Argentina’s political history is tortured, marked by incompetence and corruption and with a lingering yearning for Juan Peron’s brand of leftism. But maybe the times are changing: Reuters reports that libertarians have taken a surprising lead in Argentina’s primary elections:
Argentine voters punished the country’s two main political forces in a primary election on Sunday, pushing a rock-singing libertarian outsider candidate into first place in a huge shake-up in the race towards presidential elections in October.
With some 90% of ballots counted, far-right libertarian economist…
That is Reuters’ perspective: a libertarian economist is “far-right,” while Peronista fascists are perfectly normal.
…Javier Milei had 30.5% of the vote, far higher than predicted, with the main conservative opposition bloc behind on 28% and the ruling Peronist coalition in third place on 27%.
The good news, I infer, is that the “ruling Peronist coalition” is on its way out.
The result is a stinging rebuke to the center-left Peronist coalition…
As noted above, the heirs to Argentina’s fascist tradition are “center-left.”
…and the main Together for Change conservative opposition bloc with inflation at 116% and a cost-of-living crisis leaving four in 10 people in poverty.
Argentina is no stranger to inflation, to put it mildly. But maybe 116% inflation, which has led to a 40% poverty rate, is enough to cause the current generation to look for a new leader. Like, for instance, an economist.
Argentina’s political course is, in some respects, reminiscent of ours:
The unpredictable factor had been Milei, whose loud rock-style rallies are reminiscent of ex-U.S. President Donald Trump, but he far outperformed all forecasts.
Loud, rock-style rallies on behalf of a libertarian economist. That is something we could get behind!
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