Prosecutor files case against Argentina's frontrunner Javier Milei days before presidential election

DANIEL POLITI
Fri, October 13, 2023 


Presidential hopeful of the Liberty Advances coalition, Javier Milei, displays a shovel during a rally in Salta, Argentina, Thursday, Oct. 12, 2023. Elections are set for Oct. 22. (AP Photo/Javier Corbalan)

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — A prosecutor launched a criminal case Friday against Argentina's frontrunner in this month's presidential elections, accusing Javier Milei of deliberately causing a drop in the Argentine currency when he encouraged citizens not to save in pesos.

Milei denounced the move as political persecution, just days ahead of the Oct. 22 polling.

President Alberto Fernández had called for the investigation in a complaint filed Wednesday, saying that the right-wing populist candidate was trying to scare the public and that his actions were “a severe affront to the democratic system.”

Prosecutor Franco Picardi on Friday referred a criminal case to a federal judge, going off Fernández's accusation that claimed Milei and other candidates on his party's ticket were inciting public fear — a charge that carries possible prison terms of up to six years. Federal Judge María Servini will later decide whether there is enough evidence to indict.

Milei is considered the frontrunner in the Oct. 22 election, after rocking Argentina’s political landscape when he unexpectedly received the most votes in August primaries that are widely seen as a massive poll of voter preferences.

He pushed back against the criminal case Friday, characterizing the prosecutor as an ally of the government and saying that Picardi is “persecuting the political option most voted by the Argentine people.”

In a post on social media, Milei added: “Nothing will prevent the beating we’re going to give them at the polls.”

In a news conference earlier this week, Milei said those who criticized him were trying to "tarnish the electoral process or even forcibly ban the most popular political force ... because they know we're just a few points away from winning.”

In his initial complaint, Fernández cited a radio interview Monday in which Milei recommended that Argentines not renew fixed rate deposits in the local currency, saying the “peso is the currency issued by the Argentine politician, and therefore it is not worth crap.”

Another member of Milei's self-described libertarian party, a candidate for the Buenos Aires mayoralty, also called on citizens to drop the peso.

“Today more than ever: Don’t save in pesos,” Ramiro Marra wrote on social media Tuesday.

Marra and Agustín Romo, a candidate for the Buenos Aires province legislature in Milei’s Liberty Advances party, also were included in the prosecutor’s filing.

Many of Milei's rivals blamed him for a sharp depreciation of the peso, which lost 10 percent of its value over the past week.

The so-called blue rate, as the informal exchange rate is known, reached as high as 1,050 pesos to the U.S. dollar on Tuesday, a sharp increase from 880 pesos the previous week. It later moderated that increase and ended the week at around 980 pesos to the dollar.

Stringent capital controls mean that access to the official foreign exchange market, which currently prices a dollar at 367 pesos, is extremely limited.

Milei is a fiercely anti-establishment candidate who has said that the answer to Argentina’s red-hot inflation, which is running at around 140% per year, is to dollarize the economy. He had recently suggested the sharp depreciation of the peso could be convenient for his eventual presidency.

“The higher price of the dollar, the easier it is to dollarize,” Milei said earlier this month.

Polls show Milei is leading the race for presidency although he does not appear to have enough votes to win outright without a runoff next month.

Argentina election race close with Milei in the lead, pollsters say

Reuters
Fri, October 13, 2023 

Supporters of Argentine presidential candidate Javier Milei during a campaign rally, in Buenos Aires

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - Far-right libertarian Javier Milei is leading the polls ahead of Argentina's Oct. 22 presidential vote, but it remains a tight race between the top three candidates, three surveys showed.

All three surveys had Economy Minister Sergio Massa in second place and conservative opposition candidate Patricia Bullrich in third.

Two of the polls showed the three candidates within a 10-point range, indicating that a runoff round is likely as none of them may secure the votes to win the poll outright.

To win outright, a candidate needs to secure either 45% of the vote or over 40% with a lead of more than 10 points over their closest rival.

Milei, an economist and political outsider who won a shock victory over establishment heavy-weights at the August primaries with radical proposals, has 34-35% of the vote this month, according to a poll by Opina Argentina. Massa has 29-30% while Bullrich has 24-25%.

