In a month, Argentina will elect a new president. They did vote on Sunday, but nobody won a majority, so a new election is on the schedule. Let’s review what happened.
The battle to decide who will run crisis-wracked Argentina is heading to a runoff vote next month between left-wing candidate Sergio Massa and far right libertarian Javier Milei, according to data released by Argentina’s National Electoral Chamber after the first round of voting on Sunday.
After polls closed Massa received the highest number of votes — 8,877,325, accounting for 36.33% of the total, data revealed. Milei received 7,373,876 votes — roughly 30.18%.
Third place candidate Patricia Bullrich got 23.82% and conceded defeat late Sunday night.
So I guess we will have to wait another 30 days. My friend from Argentina sent an email late Sunday night wondering if they will have a country by the time he gets to vote. It’s not an exaggeration that Argentina is a mess, or “desastre” as they say in Spanish.
The new president will take office in December, but can anyone fix the country?
I remember someone saying that there are four types of countries in the world: developed, undeveloped, Japan, and Argentina. I’m not sure about Japan, but I understand the reference to Argentina, the world’s best example of an underachiever.
How can a country that rich in resources and well-educated people be so dysfunctional? My friends say “Peronismo” or a reference to Evita’s husband. Others say that the bureaucrats suck the economy dry. One guy blamed it on tango or meaning that Argentines are too dramatic. I don’t know, but it’s hard to understand Argentina.
We’ll see how the runoff election goes. My guess is that Massa, the house candidate, will win. However, Melei, the opposition candidate, will make the campaign loud and interesting.
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Nice comment Silvio. Yes it’s a mess. I was in BA in August when the USD was at 700 pesos.(dolar blue) I’ll be back next month. Inflation is rampant and the decay in Buenos Aires is seen in so many ways. How sad.. The day after elections it shot up to over 1000! Milei isn’t finished yet and a lot can happen before Election Day. I hope he wins. The old Peronista/Kirchner way of doing things is what brought the country to the mess it’s in.
It’s simply a Latrine thing. The whole region is a very unhealthy environment, and it’s sort of like growing up in a very bad neighborhood surrounded by terrible “friends” and lousy role models (like a certain Fidel).
And yes, I expect Massa will win. Milei is probably too theatrical, and I doubt he can get enough votes just from people who truly want him to win–he needs people who’d only vote for him out of desperation.
Massa, of course, will likely be the same dog with a different collar (if that), but Milei could use better packaging. He’s too old for that hair, which is faintly ridiculous, and he’s too fond of playing enfant terrible. It’s as if he wants to be the Mick Jagger of politics, which strikes me as a kind of Evita complex.
Also, Massa has been smart enough to campaign without resorting to Cretina Kirchner or the worthless incumbent president, and he looks rather more serious than Milei, who comes across as too wild.
Basically, Argentina is deeply dysfunctional and has been for ages. The odds are not promising.