By Silvio Canto, Jr.
As you may know, people in Argentina get very passionate over “futbol” and love dancing the tango whenever they get a chance. Over the weekend, voters in Argentina took a little time off from Messi and tango to shake up the political world with a candidate referred to as “Trumplike” or “right wing.’
This is the story:
Far-right populist Javier Milei rocked Argentina’s political establishment Sunday by emerging as the biggest vote-getter in primary elections to choose presidential candidates for the October general election in a nation battered by economic woes.
Milei, an admirer of former U.S. President Donald Trump, says Argentina’s Central Bank should be abolished, thinks climate change is a lie, characterizes sex education as a ploy to destroy the family, believes the sale of human organs should be legal and wants to make it easier to own handguns.
Votes were still being counted late Sunday, but analysts agreed that the upstart candidate who gained notoriety — and a rockstar-like following — by angrily ranting against the “political caste” did much better than expected and is a real contender for the presidency in this South American country.
Well, pass the red wine and let’s tango the rest of the day.
What happens next? Milei is still a long shot but his ability to win so much of the country is significant. He is a populist and the closest thing to a rejection of the Peron approach that destroyed what was one a very prosperous nation. Where have you heard that before? Venezuela? Cuba?
He called for “an end to the parasitic, corrupt and useless political caste that exists in this country.” What a line!
I am not sure about the political caste that he is referring to but he is touching lots of Argentine nerves referring to the bureaucracy as “parasitic” and “corrupt.”
My guess is that the Argentina version of the deep state, and it is big and deep, will declare war on this man. He is a long shot but his showing confirms that there is massive disenchantment with the political class and the ruthless bureaucracy weighing on hard working people.