Javier Milei: The eccentric populist 'Making Argentina Great Again'

Crucial bailout

Argentina's economic turnaround under his leadership has now resulted in the International Monetary Fund reaching a preliminary agreement on a $20bn bailout that could prove crucial to Milei's attempts to reform the country's old economic order.

Milei's success in reversing Argentina's economic fortunes in such a short period of time has resulted in an uplift in his personal ratings, with recent polls indicating he still has the support of a considerable part of the population, a remarkable achievement for someone who first came to national prominence as a flamboyant television pundit and outspoken critic of the country's ruling class.

Born in the upper-middle-class Villa Devoto neighbourhood of Buenos Aires in 1970, Milei has described his childhood as troubled, revealing that he had a complicated relationship with his parents, who reportedly physically and verbally abused him and with whom, as an adult, he ceased talking for some 10 years. Support during his early years came from his maternal grandmother and his younger sister, Karina Milei, who has long played a pivotal role in his life.

As a schoolboy, he earned his nickname "El Loco" for his aggressive rhetoric and angry disposition. Early on, his passions were music and football. Deeply affected by the hyperinflation that ravaged Argentina's economy in the 1980s, he put music and football behind him to study economics. While at the University of Belgrano, Milei immersed himself in Keynesian economics while working as an intern at the Central Bank.

Eventually progressing to study for a doctorate, Milei became disillusioned with Keynesianism and instead became an advocate for the free market policies espoused by classical liberal economists such as F.A. Hayek.

By the mid-2010s, Milei began appearing on television as a pundit discussing economics and politics. He railed against the Leftist administrations of presidents such as Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, constantly denouncing the country's ruling political elite in angry, expletive-laden rants, characterising them as corrupt thieves and branding them "the political caste".

As his television appearances became increasingly flamboyant and theatrical, his fame continued to grow. With the onset of the COVID-19 global pandemic, Milei gained further attention by criticising the government's handling of the outbreak and expressing scepticism regarding the effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Comparisons to Trump

Once it became clear that Milei had ambitions to enter politics, comparisons were inevitably drawn with the right-wing populist and anti-establishment approach adopted by Donald Trump in the US.

Indeed, many of Milei's current initiatives have garnered praise from Trump, who has called Milei a "great leader," as well as prominent figures in the US government, such as Elon Musk. Milei even attended Trump's presidential inauguration ceremonies at his invitation.

More recently, while most of the world was reeling from Trump's imposition of wide-ranging reciprocal tariffs, Milei was being feted at Trump's Mar-a-Lago club, where he was given an award at the right-wing "American Patriot" gala.

Receiving the award, Milei bellowed "Make Argentina Great Again!" from the ballroom stage. In March, Trump expressed openness to discussing a free-trade deal with Argentina, and Milei praised the progress toward this goal in his speech at Mar-a-Lago. He also said he is willing to pull Argentina from South America's Mercosur regional trade bloc if necessary.

"To make Argentina great again ... we must work back-to-back as strategic partners with common objectives with the United States", he said as he received the award that was made in honour of his defence of free markets and conservative values. Declaring himself ready to work side by side with the US and Trump, Milei praised the US president and ruled out retaliatory measures. "Argentina is going to move forward to readjust the regulations so that we meet the requirements of the reciprocal tariffs proposal."

To achieve this aim, the Argentine leader is relying heavily on the $20bn bailout that has been agreed with the International Monetary Fund.

Contentious issue

The bailout, which was approved on 11 April despite many of the Fund's top decision-makers questioning Argentina's ability to repay the debt, will help Milei keep his ambitious economic reforms on track as pressure mounts on the country's scarce foreign currency reserves. However, the loan remains a contentious issue with the IMF, not least because Argentina has a reputation as a serial defaulter that already owes the fund around $44bn.

Concerns have also been raised about Milei's own conduct after he faced calls for impeachment and legal action accusing him of fraud over his involvement in promoting cryptocurrency on social media.

Milei posted on X about the $LIBRA coin, which he said would help fund small businesses and start-ups. He shared a link to buy it, causing its price to skyrocket, but within a few hours, he deleted his post, and the cryptocurrency plummeted in value, leaving investors with most of their money lost.

Despite this setback, Milei continues to promote himself as one of Trump's strongest allies in the global culture war against the "woke" Left. Earlier this year, he pulled Argentina out of the World Health Organisation after the US announced its own exit, and has threatened to quit the Paris climate accord after Trump decided to end US participation in the agreement.

Milei's willingness to take on the Argentine political establishment has certainly won him Trump's support. As the American president recently remarked of his Argentine counterpart, "I love him because he loves Trump. Anybody who loves me, I like them."