Javier Milei was elected, riding the wave of anti-politics rhetoric, by an Argentina tired of inflation, high interest rates and impoverishment. He is not the first, nor will he be the last extremist politician anointed for his ability to sell himself to the masses in the garb of an outsider – no matter how much of an insider he actually is.
He capitalized on the incompetence of players from both the neoliberal Right and the populist Left, who for decades failed to provide real solutions to the needs of the working and middle classes. He took the helm of a country with skyrocketing inflation hitting 211 per cent in 2023, and widespread poverty – affecting 40 per cent of citizens, despite a relatively low 6 per cent unemployment rate.
