Amid applause and cheers, the elected president of Argentina, Javier Milei, came out on stage after ten at night, where his sister Karina was waiting for him. “Good evening to all good Argentines,” he began, “today the reconstruction of Argentina begins.” It will not be an easy job, warned the leader of La Libertad Avanza, but it will require drastic and urgent changes.
“Ar-gen-tina, Ar-gen-tina,” those present in the electoral bunker, located in a central hotel in Buenos Aires, interrupted his speech. The far-right has swept away his rival, the Peronist Sergio Massa, with 56% of the votes.
“Today is a historic night for Argentina. Thanks to those who have been working for two years to achieve the miracle of having a liberal-libertarian president,” said this economist who in 2021 jumped into politics from the television sets where he had become popular for his furious attacks on the Government and the Bank. Central. He understood like no one else the exhaustion of Argentines with suffering the umpteenth economic crisis and his radical proposals to get out of it have catapulted him this Sunday to the Presidency of Argentina.
Milei stressed that under his government Argentina will strictly comply with the commitments it has made, respect private property and free trade. “The model of decadence has come to an end, there is no turning back,” she said in reference to Kirchnerism, which has governed 16 of the last 20 years. The president-elect accused his predecessors of having made Argentina go from being one of the richest countries in the world to today occupying position 130, with 40% of its population mired in poverty.
“Let them all leave, let not a single one remain,” the public harangued him.
Milei thanked the collaboration of former president Mauricio Macri and his candidate for Together for Change, Patricia Bullrich, for the explicit support given to his candidacy and the help provided to supervise the tables. It remains to be seen what collaboration they will establish when they form a Government, since La Libertad Avanza will have a minority in the two parliamentary chambers and will need alliances to carry out the laws with which it wants to change the country.
To achieve this, Milei extended his hand “to all those who want to join the new Argentina” and issued a harsh warning to those who offer resistance: “Within the law everything, outside the law nothing. In this new Argentina there is no place for the violent. “We are going to be ruthless with those who want to use force to maintain their privileges.”
The far-right leader made it clear that the changes will begin as soon as he takes office, on December 10. “The situation in Argentina is critical. The changes that our country needs are drastic, there is no room for gradualism, there is no room for lukewarmness, there is no room for half measures.” Milei warned that if Argentina does not implement immediate measures, it is heading towards the worst crisis in its history.
The president-elect said goodbye with the phrase that he has repeated over and over again throughout his entire campaign. “Long live freedom, damn it.” From the stage inside the bunker, the economist went to celebrate and greet the thousands of sympathizers who were waiting for him, euphoric, in the street.
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