#217: Make Argentina Great Again
The Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) was held in Washington last week
Former President Trump met Argentine President Javier Milei at the event, with noticeably excited enthusiasm
This article will answer the questions:
Who is Milei?
Why is he important?
Why was he so excited to meet Trump, and what does that mean?
Milei the Maverick
Milei was elected just a couple months ago as the president of Argentina. His victory caught attention because he is very much a political outsider. A former academic of economics, Milei blasted into politics with laissez-faire policy ideas and radical temperment.
His policy proposals include:
Reducing the number of ministries from 24 to 8 (small government to the extreme)
Legalizing organ trade
Allowing the purchase of guns
Getting rid of Argentina’s currency, the peso, and switching to the dollar system
Why is he so popular?
Those in the U.S. and indeed the whole world have had to suffer through high inflation in the past few years; however, noone compares to Argentina. Their inflation in 2020 was over 200%, effectively rendering the peso worthless. Not to mention a drought and an overall air of government dissatisfaction.
In this context, Milei’s perceived outsider status and proposed radical change caused people to side with him. In many ways, his election is indicative of a sense of desperation and yearn for change.
And of course, Trump
Many compare Milei to Trump; starting with the distinctive hair and extremist following to the outsider status and radical political views. Mind you, Trump was the president and has managed to shape the Republican Party in his image — but he is still regarded by many to be a transformative figure who is not part of conventional politics.
Milei’s success was thanks to distrust in the government in Argentina. But recent polls show that public trust of the government in the U.S. is also at historic lows, at 16%. For context, it was at around 50% during the start of the Bush era.
Now, is Trump as radical as Milei? No. Nor does this mean Trump will be the next president. But this trend is indicative of public sentiment, as Milei and Trump in 2016 proved. Furthermore, we can expect other countries may end up electing radical, outsider candidates in the future.
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