[Politics] The Milei contagion

[FNX Magokiler]

After the victory of Javier Milei in the Argentine presidential elections, and a few days after taking office, the question that arises – beyond the internal and external economic and political challenges that the first trans-Andean president will have – is how his performance in the House Rosada could tilt the electoral pendulum to one side or the other in other South American countries, especially in Chile.

After the pandemic, it is the boredom of the po[CENSORED]tion that rules and wins the elections throughout Latin America. Where the left governs, the right wins and where there is a right-wing president, the left triumphs. Impatient societies are not willing to wait for medium or long processes, they get bored quickly. They want solutions now. And that is the factor to measure the performance of leaders and governments. People want to live their lives and not focus on problems, much less those that afflict “others.” But we have serious difficulties, such as the progress of the economy, crime, corruption... And there is no tolerance or room for errors.

In Argentina, that impatience is crossed and accumulated by almost 20 years of Kirchnerism, except for Macri's parenthesis.

The triumph of La Libertad Avanza (LLA) in Argentina was quickly applauded by Bolsonaro, Bukele and Trump, among other leaders and former leaders of America. And many wrote on their social networks that the Puebla Group had been defeated. It is not direct contagion, but it gives courage to the local far-right to think that their time has come.

 

 

We must not forget that both Javier MiIei and José Antonio Kast signed, together with the Vox leaders and far-right politicians from Spain and Latin America, the Madrid Charter in 2020, where they agreed on common principles.

That is why Ibero-America is watching very carefully what is happening and how the Argentine process will develop from now on, although the president of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, lowered its profile with a “there is nothing to fear here” and added that “the “risk” of a return of the right to power is zero”, alluding to the upcoming Mexican elections in 2024.

In the case of Chile, there is closeness between La Libertad Avanza and the Republican Party; Milei and Kast have met at meetings and gatherings of the international extreme right.

However, the closest contact of the trans-Andean president-elect is with the Kaiser brothers, especially with Axel, president of the board of directors of the Foundation for Progress (FPP). He was the architect of his visit to Santiago last July and his sister Vanessa Kaiser managed previous trips, where the Argentine economist was a speaker at several seminars.

Milei is not Kast's counterpart personally, but they both admire the “Chilean model.” They have different views on the Catholic Church (Milei announced that she will convert to Judaism) and they behave differently towards their voters. Milei likes mass bathing – although as the days have passed she has calmed down; For now, she definitely took off her leather jacket – while the Chilean is more conservative and sober in the way he projects his ideas.

 

https://www.elmostrador.cl/noticias/opinion/editorial/2023/11/29/el-contagio-milei/