Adjunct Research Professor Veronica Norando was recently quoted in an article on the upcoming presidential election in Argentina. A short excerpt can be found below with the full article, “A extraordinary provocateur at the gates of power in Argentina,” available online.
Impoverished and up to their necks in debt, the Argentines no longer know which way to turn.
On the eve of the last presidential debate, Sergio Massa and Javier Milei are neck and neck in the polls. It’s the closest election in Argentina in decades and the most important, in many ways, on November 19.
One of the two candidates is an unusual character, an anarcholibertarian economist, as he defines himself, who divides Argentines, arousing as much fear as hope.
The former economics professor, aged 53, first became known through his appearances on television, where he denounced the political caste who enriched himself at the expense of the population. His abrasive style, his vulgar language and his unconventional image seduce as much as they shock.
“If you give me 20 years, Argentina will be like Germany, and if you give me 35, we will be like the United States,” Javier Milei promised during the first presidential debate.
Elected deputy in 2021, Javier Milei has taken a growing place on the Argentine political scene, which was reflected in the primary elections last August, when he obtained 30% of the votes, at the head of the party La libertad avanza (Freedom advances).
One of its great strengths is its presence on social media, which its team handles skillfully, and which allows it to reach young voters, left behind taken into account by the traditional parties and very hit by unemployment, notes Veronica Norando, professor in the Department of History at Carleton University.