I wrote a piece today about Javier Milei, the president-elect of Argentina. According to our Trump-obsessed media, he is just another in a line of international Trumps, part of a global movement of far-right populists. This characterization is unfair, and it speaks poorly of our media’s ability to present Americans with accurate information about foreign politics.
In the same way, those in the U.S. who might be supportive of Milei’s free-market agenda should also be cautious of imputing too much weight to his victory. Just as his win does not represent an advance in the global tide of authoritarianism, it also does not portend a global free-market movement.
Milei has trained his fire on specific concerns of Argentinian voters related to the economy and political corruption. Argentina faces uniquely awful economic circumstances, with triple-digit inflation and a poverty rate around 40 percent. The current vice president, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, is basically in office so she can’t be imprisoned for crimes she committed when she was president. The U.S. has economic and corruption problems, but not like that.
(And on the corruption point, it’s Donald Trump who is hoping to avoid jail time by serving in public office. Is Fernández de Kirchner the real Trump of Argentina?)
Foreign politicians generally stink, and Latin American politics is especially chaotic. I wish Milei all the best, and I hope his reforms work for the people of Argentina. It’s nice to see a politician unapologetically take the free-market side of the argument and win, especially in a place such as Argentina that has suffered under decades of socialism. But Americans shouldn’t pin their hopes to his fate.