A Synopsis Consultores survey showed Milei with 36.5%, followed by Massa with 29.7% and Bullrich with 23.8%.

"The outcome is open," said Opina Argentina analyst Facundo Nejamkis.

Amid an economic crisis that has plunged two in five below the poverty line and seen annual inflation hit 138%, Milei's pledges to dollarize the economy and shut down the central bank have won over some disillusioned voters.

"I voted for Milei in the PASO (primaries) and I am going to vote for him again. It is a change, someone has to remove the Kirchneristas (center-left Peronists)," said Gustavo Machado, a 40-year-old real estate broker from Buenos Aires.

Federico Aurelio, who runs consulting firm Aresco, said: "Milei will reach the runoff unless there is a political earthquake between now and Oct. 22."

He added that Bullrich would have to do "something very special" to overtake Massa.

For some voters, Milei's policies are far too radical.

Nancy Moran, a 58-year-old fruit seller, said she would vote for Massa because under Milei "the peso will disappear."

Most pollsters have not yet released forecasts for a possible Nov. 19 runoff, though Milei is broadly seen as having the best chance of winning.

(Reporting by Nicolas Misculin; Additional reporting by Candelaria Grimberg; Writing by Isabel Woodford; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)

Explainer-Argentina's presidential election: Who are the candidates and what is at stake?

Fri, October 13, 2023 

 A combination picture shows Argentine presidential candidates Sergio Massa, Patricia Bullrich and Javier Milei, in Buenos Aires

By Maximilian Heath

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - Argentina will hold a presidential election on Oct. 22, with a fiery libertarian economist, an economy minister and a center-right former security minister vying in a tight race to reach the presidential palace.

One of them will replace President Alberto Fernandez, who is not seeking re-election.

The election comes as Argentine voters have been hard-hit by 124% yearly inflation that has pummeled their purchasing power. Two in five Argentines live in poverty.

WHEN AND WHERE?

Voting centers for the Oct. 22 election open at 8 a.m. local time (1100 GMT) and close at 6 p.m. The preliminary results do not have an established publication time and law prohibits the dissemination of forecasts until 9 p.m. local time.

Voting is mandatory for citizens between 18 and 70 years old and optional for 16- and 17-year-olds and people over 70. About 35.4 million people are registered to vote, including Argentines who live abroad.

To win in the first round, a candidate has to obtain more than 45% of votes or more than 40% with a more than 10-point lead over the second-place candidate. If no candidate reaches this threshold, the top two will continue to a runoff on Sunday, Nov. 19.

WHAT POSITIONS WILL ARGENTINES VOTE FOR?

Argentines will vote for the country's new president and vice president, who will take office on Dec. 10 and govern for four years, until the end of 2027.

Voters will also choose 130 lower house representatives from all of Argentina's 23 provinces and one autonomous city, and 24 national senators representing eight provinces. The Argentine Congress is made up of a Lower House of 257 representatives and an Upper House of 72 representatives.

WHO ARE THE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES?

The three main candidates are Javier Milei, a 52-year-old economist from the libertarian party La Libertad Avanza (LLA); Sergio Massa, the 51-year-old economy minister representing the ruling Union por la Patria (UP) coalition; and Patricia Bullrich, a 67-year-old former security minister from the center-right Juntos por el Cambio(JxC) coalition.

Dissident Peronist Juan Schiaretti from Hacemos por Nuestro País and Myriam Bregman from the leftist Frente de Izquierda coalition are also on the ballot, but polls report their voter support at less than 6% each.

WHAT'S AT STAKE?

Argentina's tight election races come at a time of uncertainty for the South American country facing its worst economic crisis in decades.

An incoming government will have to resuscitate an economy facing triple-digit inflation, negative net foreign exchange reserves, and a currency that has lost 44% of its value since the August primaries. Meanwhile, it will have to stay on track with goals laid out by the International Monetary Fund as conditions of a $44 billion loan.

Milei, who obtained the most votes in the August primaries, was a theatrical economics columnist on television until winning a congressional seat two years ago. He has promised unprecedented political and economic restructuring, which includes dollarizing the economy, eliminating the central bank and drastically reducing the state's role.

