Argentina is approaching an unprecedented political situation with unpredictable consequences. One month before the presidential elections on October 22, the far-right Javier Milei has established himself as a favorite in all the polls, although he should attend the second round if he wants to occupy the Casa Rosada.
Polls conducted in the last month give this eccentric 52-year-old ultra-liberal economist a range of between 28% and 34%, above the almost 30% he achieved in the mandatory primaries for all parties on August 13.
Milei, who defines himself as an anarcho-capitalist, wants to end the “political caste” and dismantle the State, reducing education, health or social welfare budgets to a minimum and dollarizing the economy, even closing the Central Bank. This is not a problem for her to receive support among the lower classes and among many young people, convincing them with an aggressive anti-political speech and a dark, rock aesthetic.
With inflation of 124% - the fourth highest in the world after Venezuela, Lebanon and Zimbabwe - the economic situation is explosive and is demonstrated on the street, where pickets and protests are almost daily in Buenos Aires. Many Argentines see in Milei's populism the solution to the endemic problems of a country that Peronism of all colors never solved, nor the failed liberal experience of Mauricio Macri (2015-2019), which ended up putting Argentina in major debt with the IMF.
The victory of Milei, at the head of the La Libertad Avanza party, can open the thunderclap not only because of the impact on the middle class of the foreseeable application of ultraliberal recipes, but also because he openly declares himself against social rights in which Argentina It has been a precursor in Latin America, like abortion.
And furthermore, the far-right has reopened another melon that was completely closed in Argentina, which is the repudiation of human rights violations during the dictatorship. Milei has chosen Victoria Villarruel as a candidate for vice president, a 48-year-old ultra-Catholic lawyer who has been justifying the dictatorship (1976-1983) for some time and asking that the actions of guerrilla groups be prosecuted judicially as is done with those of the military.
Without mincing words like Milei, Villarruel calls the children and grandchildren of the thousands of disappeared during the dictatorship “relatives of terrorists” and recently attacked the emblematic Estela de Carlotto, president of the Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo. “Carlotto has been a rather sinister character for our country, because with that good granny appearance, the reality is that he has justified terrorism,” said Villarruel, who, on the other hand, promises to increase the budget of the Armed Forces despite the fact that Milei proposes slimming the State.
Villarruel is the daughter and granddaughter of soldiers and, like Milei, was elected deputy in the 2021 legislative elections, when it began to be confirmed that La Libertad Avanza was not a mirage.
The cocktail could be even more explosive if the Peronist candidate, Economy Minister Sergio Massa, does not advance to the second round, which could anticipate a chaotic scenario in the streets. According to the polls, Massa is fighting for second place with the liberal candidate of Macrismo, Patricia Bullrich, a former Montonero guerrilla who now defends antithetical positions. The polls give Massa and Bullrich a range of between 20% and 30%.
