Argentina: A Triumphant Milei Deepens His Far-Right Program
HAVANA TIMES – He spent the last few months on the defensive. As if he had reached a limit on the dizzying path that in 2023 took him from being a scandalous TV panelist to the presidency of Argentina. As if the character who captivated a furious majority of Argentines with his own fury had succumbed to the reality of a country that, since his arrival, has sunk even deeper into its long process of economic and social decline.
So much so that, facing the challenge of the midterm legislative election, the far-right Javier Milei publicly accepted the likelihood of a modest result that would force him to seek the dialogue and consensus he had scorned since the beginning of his term. He had even abandoned his habitual insults, which had created a climate of constant hatred and vulgarity in public debate.
Surprisingly, however, he won by a wide margin in the Sunday, October 26, elections and emerged strengthened to advance his radical reform program.
“Who could have imagined we’d win the province of Buenos Aires?” a surprised Milei exclaimed upon returning to a TV studio the morning after the election, still riding the hangover of an unexpected celebration while the economic elite held its own party, reflected in the surge of all financial market indicators.
Buenos Aires, the country’s largest district, concentrates nearly 40% of the electorate. There, Peronism, the main political force for the past 80 years, had won the September 7 provincial legislative election by 14 points. That crushing defeat turned into victory in just 50 days. Political analysts find it hard to explain.
But the electoral Sunday delivered far more than that to the far right: La Libertad Avanza—the party founded by Milei only in 2021—won in 16 of the country’s 23 provinces and exceeded 40% of the total vote, with more than a 15% advantage over Peronism.
“The unexpected result forces us to ask to what extent those who voted for Milei’s candidates did so out of enchantment or out of fear,” political analyst Lucas Romero told IPS.
“The scenario is one of economic stagnation, high unemployment, loss of purchasing power, and worry about corruption. It suggests that the votes do not reflect satisfaction with Milei, but rather the feeling that the alternative is worse,” added Romero, director of the consultancy firm Synopsis.
He was referring to a Peronism that left government in 2023 with annual inflation above 200%, without self-criticism or renewal, and still led by former president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, convicted of corruption and under house arrest.
Milei’s stated goals now are to reform the labor, tax, and pension systems, with the aim of “changing this South American country of 46 million inhabitants forever.” The ideas behind his proposed reforms are to reduce the State to its bare minimum, erase every vestige of social justice, and remove the last remaining barriers to the forces of the free market, according to Milei’s own words.
Even so, though his government gained ground in the National Congress—where it will now be the largest minority, it will still be forced to negotiate with the opposition, as it remains far from holding a majority in either the Chamber of Deputies or the Senate.
Chronic Crisis
Argentina has been living in a crisis that has become chronic: for nearly 15 years, no private employment has been created, while the wages of those who do have jobs continue to deteriorate—especially among the growing number of people working informally. These realities predate Milei’s arrival. They are precisely what fueled the public’s anger and fatigue with the political class, leading society to take a leap into the unknown in the 2023 presidential election.
Since Milei’s inauguration, however, the situation has worsened. Official data indicate that between November 2023 and April 2025, Argentina lost 183,447 jobs. More than 55,000 of them were in the public sector—victims of the famous chainsaw with which Milei promised to brutally shrink the size of the State.
Social discontent and declining confidence in Milei’s government have been reflected in all recent public opinion polls, in which many employed people are still poor: 53% say they cannot make it to the end of the month, and 30% say they do so “just barely,” according to a study by the consultancy Escenarios.
Milei blames the labor situation on legislation that, he claims, overprotects workers and punishes employers. His reform promises to allow productivity-based wage setting, promote flexible working hours at the employer’s discretion, and enable wage bargaining by company instead of by industry, which would severely weaken unions’ power.
The tax reform aims to reduce the tax burden on businesses and the wealthy by 30%, which would require deepening the public spending cuts that, so far under Milei’s administration, have resulted in the near-total elimination of public works, a 30% reduction in retirees’ income, and a 60% cut in social spending.
The third reform, the pension reform, involves privatizing the system, raising the retirement age, and eliminating widow’s pensions, among other measures.
Trump as the Great Elector
Romero points out that a combination of random factors unexpectedly ended up benefiting Milei.
The government achieved a sharp reduction in inflation—highly valued by Argentines—thanks to a strong appreciation of the peso, which became increasingly difficult to sustain.
In recent months, however, economic slowdown became evident, the Central Bank lost reserves, a currency crisis erupted, and Argentina teetered on the brink of economic and financial collapse—until Donald Trump rescued it by announcing an unprecedented US intervention, providing $20 billion to support the Argentine peso.
Brazenly meddling in Argentine politics, Trump received Milei at the White House, urged Argentines to vote for him, and made what many interpreted as blackmail: “If he loses, we won’t be generous with Argentina,” he warned.
A few days later, the US president underscored Milei’s weakness and dire situation by declaring that he had decided to help Argentines because “they are dying; they have nothing; they are fighting for their lives.”
“Trump reinforced a dramatic narrative around the prospect of Milei’s electoral defeat,” says Romero.
The political analyst concludes: “We were already immersed in a narrative that said if Milei didn’t win, the economy would collapse and perhaps even the government would fall. This had taken hold among the politically engaged and among ordinary people, who likely felt it was necessary to rescue Milei despite being dissatisfied with his government.”
First published in Spanish by IPS and translated and posted in English by Havana Times.