The outgoing Minister of the Economy and his ultraliberal rival are neck and neck in the polls. They accused each other of lying, being corrupt and parasitizing the country.
A debate that looks like a boxing match. Sergio Massa and Javier Milei, the two presidential candidates in Argentina, exchanged blows without restraint on Sunday, November 12, during the debate one week before an extremely indecisive second round. Javier Milei, the ultraliberal economist who came second in the first round with 29.98% of the votes, insisted on “failure”there “decadence”, “impoverishment” under the government of centrist Sergio Massa (36.68% in the first round), minister of an economy with 138% inflation and 40% poverty.
Javier Milei, a great admirer of Donald Trump, also castigated a “fear campaign” carried out against him. “Vote without fear, because fear paralyzes, and if you paralyze yourself it benefits the status quo, the one that impoverishes us”he said, calling on the many undecided voters to stop “this thieving, corrupt, parasitic political caste”the one according to him from the Massa camp, which “has just spent 16 years in power”.
Sergio Massa, for his part, tried to put Javier Milei in difficulty on some of his radical proposals for reducing public spending, including subsidies for transport, universities, privatizations, dollarization of the economy, summoning him to respond with “Yes” Or “No” to a battery of questions. Mode of response rejected by his rival, whom he suddenly accused of lying about his program.
“Pinocchio” versus “comedian”
“Pinocchio !”launched the ultraliberal challenger, to which the minister called him a “actor”. The Minister of Economy also attacked the personality of Javier Milei, accusing him of being “aggressive”and to have refused a psychotechnical test that he suggested for the two candidates. “Argentinians must elect someone who has the abilities, calm, connection with reality and mental balance”launched Sergio Massa. “Oh because you have it?”replied his rival.
Foreign affairs have also been a hotly contested field. Sergio Massa thus accused his opponent of “threaten the jobs of two million Argentines” by moving away from Brazil and China, the country’s two first partners, for whom Javier Milei has had very harsh words in recent months, evoking a breakdown in relations.
Since the first round, polls have predicted a close election on November 19. Some give a slight advantage to Javier Milei, others to Sergio Massa, but each time with a difference so small (between 1.5% and 4%) that it prohibits for the moment any prediction on the final result.