The far-right beats Massa by almost twelve percentage points and maintains that today “the reconstruction” of the country begins
The Peronist candidate congratulates Milei: “He is the president that the majority of Argentines elected for the next four years”
MADRID, 20 (EUROPA PRESS)
The far-right Javier Milei, from La Libertad Avanza, won the Argentine presidential elections this Sunday by beating his rival, the Peronist candidate and Minister of Economy Sergio Massa, by almost twelve percentage points of difference, according to 96 percent of the scrutiny. .
Milei will be the president of Argentina as of December 10, having received 55.77 percent of the votes compared to the 44.22 percent that Massa obtained, who before the results of the elections were published called to the libertarian to “congratulate him and wish him luck, because he is the president that the majority of Argentines elected for the next four years.”
“The most important thing that must be left to Argentines is the message of coexistence, dialogue and peace in the face of so much violence and disqualification, it is the best path we can take,” he stated. “There were two paths, we opted for the security system in the hands of the State, we defended the path of defending education and public health as central values, for our SMEs, which is the best way to build prosperity, upward social mobilization and progress for our nations,” he expressed.
The official candidate, in his speech, has announced that “a stage” of his political life is ending, although he has added that he will continue “defending the values of work, public education, national industry, federalism, as central values of Argentina”. “I want to tell you from a personal point of view that I tried to leave all the best of me in the campaign, I did it convinced because I deeply love Argentina,” he stated.
For his part, Milei gave his first speech as president-elect, greeting all “good Argentines” and stating that “today the reconstruction begins” in Argentina and “the end of decadence.” “Enough of the caste model. Today we once again embrace the model of freedom to once again be a world power,” she said, once again advocating her ideals of private property and free trade.
Likewise, he has asked the outgoing Government to “take charge until the end of the mandate”, while he has opened a door for other forces to join his project. “We know that there are people who are going to resist, there are people who want to maintain this system of privileges for some and impoverishes the majority (…)”, he stated, while promising that “there is no place for the violent nor for those who violate the law to defend their privileges.
“Argentina has a future, that future exists. That future is liberal,” he predicted, calculating that the country will once again be a “world power” within 35 years. Milei has celebrated being the “first liberal libertarian president in the history of humanity” and has said that he has faced the “most important election in the last hundred years.”
Participation was 76.37 percent, a figure higher than the first round of the elections, held on October 22. In Argentina, voting is mandatory, except for exceptions contemplated by law and which the voter must in any case justify. Failure to attend implies a fine and, in case of non-payment, disqualification from carrying out proceedings before official organizations for a whole year.
FERNÁNDEZ ASKS TO WORK TO GUARANTEE AN “ORDERLY TRANSITION”
The outgoing president, Alberto Fernández, has indicated that “the people have expressed their will” by going to the polls and defining “the destiny of the country for the next four years.” “I am a man of democracy, and I value nothing more than the popular verdict. I trust that tomorrow we can start working with Javier Milei to guarantee an orderly transition,” he added.
Likewise, he took the opportunity to thank Massa for his work throughout the campaign and stated that he will continue “working to strengthen democracy and the institutions of the republic, in unity with all the sectors that make up the national movement that has always will fight for a just, free and sovereign country.”
On the other hand, Patricia Bullrich, who came third in the first round and had given her support to Milei, has asserted that “the change won.” “Congratulations Milei for your resounding and historic victory. This Sunday the profound change for which we have been working for years won. We are millions of Argentines willing to defend the freedom and progress for which we are fighting so much, which you have been able to represent with clear ideas “.
MACRI: “THERE IS NO DOUBT THAT AN ERA BEGINS TODAY”
His ally, former conservative president Mauricio Macri, has indicated that “the majority of Argentines” have expressed themselves “in a forceful way, choosing change and rejecting continuity.” “There is no doubt that an era begins today. That gives us hope,” he declared after congratulating Milei “for bravely representing the will to advance and prosper that lives in the hearts of Argentines.”
“He knew how to listen to the voice of young people and the fatigue of millions of neglected and impoverished people. But the responsibilities of the economic disaster produced by the current government, especially by Massa’s management, cannot be exonerated so easily when they hand over a broken country “We cannot accept in silence that the culprit says goodbye as savior,” he added.
Likewise, he has asked for “support, trust and patience” from the new Milei government: “A spectacular future awaits us, of growth, work, study and freedom,” he has promised after considering that “what is going to happen will depend on his management and the conviction that we Argentines maintain not to give in to the struggle that will mean truly changing.”
Standard bearer of the so-called libertarians, Milei has focused the campaign on pointing out traditional politics and its ruling class, which he defines as caste, as mainly responsible for Argentina’s ills. However, the support of Bullrich – who congratulated him “from the bottom of his heart” and stated that “a new Argentina is beginning” – caused him to tone down his tone.
In social matters, Milei leaves no room for doubt and has already made it clear, sometimes with more histrionics than is assumed of a political leader, that if it were up to him he would reduce the role of the State to the point of justifying voting against a law that detects congenital heart disease in babies before birth because it would mean more public spending.
“I am a libertarian liberal, philosophically, I am a market anarchist,” he once said. He has been against abortion, even if the pregnancy comes from rape, but he does think it is a good idea to create a market to promote the buying and selling of organs. He defends dollarizing the economy and has questioned the official figure of 30,000 disappeared during the last dictatorship.
One of his latest controversies has been his defense during Sunday’s debate of the former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, for whom he has always felt a great affinity and whom he described as a “great leader”, which has caused rejection, for example, of groups of veterans of the Falklands War.
For his part, Massa has been dealing with the paradox of being responsible for the finances of a country that is going through one of its worst economic moments and a strong candidate who aspires to be in power for another four years, appealing again to in a particular way to the working class, the sector that Peronism traditionally turns to in order to get votes.
