While America gears up for the 2024 presidential elections, below the equator, in the country of Argentina, elections are well under way – with a second round of voting set to begin November 19 after no candidate won the necessary percentage to be declared president in the first round.
While the main political forces in American politics are political parties, in Argentina they are political coalitions, frequently shifting alliances of parties working at both the regional and national level. The two main coalitions in Argentina consist of the center-left, current ruling coalition, Unión por la Patria and the center-right, main opposition party, Juntos por el Cambio. The current Minister of Economy, Sergio Massa represented Unión por la Patria in the election in October, while Patricia Bullrich represented Juntos por el Cambio. But a fringe character, a candidate named Javier Milei has shaken up the political scene. “It’s very unusual,” commented Profe Mariela, an English professor at the Universidad Adventista del Plata, “We are voting in an election with one guy who doesn’t have a real, substantive [coalition] supporting him.” Milei doesn’t come from any mainstream coalition, instead he established his own right-wing libertarian coalition La Libertad Avanza in 2021 to run for Congress, his first foray into politics. His coalition is very small, with only Milei and one other person in his coalition having seats in congress. La Libertad Avanza also doesn’t have any senators and has no candidates expected to win any other elections this year. Milei’s meteoric rise in politics has shocked many, as Profe Mariela explains, “No one thought a year ago that he’d have a real possibility of becoming president.” While Milei didn’t win outright in the first round, he still impressively managed to knock out one of his main competitors, Bullrich, of the center-right coalition, leaving just him and Massa to battle it out.
Milei has frequently been compared to former president Donald Trump and former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro. He’s a big personality with right wing politics and a wild hairstyle he attributes to never brushing his hair. Before his political debut in 2021 he worked teaching economics and writing several books, such as “The Path of the Libertarian.” He detests big government so much that his campaign has adopted the symbol of a chainsaw, representing his promise to drastically cut government expenses. If elected, he plans to abolish 10 of the current 18 federal ministries, including the Health, Education and Social Development – privatizing Argentina’s current public education and health care. His most strange idea might be to legalize the buying and selling of organs, treating organ exchange “just like any other market.” Milei also denies the existence of climate change, even while Argentina currently lives in its third year of drought which experts expect to only worsen as global temperatures rise, and opposes abortion, which was legalized in Argentina in 2020. Additionally, Milei would like to dramatically reorganize Argentina’s economy by eliminating its central bank and using American dollars rather than the Argentine peso.
Milei's eccentric personality and beliefs tend to drown out news of his main opponent, current Minister of Economy, Sergio Massa. Even though he won more votes in the last round of election, there’s not much excitement surrounding him. He’s spent his entire adult life in politics, and has been called a “pure Peronist,” which is an Argentine political movement based on the ideas of former president Juan Perón. Peronism essentially seeks to be a third position between socialism and capitalism, and seeks to ease tension between classes in society and help with the cooperation between public and private spheres. In 2020 he helped pass laws that legalized abortion and has previously acknowledged the existence of climate change.
But Massa’s current position as Minister of Economy reflects poorly on him as Argentina struggles with triple digit inflation and nearly 40% poverty rates. Profe Mariela explains the common perception of Massa, “He keeps saying ‘if I am your president, I’m going to fix all these financial problems.’ But he is the current [Minister of Economy]! So how is he going to fix them when he can’t fix them now?” As dissatisfaction with the current government and economic situation has grown, so has the attractiveness of Milei’s outsider position. “We [Argentinains] don’t know Milei well or if he can do the things he’s promising,” explains Profe Mariela, “but we know Massa and we know the things he can or can not do… It’s like voting for the lesser of two evils.” Who the Argentinians will decide are the lesser of two evils is still uncertain but right now the odds are looking good for Milei. Many speculate that Bullrich’s more right wing voters will cast their ballot for Milei, especially since her formal endorsement of him. While most polling in recent years, including the most recent election, have been wildly off, a Brazilian firm that correctly predicted the outcome of the most recent election has conducted polls showing Milei in a narrow lead ahead of Massa.
The Student Movement is the official student newspaper of Andrews University. Opinions expressed in the Student Movement are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors, Andrews University or the Seventh-day Adventist church.