BUENOS AIRES, Argentina—Javier Milei was inaugurated as Argentina’s new president on Dec. 10 as thousands of enthusiastic Argentines gathered to hear his first speech.
“Today, we are burying decades of failures, internal infighting, and senseless disputes,” President Milei said in front of the National Congress of Argentina.
“Today begins a new era in Argentina, an era of peace and prosperity.”
Mr. Milei evoked Argentina’s history and praised its founding fathers as champions of freedom whose ideas made the country a world power in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Replacing those ideas with collectivism had ruined the country, he said. However, “just like the fall of the Berlin Wall marks the end of a tragic era for this world, this election marks the turning point of our history,” he said.
The crowd erupted in shouts of “libertad,” meaning “freedom.”
President Milei also warned of an inevitable economic “shock” as he introduced his reforms.
“It must remain clear that there is no possible alternative to the adjustments,” he said. “Neither is there a discussion between the shock and ‘gradualism’—first of all because experience shows that all ‘gradualist’ programs ended badly.”
Mr. Milei, an economist, won Argentina’s runoff election on Nov. 19, securing 55.7 percent of votes, defeating Sergio Massa, economy minister for Alberto Fernández’s socialist administration.
Argentina’s new president, 53, is a self-described “anarcho-capitalist,” subscribing to the ideas of free market economy and deregulation.
Dubbed “the Argentine Donald Trump” by some, President Milei campaigned on taming the triple-digit inflation and radically downsizing the government and its deeply rooted political establishment.
“I am very proud of you,” Trump wrote on Nov. 19. “You will turn your Country around and Make Argentina Great Again!”
Mr. Milei responded, saying that he’s looking forward to meeting with President Trump.
Despite expectations of a tight margin in an election that was predicted to go either way, Mr. Milei handily won by 11.4 percentage points.
His inauguration on Dec. 10 highlighted his momentum, with large gatherings of people accompanying him throughout the day, as he went from the National Congress to the presidential palace Casa Rosada—or Pink House. The new president is set to attend an evening Mass, followed by a gala event.
Mr. Milei arrived just after noon at the National Congress, where he received the presidential sash from outgoing President Fernández.
The ceremony was presided over by Kristina Kirchner, Mr. Fernandez’s vice-president, and a reminder of the country’s recent beleaguered socialist past.
Ms. Kirchner also served two terms as president of Argentina, and her late husband, Nestor Kirchner, served one term. Left-wing politics have often been referred to as “Kirchnerism” in the last two decades.
The handover of the presidential sash symbolized a radical new shift in the country’s politics.
It’s the Economy
One of the world’s richest countries in the early 20th century, Argentina has since faced decades of economic hardship and social turmoil.President Milei’s economic policies resonated with Argentines, who have seen their quality of life evaporate further during the past four years under socialist rule.
Denis Corat, 33, works at a snack bar in central Buenos Aires.
“We’ve had to find one more job,” he said. “It’s very bad. What you can get on a day job is not enough for basic spending on food, for the basic food supplies that a family needs.”
In November, Argentina’s year-on-year inflation surpassed 140 percent.
Mr. Corat said most people are working 12 hours a day to get by.
“I know so many people that are working in places like this [snack bar] and that also work with [online food delivery app] Rappi, or that are selling things from their houses,” he said.
“The truth is that the situation is one of despair.”
“What actually scares me is what has been happening as of late—that inflation doesn’t ease up, the [fact] that people don’t have food to eat in their homes, the terrible lack of security, to the point we can’t even walk on the streets,” Mr. Corat said.
The rising inflation in the months leading up to the presidential election played a key role in the outcome.
Buenos Aires resident Carlos Bastino, 58, said he works an average of 15 hours a day.
“I have two jobs. I work a day job in a shop, and then get to driving with Uber,” he said.
“It’s everything, my everyday things, the food, the drinks, our way of making a living, gas prices, it’s terrible. [Inflation] left us with no purchasing power to buy anything. ... We have to buy the bare minimum. We have to live with the bare minimum.”
Despite the tough times, Argentines are optimistic about the incoming administration.
“We are all very hopeful. We hope this gentleman [President Milei] can change it all. We trust him,” Mr. Bastino said.
In his inaugural speech, President Milei said no government had “received a worse legacy” from its predecessor than the one his government now faces.
“Kirchnerism, which at first had surplus numbers with both taxation and foreign debt, now gives us a loss in both regards,” he said. “The outgoing government has left behind the seeds of hyperinflation.”
