Frederick Finchelstein *

In the presidential elections in Argentina, there is a conflict between classic populism and the new far-right populism, whose most famous icons are former presidents Donald Trump and Jair Bolsonaro. The question is whether Argentinians (or at least most of them), often criticized for not looking beyond their own problems and virtues, can learn from the global lessons of the new populism and the misery and hatred it breeds. Victory for Milei represents hope for the enemies of democracy.

Like many representatives of the new far-right populism, Milej is characterized by his vulgarity, his intolerance and his attacks on the press, and on the values ​​and rights of democracy. It represents a veritable cult of a leader who denies science, consults with a dead dog and revolves around his narcissism and emotional instability. It should be understood that Milei is not a liberal, center-right or libertarian as he wants to present himself, but a far-right populist with a fascist vocation.

Although he is a frivolous character in many respects, he cannot be underestimated, because he represents an extremely anti-democratic ideology. And like Trump and Bolsonaro (or Víktor Orbán in Hungary, Vox in Spain or Giorgio Meloni in Italy), politicians like him are against pluralism in democracy. To a greater or lesser extent, these are messianic leaders, violent and unstable individuals who promise magical solutions and symbolic or practical violence.

Milei is a demagogue who uses props like a hammer to show fantasies about a State without a State, a State without institutions. He promises violence against state institutions, and perhaps against those he does not like. Mile’s campaign symbol is a chainsaw, and in 2020 she announced her entry into politics, promising violence against her enemies: “I will enter the system to wipe them out.”

Fascism is formulated on the basis of the modern idea of ​​popular sovereignty, but in which political representation is eliminated, and power is fully delegated to a dictator, who acts in the name of the people. The new populists, enlightened by their fascination with themselves, understand power as delegation, and even return to violence, lies and hatred more typical of fascism than classical populism.

In a country where populism first came to power in 1946 with General Juan Domingo Perón, Sergio Massa, the Peronist candidate and current economy minister in a crisis and failed government, presents himself as a moderate option. The cordon sanitaire candidate against the anti-democracy of the mini-Trump Milei. Massa must convince many anti-Peronists and anti-Kirchnerists that voting for him does not mean supporting him or his party, but voting against an anti-democratic option that would threaten the country’s institutions. At the same time, he has to convince the Peronists and the Kirchnerists that he also represents them. And maybe convince many potential anti-Peronist voters in Milei not to vote for the extremists and vote blank.

The challenge for Massa is to convince the Argentinians who did not vote for him in the first round that he represents the lesser evil, since the medicine that Milei personifies is worse than the disease. It’s not a lot, but it’s not a little either. As the great Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges said in a poem, “it was not love that united us, but fear.”

The question arises, what will those who did not vote for Massa or Milei in the first round? Will they vote to punish the classic populist government whose flaws and problems are evident or to defend democracy and its institutions? On a rational level: no one who believes in the value of democracy should vote for an undemocratic candidate today, but unfortunately this election is not so much about reason as it is about Milea’s lies, propaganda and demagoguery.

In Argentina, Miley is often spoken of as having rational logic. It is wrong to think that such an extreme and unstable populist who makes hatred the center of his “program” can switch to moderation in the second round, as he did when he declared that there would be room for the left in his government. This call responds to their desperation to attract votes no matter what.

On the right, Milei aligned himself with former president Mauricio Macri and his failed running mate Patricia Bullrich, whom he has called fascists in the past. And as if that wasn’t enough, he recently called his new ally a murderer and a terrorist. His alliance with the unionists of the old regime and his praise of those who stood for the old system yesterday confirm that Milei will say anything at this point to garner votes.

The biggest supporters of Milea are those under the age of thirty. Many of them emphasized the need for a change of generations and called the center-right voters “old men”. But now they need your votes. In fact, some have already announced that they will support him in the second round before their own party was defeated. Among them, former President Macri represents the center-right sector that wants to impersonate Von Papen, i.e. the conservatives who supported fascist extremism in the Weimar Republic.

Let us remind you that Milei is a macho-populist and anti-scientific candidate who believes that he is a “professor” of tantric sex and who has assured that he cannot “not ejaculate for three months”, who considers it necessary to enable the free sale of organs and deregulate the sale of weapons, or who assures that climate change is a communist invention. Milei is still the same as always and will not stop being that way. His change is breaking with the familiar and approaching the abyss. Something unknown locally, but already experienced by Brazil and the United States: to paraphrase Max Weber, the politics of irresponsibility.

Will Argentina remain in the hands of people incapable of governance? Those who see an unstable and vulgar personality behind the shouts will vote against the mini-Trump candidate Milei, the rest will abstain. But unfortunately there are many who accept the anti-political message without seeing what is behind it: the risk for our democracy. (OR)

* Federico Finchelstein is professor of history at the New School for Social Research (New York). He was a professor at Brown University. Doctor from Cornell University Author of several books on fascism, populism, dictatorships and the Holocaust. His latest book is “A Brief History of Fascist Lies” (2020).