The lion, the wig and the warrior. Who is Javier Miley, president-elect of Argentina?
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — His legions of fans call him “Crazy” and “The Wig” because of his ferocity and unruly hair, while he refers to himself as “The Lion.” He believes sex education is a Marxist plot to destroy the family, views cloned mastiffs as his “four-footed children”, and raised the possibility of allowing people to sell their vital organs.
This is Javier Miley, The next president of Argentina.
A few years ago, Miley was a television speaker beloved by booking agents because his broadsides against government spending and the ruling political class boosted ratings. At that time, and until just a few months ago, no political expert believed he had a real chance of becoming president of South America’s second-largest economy.
But Miley, a 53-year-old economist, has shaken up Argentina’s political establishment and inserted himself into what had long been a two-party system by He gathered a huge wave of support With his prescriptions for radical measures to curb rising inflation and by pledging to wage a crusade against the creep of socialism in society.
The “anarcho-capitalist” libertarian
At the heart of his economic plan for Argentina is a proposal to replace the local currency, the peso, with the US dollar. He has repeatedly said that the only way is to quit The scourge of inflationWhich exceeded 140%, is to prevent politicians from continuing to print money. As such, he plans to extinguish the central bank.
The libertarianism of Miley, who described himself as an “anarcho-capitalist,” was something new for Argentina. He has spoken in favor of loosening the country’s labor laws and promoted a vision of a starkly smaller government to boost economic growth. This entails the abolition of half of government ministries, including health and education. As a symbol of the deep cuts he championed, he sometimes campaigned with Chainsaw revival is at hand.
The reduction in the size of the state is consistent with his calls to purge the “political class” from Argentina’s government, just as former US President Donald Trump spoke of “draining the swamp” in reference to the entrenched establishment. Miley has often drawn comparisons to Trump, a leader he openly admires.
Before she entered the public spotlight, she was Miley Chief Economist In Corporación America, one of Argentina’s largest business conglomerates that operates, among other things, most of the country’s airports. He served there until 2021, when he won his seat as an MP.
Culture warrior
Miley sees himself not only as a right-wing politician, but also as a person Culture warrior With a mission to shake Argentine society. Some of Miley’s positions appear to echo more conservative Republicans in the United States, while his profanity-laced rhetoric has already elevated him to a prominent position in the global culture war that sometimes overwhelms political discourse in the United States, neighboring Brazil and elsewhere.
Miley opposes feminist politics and abortion, which Argentina has legalized in recent years, and has proposed holding a referendum to repeal the law. He also rejects the idea that humans have a role in causing climate change. In a television appearance, he denounced Pope Francis, an Argentine, as an “idiot” for advocating social justice, and described the head of the Roman Catholic Church as a “representative of malice on earth.”
In the same vein as Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan, Miley said he would return the country to an indefinite period of greatness.
“Argentina will regain a place in the world that it should never have lost,” Miley said at his victory rally on Sunday. His followers have embraced the comparison, often wearing hats bearing the phrase “Make Argentina Great Again.”
personal life
The son of a passenger transportation businessman and a housewife, the economist does not like to talk much about his childhood, and said that his younger years were characterized by a tense relationship with his father.
The younger Miley played in a banned Rolling Stones tribute and worked as a goalkeeper in the youth sections of Chacarita Football Club. But he decided to put football aside during the period of hyperinflation in the late 1980s to study economics.
These days, the only family member with whom he has a close relationship is his sister Karina Miley, who ran his campaign. He calls her “the boss” and has repeatedly described her as the architect of his rise to power.
During her frequent television appearances, Miley doesn’t just talk about economics and politics. He has also delved into his personal life and once presented himself as an expert on tantric sex, publicly discussing how he repeatedly engaged in group sex and offering advice.
For most of his adult life, Miley did not have a serious romantic partner and was not known to have friends. After saying for months that he didn’t have the time to date, he began a relationship in July with Actress and artist Fatima Flores. She is known for her imitation of Vice President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, who held the presidency from 2007-2015.
Miley had a deep relationship with her English Mastiff, Conan, who passed away. He now has at least four others cloned using Conan’s DNA, all bearing the names of economists.
