that doing so doesn't intentionally cause physical or economic harm to others.
Ha ha...laugh or you'll cry!
"The richest 1% of the global population are responsible for the same amount of carbon emissions as the world's poorest two-thirds, or five billion people, according to an analysis published on Sunday, November 19, by the nonprofit Oxfam International."
Private jets, yachts, and on & on... Yeah, they're deciding what's in their best interests all right. Too bad they're telling the rest of us at the same time we can all go .... ourselves.
One of Milei's policies is to end public education. With an uneducated population, you can do what you want. There won't be too much thinking going on any more. THAT'S the goal.
Desert Tortoise
They were never fully in the first world. They are a conundrum. At the turn of the 20th Century many thought they would become the USA of South America. The same European nationalities that were immigrating in vast numbers to the US were also immigrating to Argentina; Germans, Italians, Greeks, even some British down south. They are endowed with abundant fertile land and natural resources like the US has. It seemed as if they should develop similarly but they did not. They never quite got there, always in the second tier of nations.
From what I can see it seems to be the Spanish colonial heritage, their institutions and traditions including a tolerance for military juntas and corruption along with the rigid conservatism of the Catholic Church, a church that allies itself with the state in mutual corruption.
Desert Tortoise
The problem for Argentine attempting to replace their Peso with the US Dollar is their lack of Dollar reserves. Argentina would need literally hundreds of billions of US Dollars to exchange for the pesos Argentine's now hold. Argentina is, if anything, in the hole for foreign exchange. They would need a massive loan of Dollars to pull it off and that is a pipe dream.
A further problem is that without a central bank there is no lender of last resort for banks falling into bankruptcy, and their Treasury would have to have a substantial reserve of US Dollars to back the deposits of depositors in any banks that fail. It was bank failures that ended Argentina's last experiment with Dollarization. They are in no better position to make it work today.
Bad Haircut
Dr Maybe,
Do explain her plan in an objective way, not just a diatribe.
You're basing your "argument" on the dubious premise that anthropogenic CO2 emissions is a significant problem. I agree with you that those people are blatant hypocrites, as clearly they don't believe what they're telling you to do. That includes UN bureaucrats and the like. So why bother listening to them? Who's forcing you to comply with their pronouncements?
I think I've seen Milei say something to that effect. I'm not dead-set against public education, as long as it's objective and free of ideological conditioning one way or the other. As a taxpayer I would want kids to learn how to think critically even if they can't afford a private education, and not be inundated with the political ideology of the teacher or government of the day.
Dr Maybe
Do explain her plan in an objective way, not just a diatribe.
Check it out yourself, if you weren't following the news at the time. Am I your mother?
You're basing your "argument" on the dubious premise that anthropogenic CO2 emissions is a significant problem.
The word "dubious" betrays you. God help us all.
dagon
By any logical, objective evidence based metric things like "faith-based" education, trickle down economics fail the test of critical thinking.
But that is what they are peddling in Argentina, not that different for the good ole US of A as it were.
Cards fan
Google.com
2020hindsights
Bad Haircut
Anthropogenic CO2 emissions are because they lead to climate change, which is a significant problem. There is nothing dubious about it. In fact, probably the biggest problem that our youth will face in the future.
Dr Maybe
I doubt it. She's intelligent.
It's not a genetic trait then, apparently.
Bad Haircut
If the problem is so serious, why do so many AGW pushers spend so much time jetting about the world lecturing the plebs, telling us what we have to sacrifice (while they consider themselves above the law), and holding expensive confabs when they could be doing just about all of it online or stay local, thereby saving the world from all that CO2? You lot can never give a clear, logical answer for it. Because you don't have one. Milei is being far more honest about it than 99% of the world's politicians and the like.
2020hindsights
Bad Haircut
Anthropogenic CO2 emissions are because they lead to climate change, which is a significant problem. There is nothing dubious about it. In fact, probably the biggest problem that our youth will face in the future.
I'm an AGW "pusher" and I don't spend any time jetting about the world lecturing the plebs. But that argument is irrelevant. The facts are that real climate change is happening because of anthropogenic CO2 emissions and and how people react to it is irrelevant as to that truth.
He's just not.
2020hindsights
bass4funk
Try agian; but too bad for Argentinians that have to go through this again.
Except that they aren't. Argentina isn't socialist.
dagon
Argentina's libertarian experiment will most likely go as well as Chile's.
https://truthout.org/articles/the-failed-libertarian-experiment-in-chile/
Sad that these corporate backed scams keep getting put forward.