Argentina

Where everything is possible and nothing is easy.

1. Populist firebrand Javier Milei rocked Argentina’s political establishment yesterday 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. Mr. 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. With around 92% of polling locations reporting, Milei had around 30% of the total vote, according to official results. The candidates in the main opposition coalition, United for Change, were at 28% and the current governing coalition, Union for the Homeland, had 27%. (Source: apnews.com)

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2. Bloomberg:

The result is a clear rejection to Argentina’s political establishment after years of economic hardship and runaway inflation. Argentine assets are likely to sell off on Monday as investors fear that Milei’s proposals, including the dollarization of the economy, would trigger financial mayhem. Market volatility is also set to grow as the primary shows the Oct. 22 election will be an unpredictable three-way race between the three coalitions.

“The anti-establishment sentiment finally arrived to Argentina. After 20 years of economic crisis, that’s not surprising,” said Daniel Kerner, Latin America director at Eurasia Group. “This is the worst result for markets.”

Milei, who received the endorsement of Brazil’s former President Jair Bolsonaro before the vote, also stands to shake regional politics. An eventual win by the libertarian candidate would clash with the leftist leaders currently governing Brazil, Mexico, Colombia and Chile.

“Politicians are not the solution, they’re the problem,” Milei said in fiery speech after preliminary results of the vote were published. (Source: bloomberg.com)