Renowned Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges made a shocking observation in 1948, saying that “the Argentine, unlike the Americans of the North and almost all Europeans does not identify with the State….the State is an inconceivable abstraction. One thing is certain: the Argentine is an individual, not a citizen.”
That explains the turbulence, uncertainties and unpredictability about Argentine leaders’ volatile behaviour and political conduct. Former New York Governor Mario Cuomo’s phrase, “you campaign in poetry, you govern in prose” is quite apt for Argentine political leaders.
In 2023, former TV pundit and a fan of Al Capone, Javier Milei, nicknamed “the madman” by his followers turned conventional politics topsy-turvy by winning the presidency. It shocked political pundits that a person who described Pope Francis as an “imbecile”, mocked football icon Diego Maradona and praised former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher, should win the presidency.
It was nothing short of political sacrilege that someone who was dismissed as an “unstable leader for an unstable country”, was now at the helm of affairs. It was seen as another chapter in Argentina’s much-reviled “soap-opera” politics. But didn’t Argentine writer Julio Cortazar, one of the founders of the Latin American Boom, tell us that “only in dreams, in poetry, in play, do we sometimes arrive at what we were before?”
Milei’s vision for Argentina faced heavy criticism during the election campaign, with 108 economists from around the world citing risks and downfall if Milei were to take office. Their prediction has not materialised. Within his first six months in office, Milei was able to curb hyperinflation and reverse Argentina’s long-standing fiscal deficit. His administration’s success underscores a fundamental truth, that disciplined economic policy and market liberalisation remains the most effective route to long-term stability and growth.
Today, Milei is seen as a “saviour of Argentina” and happens to be the second most popular politician in the world. When he introduced a bitter pill to the people, many thought he was inviting a disaster for himself and the people. He reduced state spending, abolished several ministries, disbanded 10 government departments and put on hold public infrastructure projects among others.
In 2023, Javier Milei offered himself to voters as the anti-establishment, chainsaw-wielding bolt from the blue that Argentina needed to tame the country’s chronic inflation and government dysfunction. No one gave him a chance but he won defying most projections.
What was even more daring and considered politically suicidal was his decision to decrease wages and salaries in the public sector and pensions and subsidies in transport.
What has astounded both his supporters and critics is his ability to impose his will on the political class he disdainfully calls “caste” without a parliamentary majority. Milei cut the budget by about 30 percent and balanced it one month into his term.
That facilitated more disciplined monetary policy and the reduction of inflation from 25 percent per month when the president came to office to 2.2 percent in January 2025. Achieving Argentina’s first monthly budget surpluses since 2012 was no small achievement.
The president took an economy from crisis to recovery much faster than most people expected: Growth returned in the second half of 2024, wages have increased, and the poverty rate, after having initially risen, has fallen below the 40 percent range that the previous government left as part of its legacy.
Milei’s critics blame him for severely damaging press freedom, “stigmatising” journalists and dismantling public media. His ‘chainsaw’ economic programme has come at a steep cost to Argentina. Funding for universities and public works has been drastically reduced. Poverty surged to nearly 53 per cent of the population, up from 42 per cent the year before. GDP plummeted.
He enjoys his reputation as the “rockstar of the new right. He never misses the opportunity to attend the neo-conservative platform “Conservative Political Action Conference, be it in the US or Spain. Under his patronage, this conference was also held in Buenos Aires which hailed him as “the libertarian John Lenon”.
Milei’s presidency has attracted global attention as a test case for libertarian economic policies. International figures have supported his approach, and economists worldwide are closely watching it.
Milei’s reforms suffer from a major flaw. People have been made to learn to live with two currencies: the US dollar and the Argentinian peso. Milei is counting on short-term economic stability and the ongoing popularity of his well-communicated reforms to sustain success. However, his reliance on public sentiment alone is unlikely to attract foreign direct investment.
Javier Milei hasn’t spared even football. He is attempting to replace civil organizations that run Argentina’s football clubs with corporations. His intention is to weaken the clubs and their members, who vote and elect leaders.
Football players in Argentina have to first pass through community clubs before they hope to play professionally. Buenos Aires alone has 215 such clubs de barrio. Community clubs are important in that they keep kids off the street and free them from the hold of screens, because today they’re hostage to their phones and tablets.
Argentines, like most Latin Americans, are dreamers. No dreams are deferred here. It is also a land of utopias. Utopias have taught them to dream collectively, to sharpen their imagination, to demand more and to ask if the injustices of the world really need to exist.
But Argentina is also known for its soap opera politics. Political polarization has reached such a pitch in Argentina that people actually don’t talk politics anymore because families have been torn apart and friendships have ended over political differences.
Such is the ‘we-they’ divide in Argentina that admirers of a political leader and party could be heard saying, “We are love, they (rivals) are hate. We are joy, they are sadness.” It is like ‘Boca Juniors vs River Plate’, one of the world’s biggest sports rivalries. Politicians from both parties work hard to have their fans on their side.
Argentina was once one of the wealthiest countries in the world. “Rich as an Argentine” became a popular phrase to describe the country and its image. Way back in 1949, President Juan Domingo Peron propounded “la tercera via” (the third way) to avoid the binary Cold War divisions and keep other world powers, such as the United States and the Soviet Union, as allies rather than enemies.
Remember, it was much before the Non-Aligned Movement found its institutional birth in 1961. It was even years ahead of the Bandung Conference of Afro-Asian countries. When we remember Nehru for non-alignment, we must remember Peron for the third way. Tony Blair borrowed the phrase much later.
Argentina is also known for politics intersecting literature. Domingo Sarmiento, the second president of Argentina was an intellectual, writer and statesman. Great Argentine economist Raul Prebisch of the centre-periphery and “dependency theory” fame was also a statesman. His structuralism theories helped in shaping the economic policies adopted by many countries in Latin America.
Milei’s reforms are like a bitter pill. “I ask for patience and trust,” said Milei during his first policy speech to parliament. A large majority of people are yet to enjoy the fruits of his policies. The Argentines haven’t forgotten Evita Peron’s cri de coeur.
‘Don’t cry for me Argentina’ isn’t merely an iconic song from Evita the musical, or a plea for understanding and acceptance, it is also a metaphor. It conveys a sense of both vulnerability and strength. Milei’s cry for Argentina is no different.
The song also conveys an idea of sacrifice and the burden of responsibility. Milei should remember that the Argentines beyond a point may not be prepared to sacrifice and accept the burden of responsibility for their miseries. He must deliver before the poor and the marginalised shout “Don’t cry for Milei, Argentina”.
