Lula and Latin American presidents congratulate Milei on victory in Argentina

DEMOCRACY

Coalition candidate Liberdad Avanza is an economist and won amid inflation that reached 142% in 12 months

Several Latin American presidents congratulated the Argentine candidate who won the presidential elections this Sunday (19), the ultra-rightist Javier Milei. He defeated the current Minister of Economy, Sérgio Massa, by 55% of the votes against 44%. The coalition candidate Freedom Advances He is an economist and won amid inflation that reached 142% in 12 months.

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva commented on Milei’s victory on a social network and wished the new government success.

“Democracy is the voice of the people, and it must always be respected. My congratulations to Argentine institutions for conducting the electoral process and to the Argentine people who participated in the electoral day in an orderly and peaceful manner. I wish the new government good luck and success. Argentina is a great country and deserves all our respect. Brazil will always be available to work together with our Argentine brothers”,

he stated.

The president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, congratulated Milei, but lamented the victory of a candidate identified with the extreme right.

“It’s your society’s decision. Sad for Latin America and we’ll see… neoliberalism no longer has a proposal for society, it cannot respond to humanity’s current problems. The relations between Colombia and Argentina, the ties between their peoples, will remain in mutual respect. I congratulate Milei”,

he said.

Other presidents considered left or center-left, such as Luis Arce, from Bolivia, and Gabriel Boric, from Chile, congratulated the winner without judging the value of the electoral result.

According to Arce, “Bolivia will always be respectful of the democratic will of our people. We wish prosperity to the brotherly people of Argentina and success to its elected president, Javier Milei”.

The Chilean president hailed Milei for his victory and said he will work “tirelessly to keep our sister nations united and collaborating for the well-being of everyone”.

The right-wing or center-right presidents of Uruguay, Luis Lacalle Pou, and the victor in the Ecuadorian elections, Daniel Noboa, also congratulated Milei on his victory. Noboa invited Milei to “work towards strengthening bilateral relations and for a prosperous future that seeks cooperation between our nations”. Lacalle emphasized that “we will have a lot to work on together and to improve our bilateral relations”.

Brazil

In Brazil, the leaders of the two parties with the most representatives in the Chamber of Deputies expressed divergent positions. While the president of the Liberal Party (PL) celebrated, the president of the PT said she hoped that the Argentine people would be able to overcome this “tough test” for democracy and that “the fight continues”.

According to Gleisi Hoffmann, “we trust that the Argentine people and their institutions will be able to overcome this new and very tough test for their democracy, represented by the election of Milei. We will remain supportive in the challenge of building integration between our countries and strengthening Mercosur. We hope that such efforts will not be interrupted by the new government.”

PL president Valdemar Costa Neto, in turn, said that this was a “great day” for Argentina. “Victory for Milei and victory for the people of that nation. Congratulations to everyone who had the good sense to speak out in favor of democratic and economic security. We hope that Brazil follows the same line in the next elections,” he stated.

Who is Milei?

Rose to fame as an economic commentator on television programs, Javier Milei gained support from traditional right-wing politicians in the second round, such as former president Mauricio Macri and the defeated candidate Patricia Bullrich.

The future Argentine president defines himself as a libertarian and anarcho-capitalist and declared himself a defender of ideas such as the commercialization of organs and the free sale of weapons.

He promises to dollarize the economy and abolish the Argentine Central Bank to put an end to inflation. However, in the second round, Milei softened previous speeches, promising to no longer privatize health and public schools.

*With information from Agência Brasil

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