Dog-Loving, Central-Bank-Hating Economist Upends Argentine Polls
- Outsider Milei has turned race on its head with primary win
- Milei has proposed scrapping the central bank, ditching peso
Javier Milei celebrates the results with his sister Karina Milei at his headquarters in Buenos Aires, on Aug. 13.
Photographer: Alexandro Pagini/AFP/Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
Javier Milei began and ended his victory speech shouting “Long live freedom, dammit!” and proceeded to thank his sister, who he described as “the boss,” and his five dogs who are all named after economists that libertarians like him worship.
It would be a mistake to dismiss Argentina’s answer to Donald Trump as a mutton-chopped, Elvis-loving eccentric — or just another Latin American agitator in a region known for throwing populists with radical ideas on the economy.