Far-right libertarian and dictatorship apologist Javier Milei has been elected president of Argentina, defeating centrist Peronist Sergio Massa. Milei won 56% of the vote, carrying 19 out of 23 provinces. He has been seen on the campaign trail brandishing a chainsaw, which he says he plans to take to the Argentine state.
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Milei has vowed to shut down Argentina’s central bank, replace the nation’s currency with the U.S. dollar and crack down on women’s and LGBTQ people’s rights. Both Milei and his vice presidential candidate, Victoria Villarruel, have also denied that Argentine military forces killed and forcibly disappeared an estimated 30,000 people with the support of the United States between 1976 and 1983.
In our latest, we talk with Dr. Rodrigo Acuña (@rodrigoac7) about Milei, the election and the wider implications for Argentina, South America and the world.
Bio// Rodrigo Acuña works as an independent journalist on Latin America and for the NSW Department of Education. He is the host of Alborada’s Indestructible Podcast. He has been writing on Latin American politics for close to twenty years.
Outro- “Solo Le Pido a Dios” by Leon Gieco and David Byrne
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