The candidacy of Massa, a moderate Peronist, illustrates a strong realignment within the dominating political force since the middle of the last century. After almost two decades as the leading Peronist figure, powerful center-left Vice President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner has taken a backseat in these elections after facing multiple corruption charges in recent years.

PROJECTIONS

Less than two weeks before the elections, polls indicate a likely runoff between Milei and Massa, in which the redirection of the votes for Bullrich would play a fundamental role.

However, Argentina's pollsters have failed to reliably predict the results of the 2019 presidential elections and recent primaries, when the majority of analysts placed Milei in third place.

(Reporting by Maximilian Heath; Editing by Rod Nickel)

Factbox-Who are Argentina's presidential candidates?

Reuters
Fri, October 13, 2023 

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - Argentines will vote on Oct. 22 to elect a new president, with an ultra-libertarian, a conservative and the ruling coalition's center-left hopeful fighting tooth and nail for the keys to the Casa Rosada government palace amid a spiraling economic crisis.

The new president will take the reins in December, facing down triple-digit inflation, a currency in freefall, and rising poverty.

In an August primary, Javier Milei of the fringe Liberty Advances (LLA) party shattered forecasts by finishing first with 30% support, just ahead of Patricia Bullrich from the center-right opposition alliance Together for Change (JxC) with 28%, and Economy Minister Sergio Massa of the ruling Peronist Union for the Homeland (UP) coalition close behind at 27%.

Polls had predicted that Milei would rank third place or lower. Two other candidates trail far behind: dissident Peronist Juan Schiaretti and leftist Myriam Bregman.

To win outright, a candidate must obtain over 45% of the votes cast, or over 40% together with a margin of more than 10 percentage points over the closest competitor. If no candidate wins outright, the top two finishers will compete in a Nov. 19 run-off.

Here is a summary of the main candidates and their plans:

JAVIER MILEI - LIBERTY ADVANCES

An outsider to Argentina's political establishment, the 52-year-old economist and congressman with tousled hair, fiery speeches and a penchant for rock music was until a few years ago known more as a theatrical TV commentator.

But a devastating economic crisis and disillusionment with those in power helped propel Milei and his harsh anti-establishment message ahead of two experienced heavyweights in the August primaries.

Among other far-right proposals, Milei has vowed to shut down the central bank and dollarize the economy in order to reduce inflation. He also has pledged deep spending cuts alongside plans to privatize health, education and public works in a drastic downsizing of the state.

PATRICIA BULLRICH - TOGETHER FOR CHANGE

A 67-year-old former security minister, Bullrich won the opposition candidacy with an emphasis on restoring "order" and a tough discourse promising to rapidly get rid of capital controls. She has ruled out any negotiations with the Peronists.

Bullrich - who served as minister under the 2015-2019 administration of conservative President Mauricio Macri - beat her JxC rival by a wide margin, but Milei's clear, if narrow, victory among opposition candidates nevertheless marked a stinging defeat.

She argues that cutting government spending is vital to taming inflation and pledged to eliminate taxes as soon as possible on agricultural exports, one of the state's top revenue sources.

SERGIO MASSA - UNION FOR THE HOMELAND

The 51-year-old lawyer and current economy minister is running to maintain the ruling Peronist coalition's hold on the Casa Rosada. His government's leader, outgoing President Alberto Fernandez, will leave office with the economy in crisis.

A former legislative leader and ex-mayor of the Buenos Aires suburb of Tigre, Massa pledges to reduce the government's ballooning budget deficit and strengthen central bank reserves to improve the economy, while betting in traditional Peronist fashion on the domestic market.

Massa adopts a more market-friendly incarnation of Peronism, maintaining contacts with foreign businessmen and Washington, and a shift away from the influential populist leftist movement represented by current Vice President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner.

JUAN SCHIARETTI - WE DO FOR OUR COUNTRY

The 74-year-old former governor of Cordoba province represents a dissident faction of the ruling Peronist coalition that has split away from Kirchnerism.

He touts his local experience managing public finances, but his party achieved just 3.8% of the vote in the August primaries.

MYRIAM BREGMAN - LEFTIST FRONT

The 51-year-old lawyer represents the country's historical socialist movement through the Leftist Front coalition, which won just 2.7% of the August votes.

(Reporting by Maximilian Heath; Writing by Sarah Morland; Editing by Leslie Adler)