Presidential election in Argentina | Economy Minister Massa and ultra-liberal Milei will face each other in the second round

(Buenos Aires) The Minister of the Economy Sergio Massa and the ultraliberal “anti-system” economist Javier Milei, who came first on Sunday in the first round of the Argentine presidential election, will contest the second round on November 19, according to partial official results.

Sergio Massa, 51, candidate of the government bloc (center left) overcame the handicap of record inflation, coming in first with 35.9% of the votes, ahead of Javier Milei, 53, at 30.5%, who confirms its breakthrough since its emergence on the political scene two years ago, according to figures communicated by the Electoral Authority, with 76% of the votes counted.

Rarely since the return of democracy 40 years ago has an election been so uncertain for Argentina, the third economy in Latin America with chronic inflation, now among the highest in the world (138% over one year).

Javier Milei, an ultraliberal “anarcho-capitalist” economist, as he describes himself, who promises to “cut apart” the State, admires Donald Trump and denies man’s responsibility for climate change, has turned the tables in two years at barely in politics, to the point of finding themselves at the top of voting intentions.

“We are prepared to make the best government in history,” declared Mr. Milei, a polemicist who emerged from the TV sets in 2021. He has since followed a “clear” common thread, against the “parasitic caste”, according to him the Peronists (center left) and liberals who have alternated in power for twenty years. “Let them all go away, let there not be one left!” » he said at the end of the campaign.

“Leap into the void”

According to polls – which have underestimated him in the past – Mr. Milei, 53, was credited with around 35% of voting intentions, ahead of Sergio Massa (30-31%), Minister of 51-year-old economy and candidate of the government bloc (center left), and Patricia Bullrich (26%) of the opposition alliance (center right), a 67-year-old former security minister under liberal President Maurico Macri ( 2015-2019).

To be elected in the first round, a candidate must obtain at least 45% of the votes, or 40%, but with a 10% lead over the runner-up.

Argentines have learned to live with the uncertainty of tomorrow: 12.4% inflation in August, 12.7% in September – monthly record in 32 years – and price tags waltzing from one week to the next . And a daily guerrilla war to thwart prices: purchases at the start of the month, juggling between various credits…

“We need a change. This country is a disaster, really, between poverty, inflation, people are not doing well,” lamented Gabriela Paperini, 57, near a polling station in the Palermo district. She was preparing to vote for M^me Bullrich-but his daughter chose Mr. Milei.

“We are used, as a society, to voting for people who then disappoint us, do the opposite of what they said, or do their business,” squeaked Boris Moran, a 34-year-old lawyer, also attracted by “the different option” Milei, even if some see it as “a leap into the void”.

“Fed up”, “anxiety”, “no magic change”, came up regularly among the voters interviewed by AFP, suggesting that the election is being played out somewhere between anger, worry and skepticism.

Reverse M^me Bullrich, who promises “the most austere government in history”, in a country with 40% poverty.

Towards Mr. Massa, who assures that “the worst of the crisis” is over thanks to an upcoming export boom. But it will not be possible to avoid a turn of the screw on an over-subsidized economy, under the eye of the IMF to which Argentina is struggling to repay a colossal loan of 44 billion dollars.

Or towards Mr. Milei, whose plan to “dollarize” the economy to see the greenback replace the peso is seen by many economists from various sides as a “mirage” with social and inflationary risk.

“Transmitting tranquility”

“I feel a lot of uncertainty in the air, because no one knows what is going to happen. Fear, even, I would say,” confided Maria Olguin, a 40-year-old graphic designer.

“Milei’s arrival brought a terrible sense of the unknown […]. There is a desire for change, but even if it is popular, the prospect of a drastic shift puts people on edge,” diagnoses Benjamin Gedan, economist specializing in Argentina at the Wilson Center think tank.

The peso has plummeted in two years from 99 to 365 per dollar at the official rate – and nearly 1,000 pesos at the parallel street rate, a real “barometer of anxiety” for Argentines, according to Mr. Gedan.

And they do not forget the shock of the day after the August primary, a “rehearsal” for the presidential election, which saw the surprise breakthrough of Mr. Milei (30%): the peso, under pressure, had been devalued by 20 %.

“On Monday, Argentina continues […] we must convey tranquility,” said Sergio Massa.

Some 35.8 million voters also renewed half of the deputies and a third of the Senate on Sunday.