Who is Javier Milei and what are the radical proposals with which he won the primaries in Argentina

“I did not come to lead lambs, I came to wake lions.”

With this sentence, the presidential candidate of Argentina Javier Milei, representing the La Libertad Avanza party, defined his landing in politics and his surprise victory, this Sunday, in the country’s primaries.

With 30% of the vote, Milei, 52, becomes like that favorite to win the presidential election, which will take place on October 22.

The candidate, who describes himself as libertarian-oriented, outshone the two forces that have ruled for the past two decades: the macrismo (Together for Change), which won 28% of the vote, and the official Peronist-Kirchnerist coalition, Unión por la Patria , which achieved 27%.

But while the result is surprising – the polls gave him barely 20% of the vote – the truth is that Javier Milei has become a controversial political phenomenon in Argentina in recent years.

Economist and dog lover, Milei has stirred up political debates in recent years with proposals such as dollarizing the economy, privatizing state-owned public companies and closing (“dynamite,” in his own words) the Central Bank.

It has also launched ideas such as allowing the sale of arms in Argentina and the sale of organs.

Added to this is his opposition to the legalization of abortion and education on gender and identity issues in public schools.

But perhaps his direct criticism of the traditional sectors of Argentine politics, which he disparagingly refers to as the “caste,” has led him to engage with younger voters who are dissatisfied with the current state of affairs in the country.

Milei has been compared to other far-right politicians, such as former US President Donald Trump and Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro.

“We have succeeded in building this competitive alternative that will end not only Kirchnerism, but also the parasitic chorra (thief) and useless political caste that exists in this country,” he assured when the results became official made. .

But what are your proposals, which many analysts have qualified some of “radical and eccentric”?

“Blow up the Central Bank”

Argentina is currently in a critical situation due to high inflation that reached 100% per annum last year.

And in fact, the Milei phenomenon began with him, who is an economist at the University of Belgrano, who participates in television programs as an economic analyst.

In these programs he put together what is the basis of his economic proposal: first, the dollarization of the economy, imitating the model of other countries in the region, such as Ecuador.

“Ecuadorians are much better than Argentines. Ecuador’s numbers are impressive. Income increased tenfold and inflation was crushed,” Milei told the Spanish newspaper El País.

Second, the closure of the Central Bank. Milei has maintained in several interviews that the creation of this entity, which took place in 1935, was the beginning of all the country’s problems.

Third: a drastic cut in government spending. His proposals include reducing the number of presidential ministries to just eight (currently there are 18 ministries, not counting other government agencies).

“We are committed to analyzing a state reform where more efficiency and lower costs can be achieved. Overall government spending should be reduced, but not through abrupt cuts, let alone liquefaction with inflation, but by prioritizing certain expenditures,” Diana Mondino, Ucema economist and member of the government team, told Argentina’s La La Nacion. from Miley.

The candidate of La Libertad Avanza proposed reducing subsidies to companies that provide services and transferring the value of the real tariff to users.

Another proposal included in the leaflet is to remove stocks on the dollar, which is a current measure limiting the rateThe number of dollars an Argentine citizen can earn per month.

These proposals, especially the dollarization of the country and the closure of the Central Bank, have drawn strong criticism from other economic experts.

“The proposal to close the Central Bank means going back to a discussion that was settled two centuries ago”, pointed out the economist Guido Agostinelli to the newspaper Página 12.

The economist argues that the state should regulate the financial market to protect citizens’ savings and adds that there is no developed country without a central bank.

“The most recent experience where depositors’ deposits could not be guaranteed was with Domingo Felipe Cavallo’s ‘corralito’ at the head of the Economy Ministry, which is being claimed today by the entire libertarian wing,” he added.

Denial and sale of organs

But apart from his radical economic proposals, it is in the social field that his ideas have caused the most commotion.

On several occasions, especially during the presidential campaign, Milei claimed that he was in favor of Argentines being able to buy guns freely, due to the increase in insecurity cases being recorded in some parts of the country.

Perhaps the most controversial proposal was to legalize the organ sales market, an activity prohibited by national law.

“There are 7,500 people suffering, waiting for transplants, something is not working right. What I propose is to look for market mechanisms to solve this problem,” said the candidate on television channel TN.

This statement was categorically rejected by Carlos Soratti, director of the National Central Coordinating Institute for Ablation and Implantation (Incucai), which regulates organ donation in the country.

“These exotic proposals, made a century ago, are absurd today. This issue goes back a century, from the bioethical debate that developed the history of organ transplantation in the early 20th century,” he said in a statement.

In addition to these controversial statements, another point that has sparked debate in the public mind is his second on the presidential ticket: the vice presidential candidate, Victoria Villarruel.

The daughter of soldiers, Villarruel was notable for questioning the crimes committed during the military regime that ruled Argentina from 1976 to 1983.

Among them the torture and disappearance of thousands of people by the security forces.

“We must indict the terrorists who carried out attacks in the 1970s, seized power, rewrote history and guaranteed impunity”he said at a political rally.

She is leading proposals to deregulate arms sales and reform the judiciary that could bring freedom to dozens of soldiers and police officers convicted of crimes against humanity.

“We are in a situation where the minimum consensus, namely the rejection of state terrorism, is under threat,” Verónica Torrás, director of the Open Memory Institute, told Spanish newspaper La Verdad.

But these have not been the only controversial aspects of his campaign. Milei has been accused of misogynistic behavior in various political circles.

Several media outlets have reported the mistreatment suffered by female journalists when they interviewed him, and political analysts indicate that his program opposes almost all plans devoted to gender issues.

“In my government there will be no cultural Marxism and I will not ask forgiveness for having a penis. If it were up to me, I would shut down the Women’s Ministry,” Milei said in an interview.

Education and care have been merged

Within the proposals to reduce government spending, Milei has of course made it clear that cuts will be made on the most important social issues: health, education and social development.

And the proposal is direct: merge the three ministries dealing with these issues into one, which I would call “Human Capital”.

In the field of health, the creation of a so-called “universal insurance” is proposed, in which users and doctors agree on the reimbursements for medical services.

In the field of education, Milei proposes a method of “vouchers”, where attendance at schools will not be compulsory or free.

“The obligation system is not working. If you want to study, you have a voucher and you can study. The money collected by the state for this is distributed to the school children and a voucher is given to the parents so that they can choose the school they want for their children,” he said.

This was widely rejected in various circles.

“Compulsory education is not a weapon stabbed in the head of society, but an essential incentive for survival. I always worry about the violent look of the things he has,” Juntos por el Cambio representative Victoria Morales Gorleri told Telam news agency.

Adding to the criticism of the points of his proposals, the Argentine judiciary is currently investigating Milei for various crimes.

One is for allegedly selling support for candidacies for regional governments in Argentina. Businessmen and politicians have denounced the ultraliberal candidate for demanding nearly $10,000 in exchange for his party’s support for the provincial elections that run parallel to the presidential election.

Now the race to the Casa Rosada has become clear for its definition on October 22.

In addition to the results of Javier Milei’s movement, Together for Change, representing Macrismo and the moderate right, chose former Security Secretary Patricia Bullrich as its candidate.

The ruling party, Unión por la Patria, in turn chose current Economy Minister Sergio Massa as its presidential candidate.