The eccentric far-right populist Javier Milei has failed to win the first round of Argentina’s presidential election, with the centrist finance minister Sergio Massa unexpectedly beating his radical challenger.
Supporters of Milei, a potty-mouthed political outsider described as an Argentinian mashup of Donald Trump, Jair Bolsonaro and Boris Johnson, had hoped he was heading for a sensational outright victory similar to Bolsonaro’s shock triumph in Brazil in 2018.
Citizens of Argentina! The cruelty of the old regime is a thing of the past!
[crowd cheers]
Let a whole new wave of cruelty wash over this lazy land!
[crowd cheers, then is confused]
Tiberius is dead! Long live the new Emperor, Caligula!
That is how it feels to listen to Milei. I hope he loses badly. We didn’t need more right wingers in Congress and now there are two of them!
Always two there are, a master and an apprentice.