{"id":333452,"date":"2025-10-26T08:46:09","date_gmt":"2025-10-26T08:46:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/333452\/"},"modified":"2025-10-26T08:46:09","modified_gmt":"2025-10-26T08:46:09","slug":"argentina-votes-in-midterm-elections-set-to-test-president-mileis-mandate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/333452\/","title":{"rendered":"Argentina votes in midterm elections set to test President Milei’s mandate"},"content":{"rendered":"

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) \u2014 On the northern bank of Argentina\u2019s Riachuelo River, luxury car dealerships report sales surging since libertarian President Javier Milei<\/a> scrapped import restrictions.<\/p>\n

Streets in the Puerto Madero financial district bustle with bankers who praise Milei for ending a yearslong ban on selling dollars online<\/a>. Fine restaurants serve sushi and steak to Argentine oil executives who gush about his efforts to draw foreign investment<\/a>.<\/p>\n

On the opposite side of the polluted Riachuelo waterway<\/a>, Veronica Leguizamon, 34, has only few eggs, a carton of milk and a handful of bread rolls left in her pantry.<\/p>\n

Clutching a Tupperware container, she braved heavy rain last Friday to carry home dinner for her four daughters from a soup kitchen in her neighborhood of Isla Maciel \u2014 a new daily routine since Milei slashed subsidies for public services<\/a> and unwound price controls<\/a> on staple foods.<\/p>\n

\u201cBefore, we could choose what to cook,\u201d she said. \u201cNow we depend on others to know if we\u2019ll eat or not.\u201d <\/p>\n

The contrasting fortunes of these Buenos Aires neighborhoods just over a kilometer apart illustrate the tensions polarizing the Argentine electorate in Sunday\u2019s nationwide congressional midterms<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As voters go to the polls, their vastly different perceptions of the economy stand to determine whether Milei succeeds \u2014 and whether the Trump administration presses on<\/a> with a financial rescue plan<\/a> for its cash-strapped ideological ally<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\u201cWithin my little circle, everyone\u2019s happy with how things are going,\u201d said Fernanda D\u00edaz, 42, who runs a yacht rental company in Puerto Madero. \u201cWhen I step outside it, I see people worried about making it to the end of the month.\u201d <\/p>\n

Milei\u2019s opposition spooks markets <\/p>\n

Commenting on the midterm elections, U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to rescind a $20 billion aid package for Argentina<\/a> if Milei suffers a defeat at the hands of a \u201csocialist or communist,\u201d prompting a sell-off in Argentine markets.<\/p>\n

Trump was apparently referring to Argentina\u2019s loosely populist, broad-based ideological movement known as Peronism<\/a> that helped deliver the economic shambles that Milei inherited<\/a> in late 2023. <\/p>\n

Reckless public spending under a succession of Peronist governments \u2014 including that of former President Cristina Fern\u00e1ndez de Kirchner<\/a>, now serving house arrest for corruption<\/a> \u2014 brought Argentina infamy for its inflationary spirals and sovereign debt defaults<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe needed a major change,\u201d said D\u00edaz, who, before launching her yacht business, lost her job as a top executive when Chilean retail group Falabella shut down its Argentine operations over high inflation, import restrictions<\/a> and a wildly oscillating exchange rate<\/a> under the previous Peronist government<\/a>. \u201cI voted for Milei\u2019s government and was really enthusiastic at first.\u201d<\/p>\n

Markets shudder at the thought of a Peronist return.<\/p>\n

When the Peronist coalition beat Milei\u2019s libertarian party by a landslide in last month\u2019s Buenos Aires provincial elections<\/a>, investors panicked that the president\u2019s free-market overhaul was losing support and rushed to pull capital out of the country. <\/p>\n

In an extremely rare move, the U.S. Treasury came to the rescue \u2014 selling dollars to help meet soaring demand<\/a> for greenbacks, signing a $20 billion credit line<\/a> and promising another $20 billion in aid from private banks<\/a>, rather than U.S. taxpayers. <\/p>\n

Assets jumped on each of the Trump administration\u2019s announcements. Having dodged a currency crisis, Mileli and his supporters were, briefly, ebullient. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m proud of the U.S. support. It helps us grow stronger,\u201d said Luciano Naredo, 28, a salesman of high-end cars in Puerto Madero. \u201cI think Argentina is finally taking its rightful place in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fed up with the chainsaw <\/p>\n

