Milei: From “crazy” to presidential candidate

At school he was nicknamed “El Loco”, the madman.

Now the ultra-liberal Javier Milei is one of two who could become Argentina’s next president.

– We want to be the moral beacon on our continent, he says in an interview with former Fox profile Tucker Carlson.

The dream of becoming a star is clear. As a young man, Javier Milei studied economics, was a goalkeeper in the Argentine soccer team Chacarita Juniors and a singer in a Rolling Stones cover band.

He received the nickname “El Loco” already in primary school, according to a biography by the author Juan Luis Gonzáles.

Javier Milei became nationally famous when he began appearing as an economic commentator on television, arguing with other guests about the right path for crisis-stricken Argentina. Milei describes himself as “anarcho-capitalist”, libertarian and opponent of what he calls “La Casta”, the political establishment.

In 2021 he was elected to the Argentine Congress with his newly formed party La libertad avanza. Soon the party started its own lottery – where the prize was Javier Milei’s congressional salary.

– The idea is that the money taken by force from the people should be returned to the people, Milei said in a television interview with Argentine Crónica, about the lottery.

Paying tribute to Trump

When the news came that he would stand in this year’s presidential election, few thought he would make it very far. That’s why the result of the Argentine primary election in August came as a shock: Javier Milei received over 30 percent of the vote, a higher support than any other candidate.

The perception of Ahan’s chances changed dramatically and he also began to receive international attention. In September, he was interviewed by American former Fox News profiler Tucker Carlson on X, formerly Twitter.

There, Milei thanked former US President Donald Trump for being “one of the few” who understood the importance of fighting socialism. And he accused Pope Francis, who is from Argentina, of collusion with “communist murderers”.

Legal organ sales?

Milei is best known, however, for his controversial election promises: He advocates the legal sale of human organs, an abolished central bank and the introduction of the US dollar as a new currency. At campaign meetings, he has often held up a chainsaw to symbolize the sharp reduction in government spending.

He also thinks that abortion, legal in Argentina since 2021, should be banned again and claims that global warming is a lie.

Regarding the last military dictatorship in Argentina, which lasted from 1976 to 1983, Milei has said that human rights organizations’ reports that the junta murdered 30,000 people are not true. Instead, it is about 8,000, he claims.

Milei’s party comrades within La Libertad avanza have joined the chorus. His vice candidate Victoria Villarruel is accused of being a dictatorship hugger, after several controversial statements. Ramiro Marra, who was the party’s mayoral candidate in the capital Buenos Aires but lost in the first round, has said that sex education in schools should be abolished. Instead, he urges teenagers to watch porn.

Meet Sergio Massa

However, the first round of elections on October 22 did not go as well for Javier Milei as the opinion polls suggested: He came second with just under 30 percent of the vote. Even so, he met supporters at the vigil with a big smile on his face. At his side he had Eduardo Bolsonaro, the son of Brazil’s ex-president Jair Bolsonaro, and representatives from the Spanish far-right party Vox.

He still went ahead. In the second round on November 19, he is pitted against the Peronist and centrist candidate Sergio Massa, current economy minister, who received just under 37 percent of the vote in the first round. Patricia Bullrich, candidate for the right-wing party Juntos por el cambio, came third and thus ended up outside.

Who Junto por el cambios supporters, roughly 23 percent of the population, choose to vote for on November 19 remains to be seen.

But since the first round of elections, Bullrich and also party colleague Mauricio Macri, former president of Argentina, have announced that they support Javier Milei.

– It is the only way for Argentina today, believes Mauricio Macri.

FACT Argentina

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