Ukraine's Argentine Amigo

The presidential election in Argentina has ended, and the "chainsaw economist" and outrageous politician Javier Milei unexpectedly won. However, in reality, the mask of shock value hides a rather deep intellect. He earned a degree in economics from the private University of Belgrano and received two master's degrees from the Instituto de Desarrollo Económico y Social (IDES) and the private University of Torcuato di Tella. Milei has worked as chief economist at the pension company Máxima AFJP, chief economist at the financial consultant Estudio Broda, and government consultant at the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes. He was also a senior economist at HSBC. 

Since 2012, Milei has been head of economic research at Fundación Acordar, a national think tank. He is also a member of the B20, the Economic Policy Group of the International Chamber of Commerce (advisor to the G20) and the World Economic Forum. Argentina's new president is an expert in economic growth and has taught several economic subjects at universities in his country and abroad. For more than 21 years, Milei has been a professor of macroeconomics, growth economics, microeconomics, and mathematics for economists. He is the author of nine books....

This is not a "simple guy" who is making his way to political Olympus. Moreover, he is doing so in a country that has been ruled by representatives of the Kirchner political clan for decades: Nestor Kirchner, his successor, his wife Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, and their protege Alberto Angel Fernandez, who is currently president and is to hand over to Milei.

Anti-peronism as a New Medicine for Argentina

All the Kirchnerist politicians were the successors of the policy of Juan Domingo Perón (1946-1955). This is the so-called Peronism policy, which was also called Justicialism (from the Spanish Justicialism - literally "justice"). It was an Argentine political ideology founded by President Juan Perón and his wife Evita. At a certain stage of historical development, Peronism led to the growth of industry, education, medicine, and social protection. 

At the initial stage, Peronism consisted of: 

• Using the country's foreign exchange reserves for development purposes. 
• Nationalization of railways (owned by French and English companies), telecommunications, public transport, and the gas industry (owned by US companies). 
• Investing revenues from agricultural exports in the development of industry, infrastructure and social programs (eradication of unemployment, child labor, achievement of almost full employment, growth of average wages, pensions and healthcare, the 13th wage for workers, payment for recreation, etc.) 
• Social elevators: trade unions as a parallel structure of governance. The General Confederation of Labor as part of the Peronist Party.

Trade unions concluded collective bargaining agreements with government agencies and enterprises. Dynamic economic growth, freezing of utility tariffs, and low consumer prices (due to an excess of domestically produced goods on the domestic market) were ensured. The population became a participant in the legislative process and the system of public administration: the demands of ordinary people were met through their consideration at meetings of the National Congress. 

But later on, Peronism degraded into ordinary social populism. The adaptability of the model was exhausted.

Under the Kirchners, the tax burden in Argentina increased from 17% to 35%, and 75% of budget expenditures were directed to social programs. In other words, social policy was not based on a growing economy, but on an increasing tax burden. This also led to inflation (150% per year) and the devaluation of the national currency, the peso.   

By the way, Milei came to power on the promise to reduce taxes, cut back on officials, and even abandon the peso in favor of the dollar or cryptocurrencies, while simultaneously liquidating the country's central bank. 

An Unexpected Platform for a Peace Formula

Even before his election, Javier Miley had been vocal in his support for Ukraine, while the Kirchner clan was focused on China and did not hide its sympathies for Russia. It was under the previous president, Alberto Angel Fernandez, that Argentina decided to join the BRICS geopolitical bloc. But the newly elected president, Javier Milei, immediately announced that he would reverse this decision, which has already caused serious concerns from Beijing.

Nevertheless, another politician who actively supports Ukraine has emerged in Latin America. In addition to Miley, it is Gabriel Borich, the recently elected president of Chile. It should be mentioned here that at various regional forums, words of support for Ukraine are very difficult to "squeeze" into official memoranda and final declarations. Borich was the promoter of the wording necessary for Ukraine to support its territorial integrity and condemn Russian aggression.

Now there are hopes that two countries, Chile and Argentina, will actively support Ukraine at the regional level. In the context of accumulating support from the Global South, this is a very important factor.

According to Milei's representative Diana Mondino, "Argentina's new president, Javier Milei, invited Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to his country to hold a peace summit with Latin American countries on Russia's war against Ukraine.

Earlier, Zelenskyy had a phone conversation with his newly elected Argentine counterpart, inviting him to Ukraine. But even if Miley fulfills his statement and blocks Argentina's accession to BRICS, it will be a significant blow to the new bloc, which is being actively promoted in the world, including by Russia. As a result, this could translate into stronger support for Ukraine from South American countries, which are an important part of the Global South.