Wielding chainsaw and huge dollar bill, Argentine radical taps into voter fury
By Horacio Soria and Juan Bustamante
LA PLATA, Argentina (Reuters) — Wielding a chainsaw above his head in the Argentine city of La Plata this week, radical presidential front-runner Javier Milei riled up thousands of supporters angry with 124% inflation and a painful cost-of-living crisis.
The economist and TV pundit only got into politics two years ago but he has already shaken up the South American nation's political landscape, coming first in an open primary in August. With momentum behind him, he is seen as the candidate to beat in October's election.
His angry, theatrical and at times expletive-laced tirades against the traditional political elite have caught fire with voters furious over years of economic volatility and decline, compounded more recently by soaring costs, a tumbling currency, and poverty that now affects 40% of the country.
«We need resounding change. We must remove all the people who have left this country destroyed,» said Rosalia Garcia, 51, a public accountant at Milei's rally in La Plata, the capital of Buenos Aires province. Behind her was a sign that said «Milei, the only solution.»
Amid the crowd, Milei held aloft a huge $100 bill with his face on it, a reference to his pledge to dollarize the economy, a plan criticized by economists as unrealistic but that has won over some voters fed up with watching the value of their pesos evaporate.
He has also pledged to «dynamite» the unpopular central bank, take down the political «caste,» shrink the government, take a tough line on crime, and has railed against what he calls «woke» behavior. He opposes abortion and supports expanded gun rights.
«The political caste is afraid,» he yelled in La Plata.
Milei is up against conservative former security
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