Javier Milei He is an Argentine economist and politician who ran in Argentina's presidential election in 2023, being elected. Javier Milei was born in Buenos Aires, graduating in Economics in Belgrano, holding master's and doctorate degrees in the area. He worked as a university professor, but also as an economist.
He gained space in the Argentine media, expressing his libertarian and ultraconservative positions, defining himself as an anarcho-capitalist. His candidacy was marked by his defense of proposals such as the dollarization of the Argentine economy and the extinction of the Central Bank. He has been defined by political scientists as aligned with the extreme right.
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Summary about Javier Milei
Javier Milei is an Argentine economist and politician.
Born in Buenos Aires, he became part of the Chacarita Juniors squad, a team from the capital.
He graduated in Economics from the University of Belgrano, obtaining masters and doctorates in the area.
He was elected national deputy of Argentina in the 2021 election for the Libertarian Party.
He ran for president of Argentina in 2023 and was elected president of the country after defeating Sergio Massa in the second round.
He defined himself as an anarcho-capitalist and expresses libertarian and ultra-conservative positions.
He is defined by political scientists as an extreme right-wing politician.
Biography of Javier Milei
Javier Gerardo Milei was born in Buenos Aires, capital from Argentina, on October 22, 1970. He was the son of Norberto Milei, a bus driver who progressed through the industry to become a businessman in the transport sector, and Alicia Lucich Milei, who worked as a housewife. He also has a younger sister named Karina Milei.
He studied at schools in Buenos Aires, but later his family moved to the city of Sáenz Peña, located in the metropolitan region of the Argentine capital. Stories about his childhood say that he was dedicated to his studies and involved in sports, as well as having an explosive temperament, which earned him the surname from “El Loco”, “the crazy one”, in Portuguese.
Javier Milei and football
Still in his teens, Javier Milei decided to dedicate himself to football and joined the youth teams of Chacarita Juniors, one of the teams based in Buenos Aires, and known for having been Argentine champion in 1969. Milei chose Chacarita Juniors because his grandfather was a fanatical fan of that team.
Javier Milei He played for all Chacarita Juniors youth teams, playing as goalkeeper. He defined his style as a goalkeeper similar to that of Pato Fillol, the Argentine goalkeeper who won the 1978 World Cup. Milei was called up to the first team squad, but only played in friendly matches for Chacarita Juniors.
Javier Milei decided to abandon his potential career as a football player in 1989. That year he had just entered the University of Belgrano, where he enrolled in the Economics course. Milei attributed his interest in the economy to the high inflation scenario that Argentina was experiencing at the end of the 1980s.
Javier Milei as economist
Javier Milei completed his Economics course in 1993, subsequently completing two master’s degrees in the area. Additionally, he earned an honorary doctorate from ESEADE University in 2022. Regarding the beginning of her professional career, Milei acted as an intern at the Argentine Central Bank.
Milei He was a professor of subjects related to economics at foreign and Argentine universities. He taught several subjects in the Economics course, such as Microeconomics, Monetary Economics, among others. The economist also produced several economic treatises and articles on his field of study.
Milei was defined as a rigid and uncompromising teacher who had a difficult relationship with his students and administered assessments with a high degree of difficulty. In one of the places he worked, the Universidad Argentina de la Empresa (UADE), Milei was fired after being reported by a student for offending her.
Outside academia, Javier Milei he even served as Argentine representative at the International Center for the Settlement of Investment Disputes, an institution linked to the World Bank. He also worked at an Argentine private pension company and was a senior economist at HSBC, a British bank.
Javier Milei in Argentine politics
Javier Milei gained space in the Argentine media from 2012 onwards, when he became a columnist for important newspapers in the country and, from 2014, he began to be invited on television programs to comment on issues related to the economy. Between 2017 and 2022, Javier Milei was the host of a radio program called Demoliendo mitos, and in 2022 he was the host of a television program called Cátedra Libre.
Politically speaking, Milei is considered an extreme-right politician, has ultra-conservative positions and define yourself himself as a libertarian and an anarcho-capitalist, adherent of the Austrian School. In February 2019, Milei joined the Libertarian Party, a far-right libertarian party in Argentina.
Javier Milei began to use the spaces he had in the media to criticize Alberto Fernández's government, political heir of Kirchnerism and Peronism in Argentina. The failure of Alberto Fernández's government, especially in the economic aspect, made the scenario policy in Argentina to open space for radical and ultra-conservative political proposals, such as those of Milei.
