“Speak softly and carry a big stick.” That was US President Theodore Roosevelt’s adage to stake out Washington’s turf in the Americas. More than a century on, it’s being evoked by some after an upset win in Argentina’s midterm elections by a close ally of the current occupant of the White House. Only Donald Trump didn’t speak softly. He bluntly warned that rejection of the party of far-right libertarian Javier Milei would imperil Washington’s $20 billion lifeline for a peso that’s teetering.
from www.france24.com
Argentina Elections
The party of Argentinian President Javier Milei won an overwhelming victory in the nation’s legislature over the weekend, despite recent financial and political turmoil that has led to an offer of a bailout from the Trump Administration.
The October 26 victory was a litmus test for the policies of the Argentinian president, who is focused on curbing fiscally crippling inflation and instituting deep austerity measures to restore the flailing economy of the South American nation.
“Today we passed a turning point,” Milei told supporters. “Today begins the building of a great Argentina.”
“We want to be a country that grows,” continued Milei, adding that with his party’s victory he will “make Argentina great again.”
President Donald Trump openly used the full power of the United States to help self-described anarcho-capitalist Javier Milei win a surprising mid-term election that might well have saved Milei’s administration. Trump promised an essential bail-out of a Milei-led cryptocurrency bust, along with continued economic support of Argentina, but only if Milei won. Milei was allegedly behind the polls at the time.
Milei’s party managed to beat their leftist rivals in voting 40% to 31%. While his party is still not in majorities in either chamber, the House and Senate, Milei is now vote-of-confidence proof, and his veto now has staying power since the left no longer has enough votes to override it. This means Milei’s agenda might still struggle to get fully implemented, but the left’s legislative counter is now effectively dead.
Argentina’s libertarian President Javier Milei won decisive victories in midterm elections Sunday, clinching a crucial vote of confidence that strengthens his ability to carry out his radical free-market experiment — with billions of dollars in backing from the Trump administration.
In the election widely seen as a referendum on self-described “anarcho-capitalist” Milei’s past two years in office, which have included corruption scandals and the scrapping of tens of thousands of public jobs, his right-wing La Libertad Avanza party won more than 40% of the votes, compared with 31% for the left-leaning populist opposition movement, known as Peronism, exceeding analysts’ projections.
Milei, a key ideological ally of President Trump, said his party and allied blocs picked up 14 seats in the Senate and 64 in the lower house of Congress on Sunday, three seats short of a congressional majority.