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| Caribbean-Latin America |
| 'Argentina's Trump' takes shock lead in country's primary elections: Far-right populist wants to legalise selling human organs and says climate change is a lie |
| 2023-08-15 |
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news]
Argentina's presidential election race has an unpredictable X factor: Javier Milei, candidate of the Liberty Advances coalition, a fiery and wild-haired libertarian who belts out rock songs to his supporters, calls his political opponents 'thieves' - and believes climate change is a lie. The 52-year-old economist won the largest share of the vote in open primary elections on Sunday, shaking up the race to become the country's next president. In addition to his larger-than-life persona and denial of climate change, Milei - an admirer of former U.S. President Donald Trump - has declared that Argentina's Central Bank should be abolished and argued the sale of human organs should be legal. He has shot from relative obscurity a few years ago to now having a real shot at the South American country's presidency, with his combative, rock-style rallies appealing to voters angry at 116 per cent inflation and rising poverty. He has pledged to 'blow up' the political status quo, shutter the central bank, 'dollarise' the economy, and massively shrink the state - ideas that have resonated with many voters, especially the young, after years of economic decline. 'Milei is a phenomenon,' said Benjamin Gedan, director of the Latin America and Argentina programs at Washington-based think-tank the Wilson Center, adding that his success at Sunday's elections had rattled the two main political blocs. 'His plague-on-both-your-houses message resonates among voters fed up with traditional political parties. And there are legions of these voters.' Milei's strong performance has turned the October election into a three-way scrap, challenging the governing Peronist coalition and the main conservative opposition grouping Together for Change, who came in close behind him in the primaries. With around 92 per cent of polling locations reporting, Milei had around 30 per cent of the total vote, according to official results. The candidates in the main opposition coalition, Together for Change, were at 28 per cent and the current governing coalition, Union for the Homeland, had 27 per cent. Whether or not he wins, his party will have significant sway in Congress and he will have a powerful platform for his unorthodox economic views, likely pressuring any government in power to shift to the right. In his closing campaign event last week, Milei rocked into an arena, singing and surrounded by cheering fans. He has railed against the 'caste' of the political elite who he calls 'robbers' taking money out of voters' pockets. 'We are facing the end of the caste model,' he said after the primary election results. 'Today we have stood up to say enough to the model of decadence. Today we took the first step for the reconstruction of Argentina.' His jubilant supporters chanted: 'We can feel it. Milei President!' A former small-time rock musician and athlete, Milei opposes abortion and supports gun rights. He has criticised worker-friendly labour laws as a 'cancer,' said the state is the 'basis of all problems,' and praised U.S. gangster Al Capone as a hero. Milei's rise reflects a wider regional trend in recent years that has seen Latin American politicians from outside mainstream parties rise to prominence with pledges to break up the status quo. 'People are fed up with politicians,' said Adriano Gabriel Zoccola, a 31-year-old lawyer from Buenos Aires who supports Milei because of his economic proposals and plans to slash government spending and cut the number of ministries. 'If Argentina is going to have real change, something completely different has to emerge. I think that Javier is the right person,' added Zoccola, who said he had previously voted for Together for Change. |
| Posted by:Skidmark |
| #2 Hopefully, his organ idea covers medical use only. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2023-08-15 08:47 |
| #1 Of course, anything or anybody not expressly socialist is by definition 'Far Right'. Worse yet he's an economist in the bargain. Anything could happen. |
| Posted by: Cesare 2023-08-15 07:42 |