Political leader Javier Milei scored a major victory this past weekend when the people of Argentina vindicated his pro-growth policies and reaffirmed the mandate they gave him two years ago.
Milei’s party, La Libertad Avanza (Freedom Advances), secured 41% of the vote, giving it over one-third of the seats in both chambers of Congress. It was a much stronger showing than the polls predicted. As a result, the Peronists, or socialist wing, cannot veto their way out of the reforms enacted by Milei, who will now be able to continue nursing Argentina’s sick economy back to prosperity.
Milei, who is famous for his chainsaw as a representation of cutting out government largesse, has brought his country back from the brink. According to The Wall Street Journal, “The country’s infamously high inflation rate has fallen to 32% from 200% two years ago.” Milei’s reforms are obviously a major achievement.
However, the ghost of Peronism still haunts Argentina’s economy. The feckless spending by the party that ruled the country for 80 years has driven the peso’s value down to nearly nothing. That’s why President Donald Trump and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent approved a $20 billion currency swap. This has bought Milei more time to address other issues plaguing Argentina’s economy. Those issues include GDP dropping 1.7% this past year and inflation continuing to hurt working families.
The Journal underscores these woes: “While the fiscal results have impressed global markets, the domestic pain has been severe. Real wages have fallen more than 20% since 2023, and consumer spending continues to contract. Economists say the government must soon pair fiscal discipline with measures to revive growth and job creation if it wants to keep voters on its side.”
Milei is walking a knife’s edge. His aggressive attack on the fiscal recklessness that had destroyed Argentina needs to be finessed into a lasting victory. As the editors of National Review observe, “It needs to be remembered that [La Libertad Avanza’s] strong result was a surprise, a fact that contains a warning. There had been clear signs this summer that Argentines were wearying of the trudge to recovery.”
Because of Trump’s strong support for Milei, though, Argentina now has an even better opportunity to become a wealthy and stable country once again. From a foreign policy perspective, helping our allies in our own hemisphere is just common sense. We have to remember that Communist China is waiting to sweep in and use Argentina for its own hegemonic means, just as it has done in other South American countries. We do not want China playing in our sandbox, because what happens in our hemisphere will affect us here in the States somewhere down the line. Argentina remaining independent of Chinese influence can only bolster our own national security.
We want Argentina to succeed. Sunday’s election results are a win all around, but especially for President Javier Milei and his recovering nation.