Amid inflationary growth in Argentina and the effects of COVID-19 – of which Milei was a denialist – he announced at the end of 2020 his intention to run for federal deputy (called deputy in Argentina national). Fhi elected national deputy and I took overu the position in the Argentine legislature on December 10, 2021.
Also access: Cristina Kirchner — one of the most important names in Peronism in Argentina in recent decades
Javier Milei in the presidential race
In 2022, Javier Milei announced his candidacy for the Argentine presidency. Javier Milei's candidacy was part of the right-wing and far-right coalition called La Libertad Avanza. The coalition was formed during Milei's election as deputy and continued to be active in his presidential candidacy. It was made up of five political parties, including the Libertarian Party.
The objective of Milei's campaign was to prevent Alberto Fernández's successor from winning the dispute. Fernández's presidency was marked by high inflation, which, in October 2023, had reached a total of 142.7%. Fernández belongs to the Justicialist Party, having nominated Sérgio Massa, the then Argentine Economy Minister, to succeed him.
Milei's first challenge was to overcome the Paso (primary, open, simultaneous and mandatory) elections, country's primaries, which aims to filter which candidates will be eligible to compete in the first shift. At this stage, presidential candidates need to obtain at least 1.5% of the votes to advance to the first round. The candidate with the most votes from a coalition goes to the first round. In Paso 2023, the result obtained was the following:
Javier Milei: 29.86%
Patricia Bullrich: 28%
Sergio Massa: 27.28%
Juan Schiaretti: 3.71%
Myram Bregman: 2.61
In the first round, Whoever obtains more than 45% of the votes or who obtains more than 40% and has an advantage of more than 10% over second place would win the dispute. Otherwise, a second round is held with the two most voted candidates from the first round. The Argentine first round had the following result:
Sergio Massa: 36.78%
Javier Milei: 29.99%
Patricia Bullrich: 23.81%
Juan Schiaretti: 6.73%
Myram Bregman: 2.69%
In the second round the dispute was between Sergio Massa and Javier Milei. Milei's campaign criticized Sergio Massa for the country's galloping inflation and presented himself as the candidate who would dismantle the Argentine political system. Furthermore, Milei received support from important names such as Macri, former Argentine president and Patricia Bullrich, third place in the first round.
The result of the Argentine second round was marked by a surprising result. Javier Milei was elected president, obtaining a significant vote in the second round. Milei obtained 55.69% of the votes against 44.30% of the votes for Sergio Massa. Milei's presidential inauguration will take place on December 10, 2023.
→ Javier Milei's proposals
Javier Milei presented himself as the candidate who was going to dismantle the Argentine political scheme, freeing him from “parasites”, a term he used to refer to Kirchnerist politicians. Furthermore, Milei promised to dollarize the Argentine economy, making the country's economy move based on the use of the American dollar. He also promised to do away with the country's Central Bank; cut ministries; promised to reduce state subsidies to the Argentine population; and defended the nationalization of state-owned companies.
Javier Milei he also defended facilitating access to weapons for the Argentine population. He is critical of the Argentine law that decriminalized abortion in the country and is also critical of sexual education in schools in his country. Furthermore, he even spoke about the closure of the Ministry of Women and criticized vaccination against COVID, citing a lack of scientific evidence, but was vaccinated in 2021. Milei is also a supporter of the conspiracy theory that speaks of cultural Marxism and denial of the crimes committed by the military during the Argentine Military Dictatorship.
Among Javier Milei's other proposals were:
Defense of cutting spending on pensions and retirement benefits to create a private pension system;
Encourage the construction of private prisons;
Provision of vouchers for children to enroll in the school they find convenient;
Reduction of import taxes;
End of domestic supply controls, allowing producers to sell all their production without worrying about supply to the Argentine market, etc.
After his victory in the second round, on November 19, 2023, Javier Milei has already announced some measures that he will take in his government:
Privatize Argentine Public TV;
Privatize YPF, Argentina's state oil company;
Drive the dollarization of the Argentine economy;
Close the Central Bank.
