Javier Gerardo Milei, Chief Economist, Corporacion America, Argentina at the World Economic Forum on Latin America in Panama City 2014. Copyright by World Economic Forum / Benedikt von Loebell. License.
In a rejection of decades of socialism that have driven the country into the ground, Argentina has elected libertarian candidate Javier Milei as its next president. The Wall Street Journal reports:
Javier Milei, a libertarian political outsider who pledged to flatten Argentina’s political establishment, won the presidency Sunday by an overwhelming margin in a major shift for a country buffeted by one of the world’s highest rates of inflation and mounting poverty after years of populist rule.
Milei, a 53-year-old congressman, took nearly 56% of the vote to 44% for Economy Minister Sergio Massa with 98% of the ballots counted in the runoff election, the National Electoral Directorate said.
“Today, the reconstruction of Argentina begins,” Milei said to an ovation as he celebrated victory with supporters. “It’s the end of Argentine decadence,” he added, calling the results Sunday “the miracle of electing a liberal, libertarian president.”
Massa conceded the loss in a speech shortly after 8 p.m. The 51-year-old had been hobbled by his role steering economic policy for 16 months in President Alberto Fernández’s leftist administration, which was blamed by Argentines for what economists called the worst crisis in a generation.
Massa said he had called Milei to concede and congratulate him on the victory. “Starting tomorrow, the challenge of issuing political, social and economic guarantees to Argentina is the responsibility of the new president-elect, and we hope that’s what he’ll do,” Massa said in a speech as he announced his retirement from politics. He assured a smooth transition to the new government.
The victory of the firebrand economist over the ruling Peronist movement opens the door to a broadscale economic overhaul that he has promised for this country of 46 million people. Milei’s proposals include adopting the U.S. dollar as the national currency, scrapping the central bank, prioritizing commerce with capitalist nations like the U.S. over China, and reducing a bloated state sector.
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