Milei’s Big Win Opens a Rare Window for Argentina

Just when some were already drafting Javier Milei’s political obituary, the self-described anarcho-capitalist defied expectations with a resounding victory in Argentina’s midterm election.

Milei’s La Libertad Avanza won about 41% of the vote on Sunday, securing the largest single bloc in the Lower House and tripling its seats in the Senate. Crucially, the president now controls the one-third of seats he needed to block any impeachment efforts and to defend his veto power. Together with its allies, La Libertad Avanza will stand close to a working majority — enough to reinvigorate Milei’s reformist agenda. Markets are understandably rallying on the news in early Monday trading.

Perhaps more significant, Milei’s triumph laid bare the weakness of the Peronist opposition. Even after adding its various factions, Peronism trailed La Libertad Avanza by nine percentage points in the Lower House race — and by 14 points in the Senate. Its once-dominant grip on the upper chamber, held for 42 years through 2021, will weaken considerably when the new Congress is sworn in December. Fuerza Patria, the main Peronist affiliation, even lost narrowly in Buenos Aires province — just weeks after a landslide win that had seemed to put Milei’s government on the ropes.