See too: Jair Bolsonaro — Brazilian politician defeated in the second round of the most disputed election in the history of the New Republic
Books by Javier Milei
A theoretical framework for the analysis of the Argentine electricity sector (1997);
Economics lectures in times of kirchnerism (2014);
Economic policy against the clock: symptoms, diagnosis and measures to get out of the trap and return to growthr (2014)
Soup again: Maquinita; inflects and devaluates (2017)
Unmasking the Keynesian lie: Keynes, Friedman and the triumph of the Austrian School (2018)
Pandenomics: The economy that came during times of megarecession, inflation and global crisis (2020)
The path to the libertarian (2022);
The end of inflation (2023).
Curiosities about Javier Milei
The Argentine press commented that Javier Milei uses the tarot to find out the people he can trust.
He stayed away from his parents for a decade.
A biographer of Milei said that he uses telepathy to keep in touch with a dog of his that passed away years ago.
Image credit
[1]Vox España / Wikimedia Commons (reproduction)
Sources
COMPTE, Juan Manuel. Milei, between the technical solidity and the roughness of an exarquero from Chacarita. Available in: https://www.cronista.com//dixit/Milei-La-Argentina-cree-que-Macri-es-liberal-20171127-0001.html.
DURÃES, Mariana. New to politics: Who is Javier Milei, president-elect of Argentina. Available in: https://noticias.uol.com.br/internacional/ultimas-noticias/2023/11/19/javier-milei-novo-presidente-argentina-eleito.htm.
G1. Milei says he will control inflation in 18 to 24 months and confirms plan to close the Central Bank. Available in: https://g1.globo.com/economia/noticia/2023/11/20/milei-diz-que-tardara-entre-18-e-24-meses-para-controlar-a-inflacao-da-argentina.ghtml.
GARDEL, Lucía. Javier Milei: “Global heating is a lie.” Available in: https://chequeado.com/ultimas-noticias/milei-el-calentamiento-global-es-una-mentira/.
LUCENA, André. Who is Javier Milei, the elected president of Argentina. Available in: https://www.cartacapital.com.br/mundo/quem-e-javier-milei-o-presidente-eleito-da-argentina/.
LISSARDY, Gerardo. Are Milei's proposals to transform Argentina really viable? Available in: https://www.bbc.com/portuguese/articles/c84vp2lzjmjo.
MARTINS, André. Javier Milei elected in Argentinaa: what are the ultraliberal’s proposals for the economy? Available in: https://exame.com/mundo/javier-milei-eleito-na-argentina-quais-sao-as-propostas-do-ultraliberal-para-a-economia/.
OLIVA, Ayelén. Milei: the libertarian economist who convinced Argentines to 'dynamite the system'. Available in: https://www.bbc.com/portuguese/articles/clmpge3092zo.
PROFILE. Javier Milei wants to cancel Integral Sexual Education: “Deforma la cabeza a la gente”. Available in: https://www.perfil.com/noticias/politica/milei-quiere-anular-la-educacion-sexual-integral-deforma-la-cabeza-a-la-gente.phtml.
POWER 360. Argentina has the highest inflation in the G20 in 2023. Available in: https://www.poder360.com.br/internacional/argentina-tem-a-maior-inflacao-do-g20-em-2023/.
PLEASURE, Leandro. Drugs, gay marriage and the military: the differences between Milei and Bolsonaro. Available in: https://www.bbc.com/portuguese/articles/c512yk8pl8go.
ROSSI, Paula. “Soy re probacunas”: Javier Milei's explanation of why he decided to give the dose against Covid. Available in: https://www.lanacion.com.ar/politica/soy-re-provacunas-la-explicacion-de-javier-milei-de-por-que-decidio-darse-las-dosis-contra-el-covid-nid22112021/.
SETA, Isabel. Javier Milei: who is and what are the proposals of the elected president of Argentina. Available in: https://g1.globo.com/mundo/noticia/2023/11/19/javier-milei-quem-e-e-quais-sao-as-propostas-do-presidente-eleito-da-argentina.ghtml.
ALL NEWS. Milei is unable to convince the red circle and fights with his own character to avoid a drain on votes. Available in: https://tn.com.ar/politica/2023/09/30/milei-no-logra-convencer-al-circulo-rojo-y-lucha-con-su-propio-caracter-para-evitar-una-fuga-votos-en-octubre/.
UOL NEWS. Organ sales and tarot: who is Javier Milei, most voted in Argentina. Available in: https://noticias.uol.com.br/internacional/ultimas-noticias/2023/08/14/quem-e-javier-milei-candidato-presidencia-argentina.htm.
Source: Brazil School - https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/biografia/javier-milei.htm
