(Buenos Aires) Halfway between an economics lecture, a campaign rally and a rock concert, ultra-liberal Argentine President Javier Milei combined his favorite exercises on Wednesday evening, radiating in a spectacle in his image, extraordinary and self-celebrating, despite an economic scenario that is still uncertain.
The event was presented as the promotion of its 13e and latest economics book: Capitalism, socialism, and the neoclassical trap.
Three-quarter length black leather jacket and tie, the president of Latin America’s third largest economy performed a local hard rock tune, to a standing ovation from 8,000 people committed to his cause: “Hello everyone, I am the lion! /The beast roared in the middle of the avenue/Everyone ran without understanding/[…]/Don’t run away, come to me/Come find out what it feels like! »
Almost all of the seats in Luna Park, a vast venue in the heart of Buenos Aires, had left without difficulty, for Mr. Milei’s first real rally since his 2023 presidential campaign. Around the venue, his books and caps flocked with one of his favorite incantations: “The forces of heaven”.
A diverse audience made the trip, of all ages and social backgrounds, like the electorate who en masse brought him to power in November (56% of the vote), him the “anarcho-capitalist” outsider. which overthrew 20 years of Peronist (center-left, statist) or classic right-wing governments. A public which, despite austerity, still follows him according to polls.
“I’m here to support Javier in what he does. I like his ideas, he is sincere, transparent, he says what he thinks,” enthused Santiago Roldán, 20 years old, supermarket employee. “I like his management so far, we have to give him time. »
A few hours earlier, the economic activity index for the month of March confirmed that the recession was taking hold in Argentina, with a contraction of -5.3% over three months, under the impact of the same drastic measures. austerity which produced a budget surplus in the first quarter of 2024, unprecedented for 16 years.
The “permanent campaign”
The choreography for the evening was set: a rock song for the president – who, in his youth, played in a band covering Stones songs. Then a dissertation through the presentation of his book, in reality a compilation of Milei’s speeches, including the one in Davos in February, and articles or contributions.
PHOTO AGUSTIN MARCARIAN, REUTERS
Argentina’s ultraliberal President Javier Milei on stage
Thus, in a monologue lasting almost an hour, the once polemicist economist on TV sets, now head of state, gave a course in economics, from ancient Egypt to the fall of the Berlin Wall, summoning dozens of especially liberal economists: Milton Friedman, David Ricardo, Carl Menger, Friedrich Hayek and Robert Lucas.
Incidentally, the president who has become the gondola head of the international radical or extreme right has, as usual, torn apart socialism, “the economy of those who fail”, and abortion, a “murderous agenda” which he has brought back to 3000 years and fantasies of overpopulation.
” Freedom ! Freedom ! », “President, president! », Kindly interrupted the crowd who seemed to be pining for the music. And which, little by little, disappeared when the evening turned into a conference-debate. Main guest: Javier Milei. Moderator: the presidential spokesperson.
Still, the general atmosphere was reminiscent of that of a few months ago, when candidate Milei in the campaign attracted a growing electorate, facing an incredulous traditional political class.
“I just did that [le rassemblement] because I wanted to sing,” he said ingenuously to the crowd.
He “remains a character who likes to put on a show,” observes political scientist Rosendo Fraga, of the Academy of Moral and Political Sciences. And “there is a logic of “permanent campaign”. The government’s communication is the same as that of the campaign” for the November elections.
Ultimately and as usual, Javier Milei will have cannibalized the Argentine media scene all week. First by exchanges of invectives and a diplomatic crisis with the Spain of the socialist Pedro Sanchez, then Tuesday by a sweeping speech on monetary policy and the exchange rate. And then the spectacle of the “lion”, in great shape.