Who is Javier Milei, Argentina’s New President Who is Often Compared to Trump?

On Sunday, November 19th, Argentina elected a new President, Javier Milei. Many have compared Milei to former US President Donald Trump or former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro. But what exactly does the new Argentinian president stand for?

Like the aforementioned, Milei, who defeated his Peronist rival Sergio Massa, is a right-wing populist. Like them, he comes to power in a country that sees in him a desperate attempt at something new during Argentina’s failing economy. Milei, however, has promised to not just shake things up – he’s promised to break the system completely.

In a video that has gone viral since his win, Milei goes over the changes he would make – including getting rid of Ministries that oversee Sports, Culture, the Environment, Women, and Science, among other things. But then, he seems to suggest he would also get rid of Ministries like Labor, Education – which he calls “indoctrination” – Transportation, and Health. 

Milei ends the video by saying: “The thievery of politics is over. Long live liberty, carajo.”

His campaign promises include abolishing Argentina’s central bank, dollarizing the economy, and cutting ties with Argentina’s two most important trade partners, Brazil and China. He has also promised to drastically cut social spending and legalize the sale of human organs, firearms, and babies – as an alternative to abortion, which he opposes. 

Milei was also noted as wanting to create a “nationwide surveillance network of cameras with facial recognition technology,” reduce the age of minors, the militarization of institutes during the transition period, and systematic changes to prisons to make them for profit.

During his acceptance speech, he was noted as saying, “To all good Argentines, because today the reconstruction of begins.” He followed that by thanking those who helped achieve “the miracle of having a liberal and libertarian president.”