{"id":48578,"date":"2023-11-28T22:13:29","date_gmt":"2023-11-29T03:13:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.escapeartist.com\/?p=48578"},"modified":"2023-11-28T22:13:29","modified_gmt":"2023-11-29T03:13:29","slug":"is-javier-milei-the-savior-of-argentina","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.escapeartist.com\/blog\/is-javier-milei-the-savior-of-argentina\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Javier Milei the Savior of Argentina?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The election of Javier Milei as President of Argentina sent shockwaves across the globe. Libertarians everywhere rejoiced to see Argentines elect a candidate that stood against authoritarianism and big government. Milei has been dubbed the \u201cTrump of South America\u201d and the \u201cBolsonaro of Argentina\u201d, along with the usual media smears of \u201cfar-right\u201d and \u201cpopulist\u201d. Clearly, they see Milei as a threat to the establishment.<\/p>\n

So, who is Javier Milei, what does he stand for, and how did Argentina get here? Let\u2019s dig into it.<\/p>\n

The Struggles of Argentina<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\"Is<\/p>\n

Argentina\u2019s economic history is pretty rocky, to say the least. They went from being one of the wealthiest countries in the world in the early 20th<\/sup> Century to being on par with far less-developed nations. What happened? Well, there have been a few nagging issues affecting Argentina for the last century, greatly influencing their economic standing.<\/p>\n

Political Instability<\/h3>\n

There were a whopping SIX military coups in Argentina in just the 20th<\/sup> Century, occurring in 1930, 1943, 1955, 1962, 1966, and 1976.<\/p>\n

According to Wikipedia<\/a>, \u201cIn the 53 years since the first\u00a0military coup<\/a>\u00a0in 1930, until the last dictatorship fell in 1983, the military ruled the country for 25 years, imposing 14 dictators under the title of “president”, one every 1.7 years on average. In that period, the democratically elected governments (radicals<\/a>,\u00a0Peronists<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0radical-developmentalists<\/a>) were interrupted by coups.\u201d<\/p>\n

The final dictatorship was ended in 1983 after the Dirty War<\/a> with the democratic election of the Radical Civic Union party. Since then, Argentina has democratically elected all of its leaders. However, ongoing corruption, scandals, and low levels of public trust continue to plague governments.<\/p>\n

Corruption<\/h3>\n

Argentina\u2019s score on the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI)<\/a> is 38 \u2013 earning it the rank of the 94th<\/sup> most corrupt country in the world (out of 180 countries). The CPI measures how corrupt each country\u2019s public sector (i.e., government) is perceived to be.<\/p>\n

According to Transparency International<\/a>, \u201cInterference in the judiciary by political authorities is jeopardising the country\u2019s independence and creating an impression of impunity.\u201d<\/p>\n

And corruption has long been an issue for Argentina. Per the Argentina\u2019s Economic Collapse documentary<\/a>, \u201cEver since independence, almost 200 years ago, Argentina\u2019s foreign debt has been a source of impoverishment and corruption and the biggest scandals. Since the first loan negotiated by Rivadavia in 1824 with the British Bank Baring Brothers, the debt was used to enrich Argentinean financiers, to control the finances and empty the country of its wealth.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Argentina is certainly not alone when it comes to corruption running rampant, this has been a consistent issue plaguing the country for many years, and people are sick of it. You can see why there is so little trust in government.<\/p>\n

Inflation<\/h3>\n

Much like political instability and corruption, inflation has been an ongoing feature of the Argentinean economy for well over 100 years. Today, in 2023, inflation stands at an eye-watering 143%<\/a>. But this isn\u2019t even the worst it\u2019s ever been; it actually hit over 20,000% in 1990 and sits at an average of about 190% from 1943 to 2023.<\/p>\n

Inflation is often looked at as a sign of political and economic turmoil, of which Argentina has an extensive history<\/a>. This includes defaulting on their sovereign debt nine times over the last 200 years<\/a>. With stats like that, it\u2019s pretty clear why their inflation has been running out of control for over a century.<\/p>\n

And now, with 40% of Argentines living in poverty and 9% in extreme poverty<\/a>, it is no wonder why the people were demanding change.<\/p>\n

Enter: Javier Milei.<\/p>\n

The Promise of Javier Milei<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\"Is<\/p>\n

Argentineans were looking for real<\/em> hope and real<\/em> change in this election. After all, when your inflation is running at 143% and half of your population lives in abject poverty, something\u2019s got to give. With ongoing fiscal mismanagement and broken promises<\/a> being a feature of all recent Argentinean governments, voters needed a new option.<\/p>\n

Javier Milei presented that option. An outsider who had passionate views about freedom and was not afraid to defend them, Milei began to be invited on Argentinean TV and radio programs for debates. You can check out a compilation of some of his appearances here<\/a> and see not only how his passion for reform came through, but also how he was unapologetic about it. And the people loved it.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a great summary from the Mises Institute<\/a> of how he captured the attention and the support of the Argentinean people:<\/p>\n

\u201cCombining ardor and wisdom with a striking media personality, soon Milei was the economist with the most television time and became a national celebrity. In addition to being aligned with the right-wing discourse of fighting crime and defending traditional values, his libertarian speech\u2014saying things like \u201ctax is theft,\u201d \u201cpoliticians are parasites and we don\u2019t need them for anything,\u201d \u201cthe central bank is one of the biggest thieves in the history of humanity,\u201d \u201cyour welfare is taken through a gun pointed to the head of others\u201d\u2014managed to directly reach the masses who woke up to the truth about the extortion they suffer from political profiteers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Milei campaigned on the following ideas:<\/p>\n