Washington has effectively bailed out Javier Milei, allowing him continue his chainsaw rampage against his own country<\/p>\n
Argentina has produced a surprise. After a string of economic and currency crises, failures, scandals, and humiliations, Javier Milei \u2013 \u201canarcho-capitalist\u201d (in his own words), chainsaw artist, rock star cosplayer, and also president \u2013 has snatched victory from the jaws of defeat. Where many observers \u2013 this one included \u2013 expected or hoped for a trouncing for the budget-slashing bad boy, he has proved us wrong.
\nMilei and his party La Libertad Avanza\u00a0(Liberty Advances), LLA, have scored a clear victory in Argentina\u2019s crucial midterm Congress elections. By Monday, preliminary results showed LLA gaining over 40% of the vote and leading in most of Argentinian provinces. The opposition alliance did much worse than expected, gathering less than a third of ballots cast. Turnout (68%) was the lowest since 1983. But it was not much lower than for the last midterm election (71.8%).
\nMilei has claimed the elections mark a \u201chistoric day\u201d for his country. That hyperbole is due to his enormous vanity and histrionic temperament. But there is no doubt that the immediate political consequences of his resurgence are far-reaching. Now controlling enough seats in both the lower and upper houses of Argentina\u2019s parliament, his presidential veto power cannot be challenged. In general, he is in a position to continue his radical-right-libertarian reforms. Milei\u2019s wish list includes revising labor and contract laws, more cuts to the government and taxes, and more deregulation. LLA will still have to look for allies to have the requisite parliamentary votes to pass legislation, but he clearly has the upper hand and the momentum.
\nFor the major political force fundamentally opposing Milei, the Peronist coalition, this election has been a severe setback. If they cannot beat him when he\u2019s so embattled by crises and encumbered by scandals, they may never be able to stage a comeback. For that they have themselves to blame. The Milei phenomenon remains an overdue over-reaction to decades of Peronist dysfunction and sleaze. As a whole, the opposition has failed to offer a persuasive alternative not only to Milei but to much of the opposition\u2019s own past record.<\/p>\n
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This president took a chainsaw to his BRICS prospects, and look where it got his country<\/p>\n
But, with the best will to be fair, there is no reason to congratulate Milei. Because it is not really his victory. One Peronist has blamed the opposition\u2019s defeat on US President Donald Trump. Sour grapes? No. Because even if Milei\u2019s Argentinian opponents have made their own mistakes, now and in the past, there is no doubt that Washington, and Trump personally, have intervened massively in this key election.
\nIndeed, as is his style, Trump has been brutally yet refreshingly honest about his intervention. He has always been clear about his bromance with Milei, having feted him at his residence in Mar-a-Lago and admiring his ruthless approach to politics. Milei, in turn, has a record of sucking up to Trump that makes even NATO\u2019s Mark Rutte look like a vertebrate.
\nRecently, and more importantly, Trump has proven that Milei is a friend he is ready to come through for and in a big way. When the Milei experiment was failing and about to crash just before the elections, Trump extended a big beautiful bailout. The rescue,\u00a0to the tune of about at least $20 billion, though more likely $40 billion and counting, was\u00a0to \u201cMake Argentina Great Again”\u00a0according to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
\nMake no mistake, without the American bailout Argentina\u2019s economy would have collapsed \u2013 or been \u201cout of reserves\u201d as the experts say \u2013 and Milei would have been toast. Trump has mumbled something about just wanting Argentina to do well,\u00a0but he did not save the country. Instead, he literally saved Milei\u2019s behind from a fiasco Milei had inflicted on Argentina.
\nThere is no ambiguity about the above. Trump spelled it out for Argentina\u2019s voters: the US bailout would only continue if they supported Milei. If he were to lose\u00a0the US would not \u201cbe generous\u201d anymore. Even the Financial Times has called this \u201ca naked form of financial imperialism.\u201d<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n
WATCH Argentine police brutalize pensioners<\/p>\n
And, besides, don\u2019t overlook what is happening to Venezuela at this moment. Obviously, Argentina is a different country, but the two states share the harsh fate of having to live in what the US considers its Monroe-Doctrine-given backyard. With an explicitly aggressive military build-up not seen in the region since the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 and a policy of what can only be called open military murder, Washington is sending a dark signal to everyone else in the neighborhood. Some are already speaking of a ‘Donroe Doctrine’.\u00a0Consider both the compulsory buying of Argentina\u2019s election and the assault on Venezuela as parts of an evolving kit of instruments of bribery and torture.
\nThere are three important lessons here: Firstly, do not mistake the Trumpist razing of USAID for an American ‘No’ to massive meddling in other countries. The Trumpists are as meddlesome as the worst of them. They are just cruder about it. Secondly, it\u2019s almost too obvious to mention, but the next time Americans make yet another hysterical fuss about the sanctity of their hallowed election circus being besmirched by evil foreigners, just stop listening. Trump, who\u00a0was a victim of Russia Rage (aka \u201cRussiagate\u201d), loves to intervene. Finally, strange as it may sound, what has just happened to Argentina may indicate the limits of US power as much as its relentless, escalating aggressiveness.
\nTo execute his Saving of Libertarian Milei, Trump had to alienate large swathes of his own base, those who believe in the original MAGA – Make America (not Argentina) Great Again. According to polls, nearly 50%\u00a0of Trump\u2019s voters are dead set against his big Milei handout. Americans, including farmers directly competing with those from Argentina, are struggling, while a foreign flattery and bombast expert syphons off their tax dollars because he is The Donald\u2019s pet. Seems like a sustainable strategy, especially for an avowed nationalist – openly shaft your loyal own to pamper a slick foreigner. Not!
\nOne thing that is special about Trumpism is its shamelessness: all bitter pills, no sugar coating. That means that US power is losing its ability to deceive (polite expression: \u201csoft power\u201d). It is now down to brute force (Venezuela) and blatant pay-offs (Argentina). It is, in other words, increasingly naked not only at home but also abroad. That\u2019s good news.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Washington has effectively bailed out Javier Milei, allowing him continue his chainsaw rampage against his own country Argentina has produced a surprise. After a string of economic and currency crises,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21325,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21324","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t