Argentina is electing a new president today. Right-wing populist Milei and government candidate Massa are up for election. As economics minister, Massa is partly responsible for the crisis in the country – but he can still be hopeful.
In the last TV debate before the runoff election for the presidency in Argentina, the tone is rough. On one side is the eccentric right-wing populist Javier Milei, who calls himself anarcho-capitalist, and on the other side is Sergio Massa, the Peronist candidate, with gray hair, a neat suit and an Argentina flag on his envelope.
“Javier, you or me, that’s what this is about,” says Massa. “Argentinians must decide who they believe has the balanced actions, skills, emotional balance and sense of reality to take Argentina forward in the future.”
In the TV debate, Economics Minister Massa focused on seriousness and thus differentiated himself from his opponent Milei.
Inflation rate well over 100 percent
Do you have this ability, asks Milei – a not entirely unjustified question. After all, Massa is not just any candidate, he is the incumbent economics minister of a country in which the inflation rate is currently 143 percent and more than 40 percent live below the poverty line.
Many therefore considered his candidacy in these elections to be completely hopeless. But then he got 37 percent in the first round and is now heading into the runoff with his head held high.
How can this be explained? Massa’s candidacy would “not put him in a celebratory mood,” says a man on the street, recalling the economic situation. But Milei is just “one Fascist, he wants to destroy everything: public education, health – it’s a long list”.
A passer-by admits that she understands that the “illusions” that Milei promises are misleading, but she believes that with him everything will only get worse. She is certainly not a fan of Massa, but he is probably “the only way to save Argentina from breaking up.”
When the opponent is deterred
Massa, the lesser evil. And in fact, what is likely to play into his hands is the fact that his opponent is deterred: Milei, who likes to appear with a chainsaw, wants to introduce the US dollar as a means of payment, defends the trade in organs and called the Argentine Pope an idiot. “The Crazy One” is the title of an unauthorized biography about Milei.
In contrast, Massa managed to present himself as a prudent statesman and pragmatic crisis manager. He will convene a government of national unity and bring in the “best and most competent”, regardless of their party affiliation.
Representative of a flexible movement
The 51-year-old lawyer is a member of the ruling Peronists. The populist movement that is based on Juan Domingo Perón and his wife Evita and has dominated Argentina’s politics for decades – sometimes from the left, sometimes from the right. Ideologically, Peronism is quite flexible; it is about belonging, connection and always about power.
After his victory in the first round, Massa deliberately took the stage alone. He made no mention of the unpopular President Alberto Fernández, who has not been seen for weeks. Neither is ex-president and current deputy Cristina Kirchner, who was sentenced to six years in prison for corruption and represents the left wing of Peronism, the so-called “Kirchnerismo”.
The chameleon”
Massa deliberately keeps his distance; he knows that in order to win the runoff election, he has to convince voters in the right-wing camp. It helps him that he is considered a chameleon within Peronism and is well connected across all parties, says political journalist and Massa biographer Diego Genoud.
He calls Massa a “career guy” with 35 years of experience in politics “and an absolute will to come to power, no matter how.” Massa actually comes from the right-wing camp, but has the ability to get along with everyone and was able to make alliances with the left-wing Peronist Kirchner as well as with her political opponents.
That makes him “unpredictable and, for some, not very credible.” While the government coalition practically fell apart, Massa didn’t give up – “and now everything depends on him.”
Cuts probably unavoidable – after the election
In the election campaign, Massa once again reached deep into the state treasury in view of the crisis, promising tax relief, aid and subsidies for the poor, the elderly and the unemployed. But, experts agree, even a President Massa would have to make painful cuts.
Argentina is moving to the right in these elections, no matter who wins, says Genoud. Some would say in this situation that it would be better for a Peronist like Massa to take the lead – one who has the ability to tame the left and the social movements so that the cuts are passed without much conflict on the streets: ” That’s the bet.”
This is also part of the image of the lesser evil. Whether Massa can convince those who did not vote for Milei in the first round of voting, but for moderate change, will be decided this Sunday.