Although Isla Maciel has long been a Peronist stronghold, 42% of the wider Avellaneda municipality voted for Milei as president in 2023, betting on the wild-haired political outsider<\/a> to stabilize the economy and end triple-digit inflation.<\/p>\n

Wielding a diesel-fume-spewing chain saw<\/a> at rallies, Milei cut tens of thousands of government jobs<\/a>, slashed state spending and burned through foreign exchange reserves to shore up the chronically depreciating peso. <\/p>\n

Inflation dropped<\/a> \u2014 in fulfillment of Milei\u2019s flagship campaign promise.<\/p>\n

But almost two years into his economic overhaul<\/a>, purchasing power has dropped, too. With inflation still hovering over 30% annually, residents of Isla Maciel have watched the value of their wages, pensions and welfare payments shrivel. <\/p>\n

\u201cYou can\u2019t live on 290,000 pesos a month with today\u2019s inflation,\u201d Epifan\u00eda Contreras, 64, said as she packed her plastic bowl with rice and peas at the Foundation of Isla Maciel soup kitchen, referring to her $200 monthly pension<\/a>. \u201cThe situation is getting worse and worse. It\u2019s not fair.\u201d <\/p>\n

Volunteers serving sopa paraguaya, a custardy cornbread, to a stream of regulars on Friday said demand has more than doubled in the past year. Those who once picked up occasional meals to save some cash now turn up hungry. <\/p>\n

\u201cPeople are coming out of real need,\u201d said Maria Gomez, a volunteer cook. \u201dIt\u2019s total chaos.\u201d<\/p>\n

A third fewer residents of the Avellaneda municipality supported Milei\u2019s libertarian party in last month\u2019s provincial election<\/a> than in 2023, expressing nostalgia for the redistributive policies of the opposition Peronist party<\/a> despite its more recent reputation for financial ruin.<\/p>\n

Milei has vowed in campaign speeches to press on with his harsh austerity program. But his chain saw prop<\/a>, once a rally staple, hasn\u2019t been seen in months. <\/p>\n

Argentines face familiar uncertainty<\/p>\n

Most polls predict a tight race between Milei\u2019s La Libertad Avanza (Liberty Advances) party and the Peronist coalition. Half of Argentina\u2019s lower house, or 127 seats, and a third of the Senate, or 24 seats, are up for grabs in Sunday\u2019s elections. <\/p>\n

Currently controlling less than 15% of Congress<\/a>, the government last managed to pass a law in March. La Libertad Avanza hopes to win enough seats to defend austerity measures, uphold presidential vetoes<\/a> and impose labor and tax reforms. <\/p>\n

The stakes are high. A defeat for Milei could pile more pressure on the peso and force a painful devaluation of the currency\u2019s controlled exchange<\/a> rate, raising inflation and undermining the president\u2019s main achievement. <\/p>\n

Weary Argentines are, again, bracing for impact.<\/p>\n

\u201cEach new government comes in, criticizes the last one, promises to do things differently and ends up being the same or worse,\u201d said Mat\u00edas Paredes, 50, a real estate broker whose foreign clientele vanished with Milei\u2019s strong exchange rate.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis country moves in cycles.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) \u2014 On the northern bank of Argentina\u2019s Riachuelo River, luxury car dealerships report sales…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":333453,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,3],"tags":[2841,114804,42860,1613,38508,24719,69,90,165310,57,266,165309,24720,1612,165313,165312,50,80,4217,67,370,132,68,165311,107],"class_list":{"0":"post-333452","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-united-states","8":"category-us","9":"tag-argentina","10":"tag-argentina-government","11":"tag-buenos-aires","12":"tag-central-america","13":"tag-compensation-and-benefits","14":"tag-cristina-fernandez-de-kirchner","15":"tag-donald-trump","16":"tag-elections","17":"tag-fernanda-daz","18":"tag-general-news","19":"tag-inflation","20":"tag-isla-maciel","21":"tag-javier-milei","22":"tag-latin-america","23":"tag-luciano-naredo","24":"tag-maria-gomez","25":"tag-news","26":"tag-politics","27":"tag-south-america","28":"tag-united-states","29":"tag-united-states-government","30":"tag-unitedstates","31":"tag-us","32":"tag-veronica-leguizamon","33":"tag-world-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115439598530499849","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/333452","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=333452"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/333452\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/333453"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=333452"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=333452"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=333452"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}