The Economist - USA (2021-10-09)

34 The Americas The Economist October 9th 2021

Argentina’slibertarians

No me pises

“L

ongliveliberty, goddammit!”pro­

claimed Javier Milei, a 50­year­old

economist,ata meetingofcomic­bookafi­

cionadosinBuenosAiresin2019.Hewent

dressedasGeneralAncap,a characterhe

inventedwhoisthefictionalleaderofLi­

berland, a plot of land covering seven

square kilometres that is disputed be­

tween Croatia and Serbia and which a

Czech libertarian politician declared

sovereignin2015.Ancapisa portmanteau

foranarcho­capitalist,a strandoflibertar­

ianismthatseekstoabolishthestateinfa­

vourofunfetteredfreemarkets.MrMilei’s

superheromissionisto“kickKeynesians

andcollectivistsintheass.”

TodayMrMileiispoisedtobecomea

nationaldeputyfortherealcountryofAr­

gentina.InthefirstroundofvotingonSep­

tember12th(technicallya formofprimary)

theallianceheleadsgotthethird­highest

number of votes in the city of Buenos

Aires,theonlyplacewhereitwasonthe

ballot.Ithadbeenregisteredlessthantwo

monthsbeforetheelection.Iftheresults

arerepeatedinNovember,whichislikely,

itcouldwintwoseatsinCongress.This

would make Mr Milei the first self­de­

scribedlibertarianinArgentina’slegisla­

ture,saysMartinD’Alessandro,a political

scientistattheUniversityofBuenosAires.

MrMileiwonrecognitionasaneccen­

tricguest ontalk­shows,eventually be­

coming the country’s most interviewed

economistontelevisionandradio.Aself­

styledprofessor oftantricsexandone­

timefrontmanofanobscurerockband,he

claimsnottohavebrushedhishairsince

hewas13,preferringtolet“theinvisible

hand”dothework.Hisfivemastiffsare

namedaftereconomists,includingMurray

Rothbard,ananarcho­capitalist,andMil­

tonFriedman,a moreconventionalone.To

“makeArgentinaa greatpoweragain”,he

wantsto reduceregulations,lowertaxes

andeliminatethecentralbank.Hedislikes

abortion,believinglibertytobeunattain­

ableifonecannotfirstbeborn.Butsame­

sexmarriage shouldbe legal,asshould

mostnarcotics.

Libertarianismisfindingfertileground

amongyoungsters.OnecandidateonMr

Milei’slistforcitylegislatorsis 18 yearsold

andstillinsecondaryschool. “Mygenera­

tionhasgrownupinrecession—obviously

thatmakes methinkthatwhatwehave

triedsofarisn’tworking,”saysIñakiGu­

tiérrez, a20­year­old who votedfor Mr

Milei.LiliaLemoine,a cosplayerwhohas

over100,000followersonInstagramandis

MrMilei’s make­up artist, promoteshis

ideasbyoccasionallypostingraunchysel­

fieswearingT­shirtswithsuchslogansas

“FreeMarket&PrivateProperty”.

SomeanalystsseeMrMileiaspartofa

resurgenceofliberalideasofallsorts.Ri­

cardoLópezMurphy,aliberaleconomist

andformerpresidentialcandidate,com­

petedaftera ten­yearhiatusfrompolitics

andgot11%ofthevotesinthecapital(he

ranwithinthemainoppositioncoalition).

JoséLuisEspert,a liberalcandidateinthe

widerprovinceofBuenosAires,wherea

thirdofthecountry’svoterslive,got5%of

votesthere.InArgentina’scrowdedprima­

riesthosearebignumbers.“Thisisa re­

sponseagainstthePeronistlogicofsolving

allproblemsthroughthestate,”saysLucas

Romero,a politicalanalyst,referringtothe

movementthathasgovernedArgentinafor

mostofthepast 70 years.

Theinterestinlibertarianismalsore­

flectsa backlashagainstconventionalpol­

itics. The particular brand of Peronism

promoted by thecurrent vice­president,

CristinaFernándezdeKirchner,whowas

presidentfrom 2007 to2015,leftArgentina

witha currencynobodytrusts,sky­highin­

flationandeconomicstagnation.Theop­

position,inpowerbetween 2015 and2019,

piledupdebtbutfailedtoimprovethings.

“IfKirchnerismhasbecometheestablish­

ment,libertarianismhasbecomethereac­

tiontothestatusquo,”saysJuanGermano,

head  of  Isonomía  Consultants,  a  pollster.

Almost half of voters do not identify with

any of the big parties, up from 39% in 2019.

Turnout  was  the  lowest  it  has  been  since

such elections were introduced in 2011. Mr

Milei, who attacks government and oppo­

sition members  together  as  a  “political

caste”,is  a  big  winner,  but  other  parties,

suchasMarxists, got record results too.

Indeed,  many  of  the  people  Mr  Milei

drawsin  are  more  conventionally  right­

wing, opposed  to  government  policies

suchaslegalising  abortion  and  creating  a

quotafor trans people in government jobs.

“Iwillally with all those who believe that

theleftis  the  enemy,”  Mr  Milei  told  The

Economist. He recently signed a letter spon­

soredbyVox,  an  ultranationalist  party  in

Spain,that  rails  against  “the  advance  of

communism”  in  the  Spanish­speaking

world.Even climate change, he claims, is a

“socialist lie”. Eduardo Bolsonaro, the son

of Brazil’s  president,  and  José  Antonio

Kast,a far­right  presidential  candidate  in

Chile currently  polling  in  second  place,

haveendorsed Mr Milei. 

Willthis growing popularity last? “If the

nextgovernment manages to stabilise the

economy, Milei’s discourse will lose its ap­

peal,”says  Sergio  Berensztein,  a  political

consultant.  Third  parties  have  done  well

beforein the capital, especially in times of

crisis,only to implode soon after. 

Nonetheless, Mr Milei is having an im­

pact.The head of the main opposition par­

tyhasadopted  his  term  “political  caste”.

EvenPresident  Alberto  Fernández  seems

nervous.He told a young audience shortly

beforethe primaries that being rebellious

shouldmean  embracing  “hippy  and  rock

culture”and “May 1968”, not “liberal” ideas

that,hesaid, “caused catastrophe and pen­

ury for millions”.  Liberland  may  be  no

matchfor  Argentina’s  2.7m square  kilo­

metres,but  General  Ancapisconquering

groundin the battle of ideas.n

B UENOS AIRES

What Javier Milei, a comic-book-loving libertarian, says about Argentina’s politics

Always twirling, twirling, twirling towards freedom