Who is Javier Milei, the man elected to the presidency on the promise of slashing government departments and opposing socialism?
Pro-freedom shouts rang out on the streets of Buenos Aires on the evening of Nov. 19 as Javier Milei was elected the new president of Argentina.
“Good evening to all the good-willing Argentines, for today Argentina’s reconstruction begins,” Mr. Milei said in his first speech as the country’s next president, just as the counting of votes finished.
Considered a controversial figure, the libertarian won the country’s run-off elections by an 11-point margin—countering expectations—with 55.7 percent of votes.
Mr. Milei takes office on Dec. 10 with the challenging task of taming runaway inflation, a swollen bureaucratic state, and an establishment opposition that’s used to dominating the nation’s politics.
The election victory has shaken the political establishment not only in Argentina but throughout Latin America.
Here are five things to know about Javier Milei and his plans as president.
1. The Anti-Communist ‘Ultra Libertarian’
Mr. Milei has drawn attention as an outsider from the beginning of his political career. He’s further right in the political spectrum than any Argentinian leader with as much success in the ballots. He’s an outspoken type who’s tailor-made for the South American public—which has often earned him the “populist” label.
A former goalkeeper for the youth team Chacarita Juniors, a well-known soccer club, Mr. Milei has also been the singer of a Rolling Stones cover band.
An iconic moment of his time in politics is captured in a viral video, in which he’s dressed in a yellow and black suit with a mask and a cape singing an anti-money-printing parody of Giuseppe Verdi’s classical operatic piece “La Traviata.”
“A round of applause for Javier, General Ancap!” an aide can be heard yelling as the song ends. “Ancap” is short for “anarcho-capitalist,” reflecting the Argentinian’s proclaimed ideology.
Mr. Milei rose to the presidency after only two years as a congressman. He struck a chord with Argentina’s most passionate obsessions: music, humor, and soccer, while, at the same time, tackling the hyperinflation and political caste privilege that ails its people.
