Libertarian populist leader Javier Milei won the Argentina presidential election by a large margin Sunday, making him the next leader of the South American nation. Milei and the La Libertad Avanza party won against Sergio Massa and his ruling Peronist party, with 55.7% of the vote compared to Massa's 44.3%. The more than 11% lead is the highest since before Argentina re-established its democracy in 1983.Milei said he was going to slash big government, eliminate the Central Bank, dollarize the economy and shrink the mounting inflation, which reached 40% under Massa. “The end of Argentine decadence begins,” Milei said in his victory speech. “There is no turning back. Argentina's situation is critical. The changes our country needs are drastic. There is no room for gradualism, no room for lukewarm measures.”“Enough of the impoverishing model of the caste,” he said. “Today we return to embrace the ideas of freedom to be a world power.”“The reconstruction of Argentina begins today.”The president-elect’s supporters shouted, “Libertad, libertad,” which means “freedom.” Canadian People’s Party of Canada leader Maxime Bernier took to Twitter (“X”) to tout Milei for his libertarian/conservative victory. “Wonderful news from Buenos Aires!” Bernier wrote. “Javier Milei, a populist libertarian/conservative who is a proponent of the Austrian School of Economics (like me) and wants to overturn decades of disastrous leftist governance in Argentina which has destroyed this once rich country, has just defeated the corrupt Peronist candidate and been elected president!”“Our ideas are on the rise around the world, and the left is losing!”
