BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) – Voters in Argentina went to the polls on Sunday in a wildly swinging presidential runoff that presented two starkly different visions for the country’s future while voters’ anger boiled over triple-digit inflation and rising poverty.
The election will see Peronist Economy Minister Sergio Massa, who is managing the country’s worst economic crisis in two decades, go head-to-head with radical libertarian outsider Javier Maili, who was the favorite in opinion polls before the vote.
Miley pledges economic shock therapy, from closing the central bank to getting rid of the peso and cutting spending, reforms that may be painful and have resonated with voters angry about the economic crisis, but have raised fears of austerity in other countries.
With many Argentines unconvinced by either candidate, some described the vote as choosing the “lesser of two evils”: fear of Miley’s painful economic treatment or anger at Massa over the economic crisis. Many Argentines say they will not vote at all.
Whoever wins, it will shake up Argentina’s political landscape, its economic roadmap, its trade in grains, lithium and hydrocarbons, and its relations with China, the United States, Brazil and others.
“None of the candidates gives me certainty about the future,” Josefina Valente, a 63-year-old retiree, said as she cast her vote in Buenos Aires on Sunday morning.
“I came to vote out of obligation so that we can have change in the country once and for all.”
The story of the race was the sudden rise of economist and former television analyst Miley, 53, driven by widespread disillusionment with traditional political parties on both the left and right.
Julio Boardman, director of the advisory Electoral Observatory, said the political landscape will change forever regardless of the outcome.
“The elections represent a deep rift in the system of political representation in Argentina,” he said. “I believe that all political forces as we know them will change.”
[1/11]Argentine presidential candidate Javier Miley greets people on the day of the second round of the Argentine presidential election, in Buenos Aires, Argentina on November 19, 2023. REUTERS/Cristina Cel Obtaining licensing rights
Miley has a slight lead in the polls, but most show a close and uncertain race. Massa, 51, an experienced political car dealer, has won back votes through tax cuts and campaigns highlighting Miley’s radical plans to cut government spending.
“Miley’s policies scare me and that’s why I’m voting for Massa, not out of conviction. As they say, it’s better to know evil,” teacher Susana Martinez, 42, said on Sunday.
Miley, who carried a chainsaw at the rallies symbolically for his planned cuts, favors the privatization of state companies and changes to health and education. In recent weeks, he has shelved the chainsaw as he seeks to improve his image and appeal to centrist voters.
His core supporters say he is the only candidate capable of ousting the political “class,” as Miley calls mainstream politicians, and ending years of crisis that has ravaged South America’s second-largest economy.
“You cannot vote for the current government under these conditions, and a blank vote will only favor it,” said Santiago Nerea, a 34-year-old accountant. “Miley is the only viable option so we don’t end up miserable.”
In the first round of voting in October, Massa received 36.7% of the vote, compared to about 30% for Milli. The Liberal has since won public support from third-place finisher Patricia Bullrich, although it is not certain all of her votes will switch to him.
Whoever wins the presidency will have to contend with empty government and central bank coffers, a crumbling $44 billion debt program with the International Monetary Fund, inflation approaching 150%, and a dizzying array of capital controls.
Voter anger over the crisis may be the deciding factor, given that Massa has managed the economy for more than a year.
Businessman Samuel Gwenston, 76, said: “They both promise a better future, but with conflicting policies. Massa had his chance and did nothing, so I will make a change.”
Both will face a deeply divided Congress, with no single bloc gaining a majority. The winner will need to get support from other factions to move forward with the legislation. Maili’s coalition also has no regional governors or mayors.
Voting began at eight in the morning local time (1100 GMT), and polling stations will close around six in the evening, and the first official results are expected to appear after a few hours.
Reported by Nicholas Miskulin. Additional reporting by Candelaria Grimberg; Edited by Rosalba O’Brien and Andrew Heavens
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