A part of Argentina cries: ‘the fight is not against one

When Sergio Massa appeared to speak, around 8:20 pm, everyone already knew that the defeat was confirmed and that the Casa Rosada would be Javier Milei’s home until 2027. Incredulous and dispersed, the audience walked slowly towards the stage where the Peronist would speak to recognize the setback and congratulate the far-right candidate.

When Massa said that he continued to believe, “just like on the first day, that the country needs political agreements”, a voice exploded in the audience. “Not with that piece of shit (Javier) Milei.” The protest was not isolated, but it broke the wall of apathy that took over the Peronist bunker, a warehouse attached to the stage set up for the possible party, where politicians, artists, journalists and activists closest to the campaign elite gathered.

After Massa’s speech, which announced the end of his political career, silence took over the warehouse. In the hall, many people hugged and cried. In the corners, people watched their cell phones, in disbelief at the result so unfavorable to the Peronists.

:: Milei will travel to Israel and the USA before taking office as president of Argentina ::

In a circle of Brazilians, one observation: “they didn’t learn from our mistakes in 2018”. At the time, Jair Bolsonaro beat Fernando Haddad, in an electoral race marked by errors by the PT campaign and part of the left, which underestimated the far-right candidate.

Isolated, with an Argentine flag tied to her body and tears in her eyes, Griselda Garcia, a health worker, thought about what is to come for an already weakened Argentina, which suffers from 140% inflation and 40% of the population in poverty line.

“Every right we have won to date, we will have to go out and defend in the streets, as has happened on other occasions. This model (Milei’s) does not prosper without repression and we will be on the streets defending the rights of each worker. It will be a very difficult period,” she told Brazil in fact.

:: Javier Milei defeated Sergio Massa in 20 of Argentina’s 23 provinces ::

A few meters away from Garcia, there was musician Andres Guevara, who asked for an immediate reaction from his companions. “Why this silence? We have to take to the streets,” he said to a circle of friends.

“I believe that in addition to Milei, there is (Maurício) Macri (former president of Argentina), it will be a complicated moment. An accurate analogy is to say that with Milei we will experience something similar to what Brazilians experienced with Bolsonaro”, lamented Guevara.

Public servant, Carlos Gonzalez took his eyes off his cell phone, where he was still watching the end of the investigation, to try to prepare an analysis of what lies ahead. “If Milei fulfills what is in her platform, we will be in trouble,” he said.

Guevara prefers not to isolate Milei in geopolitics and inserts him into a recent phenomenon that has advanced on the continent. “The fight is not against a madman who says crazy things, it is against an international system that has refined its mechanisms of control and domination.”

:: Milei may have difficulty completing his term, says an expert in Argentine history ::

Editing: Vivian Virissimo