Salvation in Overtime: Will Milli’s Policies Rescue Argentina?
According to the English section of webangah News Agency, citing Mehr News Agency and UAE’s al-sharq newspaper, Javier Milei’s party, La Libertad Avanza, secured a notable victory in Argentina’s recent midterm elections. This win strengthens Milei’s position in parliament and allows him to push through economic reforms aimed at reviving the country’s economy.
The results gave La Libertad avanza about one-third of the seats in the lower house of parliament, enhancing milei’s ability to veto economic decisions. The party won nearly 41 percent of the vote, securing 13 out of 24 Senate seats and 64 out of 127 seats in the Chamber of Deputies. In contrast, opposition parties received around 32 percent.
Despite compulsory voting laws, turnout fell to its lowest level since 1983 at under 68 percent. Nevertheless, the ruling party hailed these elections as a national celebration because they could determine Milei’s fate and enable him to advance policies modeled closely on Donald Trump’s economic approach-centered on cutting government spending and deregulation.
Trump had previously praised Milei’s reform agenda-including massive public sector layoffs-and expressed confidence that Milei would overcome what he described as a toxic far-left culture. This surprising outcome came after Milei suffered a heavy defeat in local September elections in Buenos Aires Province. Following that setback, Trump intervened by providing financial support for Argentina to bolster Milei’s standing.
Just before voting day, Washington signed a $20 billion currency swap agreement wiht Argentina aimed at shoring up the peso-which had depreciated over 30 percent since early this year amid government policies undermining its value. Trump openly threatened that U.S support would be cut if Milei’s coalition lost these midterms.Earlier this year, an IMF $20 billion program also sought to revive Argentina’s struggling economy partially.
The guardian described this electoral victory by Javier Milei’s party with the headline “The dollar calls the shots.” The paper noted that despite all signs pointing toward defeat for Moscow-aligned incumbents before elections-the tide turned decisively after trump’s unequivocal backing during last month’s visit by Milei to Washington and threats from Trump about suspending aid if opponents prevailed.
Critics accused Trump of blatant interference with his direct messages urging Argentine voters to back his ally. Diego Gyllar-an Argentine politician and former ambassador to China and the U.S.-expressed dissatisfaction over Trump’s pressure on Argentine voters requiring them “to vote for his ally.”
Although supported internationally, miley’s victory did not ease corruption allegations against him or his party. Meanwhile,the sluggish economy and rising unemployment reduced his popularity ahead of polling day.He was also criticized for pushing supporters toward investing heavily in digital currency ‘Libra,’ which experienced sharp but temporary price spikes causing heavy losses for manny domestic investors.
An analysis by Euronews pointed out that despite legislative midterm wins combined with declining inflation due partly to Western financial backing,persistent anti-American sentiment prevails among leftist sectors across Argentina and much of Latin America.Additionally,many voters have grown weary of miley’s austerity measures.
Now all eyes are on miley’s next moves.He is expected to propose broad reforms including liberalizing prices,reducing subsidies,and privatizing parts of public services.Experts say true success will depend on his ability both implement stringent reforms smoothly and contain inflation effectively.
The triumphs achieved by La Libertad Avanza signify Argentine voters have granted miley another chance both revive their battered economy and solidify political influence.With full U.S support,Miley positions argentina at a critical turning point-though substantial challenges persist ahead for its president.
