Argentines will go to the polls on Sunday, Oct. 22, to vote for President, in what can accurately be called the worst economic and political crisis in recent history, exacerbated by vicious financial warfare by the IMF and its affiliated Wall Street and City of London financial vultures. There are 35 million eligible voters, including those living abroad, 1 million of whom are youth between 16-17 years of age. To win tomorrow’s election outright and avoid a second round, a candidate must win 45% of the vote, or 40% with at least a 10-point lead over the closest contender. If no one wins outright, there will be a runoff election Nov. 19.
The country is deeply polarized and there is widespread desperation and anger over an economic collapse that has raised the poverty rate to over 40% and made daily living impossible, especially among poorer sectors. A soaring inflation rate of 138.2% has placed everyday goods out of reach of large sections of the population—when they are available at all. Newspapers are filled with pictures of empty supermarket shelves because of fluctuating prices and supply shortages. It’s a day-to-day battle just to meet basic needs.
Against this backdrop, what choices do Argentines have among the three top contenders? Neoliberal Patricia Bullrich, running on the right-wing Together Let’s Change ticket, would basically do a rerun of the disastrous Mauricio Macri (2015-2019) presidency, in which she served as Security Minister, which drove the country into the abyss with a $57 billion IMF loan and all the destruction that entailed. Libertarian fascist Javier Milei, controlled by ideologues of the British-inspired Austrian School of economics and Atlas Foundation, would take the country straight to hell by dismantling the state and privatizing everything. Both candidates say they won’t allow Argentina to join the BRICS in January. Milei vows to break ties with “communists” China and Brazil and make Israel and the U.S. his strongest allies.
