Inputs by Alekhya Chavan
Argentina, a country in South America, recently had an important event called a presidential election. This is when people choose who will lead their country. In this election, a man named Javier Milei won. He is a part of a group called “far-right libertarians.”
Who is Javier Milei?
Javier Milei is an Argentine economist and politician. Born in 1970, he gained prominence for his economic theories and criticism of government intervention.
His political career began in the early 2020s, emerging as a figure in Argentine politics advocating for free markets and limited government involvement. It is rare for politicians with such short political careers to become national leaders. The other notable example is the current Ukrainian president, Mr. Volodymyr Zelenskyy. His political career started in 2019 with the Ukraininan presidential elections (which he won).
Javier Milei’s previous quotes indicate a person who thinks that citizens should be able to do what they want without the government telling them too much. This school of thought believes in very few rules from the government and want people to have lots of freedom to decide things for themselves.
In his current campaign, Milei has indicated that he would like to liberalise weapons trade, reduce government spending on subsidies, and control inflation. He is critical of socialism as a governmental goal and is more aligned to the capitalist philosophy of USA.
How does the election happen?
In Argentina, people who are 18 or older get to vote.
How did Javier Milei win?
In Argentina, on 14 November 2023, they held a special election called a run-off. A run-off happens when no one gets more than half the votes in the first election. Javier Milei and Sergio Massa (Massa is a Minister in the current government) were the top two candidates. Javier Milei got more votes this time, so he won!
Response from international leaders
Milei was congratulated on X, formerly known as Twitter, by the Presidents of Columbia, El Salvador, and Brazil. The presidents of El Salvador and Brazil have confirmed that they will attend the inauguration of the new President on December 10th.