Argentina’s political landscape has a new star in Javier Milei.
The fiery and wild-haired former rocker, who played in a Rolling Stones cover band and frequently belts out renditions of classic rock hits to his adoring fans, sparked a ‘political tsunami’ on Sunday when he won the largest share of the vote in open primary elections.
But the 52-year-old economist and self-confessed ‘anarcho-capitalist’ is by no means just a gimmick.
In addition to his larger-than-life persona, Milei – an admirer of former U.S. President Donald Trump – has announced a slew of hard-right policies that have endeared him to Argentina’s inflation-stricken populous.
Much like his American idol, Milei is brash and outspoken. He has openly declared his intentions to abolish Argentina’s Central Bank, has argued the sale of human organs should be legal, and believes climate change is a lie.
He has pledged to ‘blow up’ the political status quo, ‘dollarise’ the economy and massively shrink the state, all while banning abortions and ‘taking a chainsaw’ to public services and ‘the aberration called social justice’, which he claims is ‘synonymous with budgetary deficit’.