Explaining Brazil #271: Milei wins. What next?

Argentina is living today what Brazil experienced five years ago. 

Amid a challenging economic scenario, voters chose a radical political outsider to be their president. Someone who promised to be like a wrecking ball to the political establishment — but also who allied themselves with traditional figures in order to cement their wins.

In Brazil, it was the 2018 victory of Jair Bolsonaro. In Argentina, it is the triumph of Javier Milei, who describes himself as an anarcho-capitalist who uses a chainsaw as a symbol of his intentions to shrink the Argentinian state.

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This episode used music from Uppbeat and Envato. License codes: Aspire by Pryces (B6TUQLVYOWVKY02S), The Thriller by elite_music (PQRNUV7) 

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In this episode:

• Ignacio Portes is The Brazilian Report’s Latin America editor. He writes the Latin America Weekly newsletter and covers affairs around the continent. He previously worked for the Buenos Aires Herald and The Bubble, and has written for outlets such as Al Jazeera and the Financial Times.

Background reading:

• We first covered the rise of Javier Milei in episode #178, back in November 2021, shortly after the far-right figurehead managed a decent showing in Buenos Aires elections, and then again in episode #264, after he’d won the presidential primaries.
• Mr. Milei’s rise to power is symptomatic of a rightward shift in Argentinian politics, which we spotted in September 2021, as Peronism lost its grip on the legislature.
• Having an ideological foe in office in Buenos Aires could well be a stone in the shoe for Brazil’s government. We look at the risks the Milei presidency poses to the country.

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