After several weeks trying to come out of a state of shock, Argentina’s intelligentsia is finally getting over their “Milei hangover” and trying to get on with it. Even if they don’t really know what the “it” really is – it’s not like they would’ve had an idea under the expected scenario where Juntos por el Cambio appeared as the clear front-runner.
In Argentina, every circumstance is an excuse for the dollar-peso exchange rate to go crazy. With the ultra-libertarian economist clearly in the lead, the expectation that he will be the next occupant of the Casa Rosada is beginning to crystallize, giving way to an anti-Milei offensive on both sides of the aisle. Economy Minister Sergio Massa, presidential candidate for the ruling Unión por la Patria coalition, has gone “full Peronist” by announcing a new version of the populist ‘Plan Platita’ (which roughly translates to “putting money in people’s pockets”) through a series of redistributionist policies while constantly attacking the Javier Milei-Victoria Villarruel ticket for planning to “take away your hard-earned rights.” On Patricia Bullrich’s side, the former security minister during the Mauricio Macri administration brought onboard economist Carlos Melconian to confront the wild-haired libertarian, while the official party line is that Juntos por el Cambio is the only political force that can bring order to the country and “defeat the Kirchnerites,” insisting that Milei “has no plan.”
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