Despite predictions, voters support Javier Milei

María Paula Vasile

The legislative elections held on Sunday, 26 October, in Argentina could have been crucial in curbing the right-wing policies of Javier Milei's government. Despite voting being compulsory, there was a historic drop in turnout, and recent events that appeared to have damaged the president's image had no impact on the election results. Milei’s party tripled seat count, which will help him maintain the support of United States President Donald Trump.

THE FIRST TWO YEARS IN OFFICE

Milei's nearly two-year term has been disastrous for the most vulnerable sectors of society. Budget cuts resulting from austerity policies have mainly affected housing, health and education. Hate speech against women (even promoted by officials such as the Minister of Security) and the elimination of programmes against gender violence have certainly led to an increase in femicides in the country, where a femicide occurs every 35 hours. In the case of pensioners, the average monthly pension is approximately USD 280, which places them below the poverty line and unable to cover their basic needs. Every Wednesday, they march to Congress to demand an increase in pensions and coverage for basic medicines, and face violent and cruel repression by the police, undermining the right to protest.

A SERIES OF CORRUPTION SCANDALS

In 2023, the election campaign that brought Javier Milei to the presidency focused on fighting against the political ‘caste’ that he accused of stealing through public spending for their own benefit. Earlier this year, a political-financial scandal erupted in which Milei promoted the Libra cryptocurrency, which collapsed after a million-dollar boom and led to allegations of fraud, judicial investigations and economic crisis. Martín Romeo, one of the plaintiffs in the case, presented evidence that bribes were paid for Milei to tweet about the launch of that cryptocurrency, which ended in millions in losses for investors. Romeo reconstructed a payment circuit that began with virtual wallets belonging to businessman Hayden Davis, creator of the token, from which transfers were made to Mauricio Novelli and Manuel Terrones Godoy, two traders linked to the president.

BRIBERY ALLEGATIONS

In recent weeks, audio recordings of a former government official were leaked in which he explained how Karina Milei, the sister and right-hand of the Argentine president, was the direct beneficiary of a bribery circuit through the National Disability Agency (ANDIS). These recordings describe an alleged bribery scheme linked to the purchase and supply of medicines, with an estimated mark-up of 8%, of which 3% would have been diverted to the General Secretariat of the Presidency. This situation arose in the context of the president vetoing the Disability Emergency Act, which was passed by the Senate in June. However, both the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate insisted on this law and overturned the veto. The law aims to guarantee essential rights and services for people with disabilities, in a context of cuts and delays in payments to providers.

RELATIONS WITH DRUG TRAFFICKING

In addition, José Luis Espert, the ruling party's main candidate for national deputy for the province of Buenos Aires, withdrew his candidacy after receiving accusations of having received a payment of USD 200,000 from businessman Federico ‘Fred’ Machado, who is involved in a drug trafficking case in the United States, and of having used a plane and a van belonging to Machado in his 2019 presidential campaign. Faced with this situation, representatives of the La Libertad Avanza party asked the Electoral Court to replace Espert with Diego Santilli as the head of the list and to reprint the ballots. In addition, Espert resigned as chair of the Budget Committee of the Chamber of Deputies. Both Espert and the members of La Libertad Avanza, including President Milei himself, still maintain that this is a set-up and ‘gossip’, despite the evidence proving the transfer made to Espert.

TRUMP’S RECENT BAILOUT

In 2018, under the presidency of Mauricio Macri, Argentina signed a USD 57 billion loan with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which turned out to be the largest loan in the financial institution's history and which requires, in exchange, labour and pension counter-reforms. A few weeks ago, in the face of the current economic crisis, Scott Bessent, US Treasury Secretary, confirmed on his X account a currency swap with the Central Bank of the Argentine Republic (BCRA) for USD 20 billion, an agreement that will allow it, according to the agency, to strengthen reserves and expand its power to intervene in the foreign exchange market. This measure was criticised in the United States, as Americans face a continuing government shutdown, massive layoffs in the federal administration and imminent cuts to the social security network that could plunge millions of people into poverty. In response to criticism of his administration's decision, Trump stated that ‘Argentina is fighting for its life [...], they have no money, they have no anything, they're fighting so hard to survive [...], they're dying.’

US INTERFERENCE IN THE REGION

At the meeting between Trump and Milei at the White House a few days ago, the US president confirmed to the press that economic support would depend on La Libertad Avanza winning last Sunday's elections. One of the reasons for this would be the fear of a possible impeachment of the president for the aforementioned corruption charges. Certainly, the United States played a crucial role in the last stage leading to this election.

This situation, which undoubtedly perpetuates a model of dependence on the dollar and will undoubtedly lead the country to another default, seems more like a colonial pact that adds to the increase in US interference in Latin America. For the Argentine opposition, there is no doubt that this agreement would not be free and would involve the plundering of the country's national resources and natural assets. Argentina has become an unconditional ally in the region, as it has businesses that are of interest to US multinationals, mainly related to the extraction of shale gas and lithium for battery production. The tax incentive scheme for large investments promoted by the government raises serious questions about tax collection and policy, as well as the socio-environmental impact of extractive activities. In this context, only the left-wing FIT-U party mobilised to the US Embassy in Argentina and chose the location to close its election campaign.

Milei will now have enough support in Congress to prevent an impeachment and implement his ambitious plans for tax and labour reforms. Without political consensus among the opposition parties, it will not be possible to stop the government's decrees and vetoes that aim at rolling back human rights, allowing interference from imperialist powers and imposing cuts in key sectors that will continue to affect minorities and the most vulnerable sectors that already do not make ends meet.