Carlos Eduardo, a 34-year-old Uber driver and shop owner, said young people voted for President Milei “because they couldn’t see a future.”
He’s also working two jobs to make a living.
“You study, and you'd like to practice your profession, but the money is too little. It’s impossible to rent an apartment—they ask for too much money, and you don’t have it,” he said.
“We want a future, we want a different path, for a different Argentina.”
Leonardo Henrique fled socialist Venezuela in 2020 with his wife and three children, looking for a better life in Argentina.
He works 14 to 16 hours a day in Buenos Aires to eke out a living as a salesman and then as a driver for extra income.
He said he hopes the new administration “can find the best way to give peace and tranquility to all Argentines and to all people coming to live in this country.”
Francisco, a young professional, said he’s optimistic about the Milei administration.
“Great things are expected, a great shift. And there’s a lot of faith that this is actually something different. I mean, it’s the first libertarian president Argentina has ever had. So there’s good hope, and we'll see,” he said.
Francisco said his background in the finance sector gives him more appreciation for President Milei and his economic policies.
President Milei has two master’s degrees in economics and has worked as a professor of monetary economics. He is well-versed in macroeconomics, economics of growth, and microeconomics. He often evokes Milton Friedman’s free‐enterprise, private‐property system of economics as his base.
“We need a commitment from all of those who create wealth, to fight against socialism, to fight against statism, and to understand that if they fail to do so, the socialists will keep coming.”
In Buenos Aires, friends Hilde and Marta told The Epoch Times they hope the incoming administration can turn the ship around.
Hilde, who is retired, said she hopes President Milei can tackle the mismanagement of government funds.
“I hope the next four years are better than the last 4 years we’ve had,” she said.
Marta, a human resources professional, said she has “high hopes” that President Milei will remedy the economy.
“We know it is going to be hard, but we also know that [President Milei] will be able to pull it off,” she said.
Middle-aged Verónica, an insurance professional, said: “First of all, I hope he can fix the economy. ... We gave him a vote of confidence because this is a wonderful country, and it is such a pity [the way it went].”
The study by the University of Buenos Aires’s Observatory of Social Applied Psychology found that more than half the people surveyed across all age groups—except over-60s—would choose to emigrate.
Some Argentines also told The Epoch Times that they have concerns about the incoming administration; much of it a nervousness over the unpredictable President Milei.
“I suppose that we are going to find out now as it happens, because there is a lot of uncertainty and people are very worried on the street because it is something very new,” said Nicole, a young professional in the advertising industry.
Pablo, a middle-aged civil engineer in Buenos Aires, said “a change in the administration always brings the hope of improvement, and also concerns.”
Marcela, who is retired, said that she has “hope and expectation that things can be solved,” but added she is also very scared “because we also don’t know what we have coming.”
Some expressed concern over potential cuts in government spending and how it might affect welfare programs.
Young college professor Julián said he’s worried about how President Milei will handle social policies with so many people living in poverty and relying on welfare.
From the Campaign to the Presidency
President Milei dished out aggressive anti-communist rhetoric during his campaign. In an August radio interview, he called socialist leaders “trash and human excrement.”“I will not promote relationships with communists—not with Cuba, not with Venezuela, not with North Korea, not with Nicarágua, and not with China,” he said.
“[China] will be a commercial partner to the private sector.”
China has often been Argentina’s top trading partner, switching the No. 1 rank with Brazil on and off. It’s currently the country’s second-biggest trading partner.
“I thank President Xi Jinping for his congratulations and good wishes expressed through his letter. I am sending my most sincere wishes for the well-being of the people of China,” Mr. Milei said.
Elected in 2021 as a congressman for his fledgling political party La Libertad Avanza (Freedom Advances), Mr. Milei went on to call out the Chinese Communist Party for “murdering its citizens” who want “to be free” and said he would not “do business with” or “deal with communists.”
Domestically, President Milei’s priorities include axing Argentina’s Central Bank, reducing government spending, slashing government agencies, and potentially adopting the U.S. dollar as an official currency. During his campaign, he pledged to replace the public education system with a voucher-based alternative, and move the public health care model to an insurance-based system. However, since being elected, he said the law may prevent him from privatizing either.
With his political party controlling just 10 percent of the Senate seats and 15 percent of the lower chamber, President Milei is expected to lean heavily on incumbents linked to former Argentine President Mauricio Macri to get policies passed.
That alliance leads some to question whether he'll be able to move forward with the reforms.
On Dec. 10, Argentine media reported that just hours after he was sworn in, President Milei’s first decree was to slash 10 of Argentina’s 19 government ministries.
