Argentina: Massa and Milei, two Servants of Yankee Imperialism
Featured: the two presidential candidates which will go to the second round, Sergio Massa (left) and Javier Milei (right). Source: Notinor.
Last Sunday, 22nd of October, a new phase of the elections in Argentina was held, carrying out a new candidate filter. In this phase, none of the presidential candidates achieved sufficient support to be chosen directly as president of the Government (they need to achieve 45% of the vote, or 40% and a 10% advantage to the second candidate). Therefore, all the candidates were eliminated except two. On 19th of November there will be a turn-out between Sergio Massa, Peronist candidate, and Javier Milei, ultra-reactionary candidate, the two candidates with most the votes in the last elections. The results of the three main candidates were: Sergio Massa of Unión por la Patria (Union for Homeland) (36.68 percent) – the winner of the PASO elections -, the candidate of La Libertad Avanza (The Liberty Advances), Javier Milei (29.99 percent) and Patricia Bullrich of Juntos por el Cambio (Together for Change) (23.83 percent). The result of the elections shows that there is no clear victory of any candidate, and this, together with the conditions that the Argentinian people is living and the economic crisis, condemn the next Argentinian government to be weak and unstable.
Previously, the so-called PASO (primaries, simultaneous, open and mandatory) were held on 13th of August, which represent the first filter for the candidates who are running for presidency. These elections had one of the lowest participations of the so-called “democratic elections” in Argentina, with 69.6% participation. While this first phase of the elections occurred, there were strong protests due to the precarious situation that the Argentinian people live. The Peronist government strongly repressed these demonstrations, murdering an activist and journalist, Facundo Morales Schoenfeld. One of the two main electoral candidates, Sergio Massa, is part of this government, he is Minister of Economy. We have previously reported on the first phase of the presidential elections.
Regarding two candidates for the November turn-out, we first have Sergio Massa, faithful servant of the IMF – mainly a tool of Yankee imperialism – as Minister of Economy of the Argentinian State. In fact he has the favor of the IMF and the support of the Argentinian ruling classes, due to they think he is a safe candidate for their interests, known for its role in front of the Argentinian economy, and reliable for its firm policy of following the IMF commands. This servility to the IMF was clear before the PASO elections, and in fact Massa himself was totally right when he said: “the results of the election will not effect the condition of the disbursements of the Fund.” On top of all this, Massa has recently positioned himself on the struggle of the Palestinian people: during a debate of presidential candidates on the night of Sunday 8th of October, Massa was shown with a black crepe as a sign of mourning for the dead Israeli people, and pledging that he will include Hamas in the list of terrorist organizations according to the Argentinian State if he becomes president.
On the other hand Milei, ultra-reactionary candidate, who has insistingly promised that the IMF will have no problem with Argentina if he becomes president, and he will fulfill all its designs. The most famous economic proposal of Milei has been the dollarization of Argentina. He began to gain popularity with his populist speeches, against all political parties, showing himself as someone who would erase all the legacy left by the other Argentine bourgeois parties. But quickly, after the last elections and facing the November turn-out, that facade fell down and Milei began attempts to get into one other of the candidates, Patricia Bullrich, stating that she was successful in her security policies. Also Milei stated that the main point is “to defeat Kirchnerism.” Even being a candidate who has constantly sought to be as helpful as possible for Yankee imperialism, the IMF has clearly positioned itself against Milei and in favor of Sergio Massa, due to they have already worked closely with Massa and he has followed their commands as Minister of Economy of the current Government.
The proposals of both candidates are essentially the same regarding the relationship of Argentina, semi-colonial and semi-feudal country, with imperialism, mainly Yankee imperialism. This can be seen regarding the payment of the debt and the relationship with the IMF. Massa himself was right when he pointed out this conclusion, since none of the candidates represents a contradiction with Yankee imperialism. But also the tendency of reactionarization is obviously becoming stronger also in Argentina, with proposals and speeches of both candidates against the struggle of the peoples, and also for the repression of the Argentinian people.
