On Nov. 19, voters in Argentina faced one of the most important elections in their history. This was an election between freedom against the oppressive socialist ideas embraced by Peronism.
Surprisingly, the pro-life libertarian underdog candidate, Javier Milei, won the presidential run-off with a landslide victory.
This was a 12 percent margin victory over the left-wing Peronist, Economy Minister Sergio Massa—56 percent versus 44 percent.
There was an explosion of celebrations on the streets of Buenos Aires as news of the result was announced. Mr. Milei’s win demonstrates that even in a country plagued by a dreadful socialist culture it is possible to successfully run an anti-establishment campaign based on cutting the size and scope of government.
To make it look even more promising, the newly elected president has vowed to repeal abortion laws and to shutter the country’s “woke” Ministry of Gender Diversity.
Above all, Mr. Milei’s victory represents a historical change for an unhappy nation run by Peronists for more than 45 years.
“Today, the reconstruction of Argentina begins. Today is a historic night for Argentina,” he said.
Then, in his first public statement, Mr. Milei boldly stated: “The model of decadence has come to an end. Argentina will return to its place in the world that it should never have lost.”
Great Fall of Argentina Under Socialism
Around a century ago, Argentina was one of the wealthiest countries in the world.In the early 1900s, the country was ranked among the 10 richest in the world, ahead of France and Germany. Argentina was a magnet for numerous European immigrants, who flocked to find work and a better quality of life.
And then Peronism came along.
The charismatic leader Juan Domingo Perón shunned the Argentine founding fathers who favoured classical liberalism and a free society. A former army general, Perón rose to power through a coup in 1943 and governed Argentina for three terms.
Perón’s first presidency caused enduring changes in Argentine society that have been responsible for the entrenchment of inflation to this day.
State-run enterprises coupled with huge expenditures gave rise to ever-growing government deficits that were funded by Argentina’s central bank through the printing of money.
The 1949 Peronist reform of the Argentinian Constitution assigned to the state direct control over foreign trade, ownership of all minerals and energy resources, and ownership of public service enterprises.
Devaluation was another source of inflation during Perón’s first presidency—the accumulated inflation rate over the first six years was 297.6 percent.
Argentina’s gold reserves ranked the world’s sixth in 1930, but by December 1948 these reserves had decreased from US$1 billon to US$258 million.
Perón managed to destroy one of the world’s most modern and prosperous economies.
Argentina’s economy was so ruined that the condition of the nation’s workers and middle classes, formerly the best in Latin America, is now one of the worst.
Four out of 10 Argentines now live below the poverty line.
Still, consecutive governments since 1955 have kept the habit of resorting to Peronist statism and demagoguery.
But while Peronism has led to the collapse of every sector of the Argentine economy, with finance, commerce, manufacturing industry, and mining seriously affected, roughly 40 percent of the Argentine population still feel they are Peronist.
Can Argentina Prosper Once Again?
Peronism still connects and integrates with a variety of social movements and organisations—from labor unions, student associations, and now even active LGBT groups.But now voters in Argentina appear to have learned their lesson and made a conscious decision to rebuild a society based on the classical liberal values of their founding fathers.
So it is certainly not an overstatement for Mr. Milei to call his victory a “miracle.”
Mr. Milei is expected to take office on Dec. 10. Undoubtedly, he has an incredibly difficult road ahead of him.
According to the Index of Economic Freedom, Argentina ranks 144 out of 176; while in the Trade Barrier Index, it ranks 80 out of 88 countries analysed; and ranks 95 out of 125 in the International Property Rights Index.
Moreover, the country’s highly fragmented Congress may force him to temper some of his more classical liberal proposals.
Be that as it may, Mr. Milei’s impressive win marks the first time in four decades that someone outside the illiberal ruling class in Argentina finally broke through the entrenched apparatus.
“For us, it is a huge hope and big change for Argentina. For 20 years, the only thing that has increased in the country is the number of poor people and regulations. Now we are going to have a government that gives freedom and initiative to citizens,” says the newly elected Congressman Santiago Santuro.
According to Lorenzo Montanari, who is vice-president of the Washington D.C.-based International Affairs for Americans for Tax Reform, “this historical victory could be the ‘last tango’ for the Peronists in Argentina during the 2023 elections.
“A new libertarian narrative was introduced, in this presidential election, that reshaped the political spectrum forever, in favour of freedom and minimal state intervention, low taxation, free market, free-trade, de-regulation and respect for property rights.”
Argentina now has a new and promising leadership. I sincerely hope that Mr. Miley’s classical liberal economic ideas play out and bear fruit.
