US President Donald Trump had threatened to ditch the South American nation’s leader if his party had performed poorly
Argentine President Javier Milei has secured a solid victory in midterm elections, with his party, La Libertad Avanza, tripling its presence in the legislature.
Mid-term elections were held across the nation on Sunday, with half of the seats in the lower Chamber of Deputies and the upper Senate, 127 and 24, respectively, up for grabs.
La Libertad Avanza received nearly 41% of the votes, beating the left-wing Peronist party, Fuerza Patria, which received some 31.7%. The elections were marked by a historically low turnout of just under 68%, despite voting being compulsory in the country.
According to Milei, his party won 101 seats in the lower house, up from 37, and 20 seats in the upper house, up from only six. The result still falls short of a majority, yet the bolstered representation is set to allow Milei to move forward more freely with his shock austerity reforms.
The election result surpassed the threshold of 30-35% outlined by the party as an acceptable result. Multiple analysts and pollsters predicted a poorer performance by La Libertad Avanza in the wake of mixed results yielded by the president’s reforms, depleted reserves, and multiple corruption scandals, including the alleged involvement of Milei’s sister, Karina, in bribery schemes.
During his first two years in office, Milei introduced harsh austerity measures, sacking tens of thousands of public officials and slashing spending on infrastructure, education, healthcare, and other public services. He also managed to bring down rampant, triple-digit inflation. The measures, however, prompted employment to tank, thousands of businesses to close, and the government to burn through its dollar reserves, even despite taking a $20 billion IMF loan.
During Milei’s recent visit to Washington, US President Donald Trump appeared to condition a bailout of up to $40 billion on his party’s mid-term performance. The lifeline includes an already signed $20 billion currency swap as well as a proposed $20 billion private investment package.
“If he wins, we’re staying with him, and if he doesn’t win, we’re gone,” Trump said at the time. The US president appeared to be pleased with the election outcome, with Trump hailing Milei as a “great friend” who has been doing a “wonderful job” shortly after the early results were announced.
