<
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/dec/10/javier-milei-sworn-in-as-president-in-tipping-point-for-argentina>
"Argentina’s new president, Javier Milei, has vowed to lead his country out of
decades of “decadence and decline” but said its punishing economic crisis would
intensify over the coming months, as a “who’s who” of the global far right
assembled in Buenos Aires to celebrate the radical libertarian’s inauguration.
Addressing tens of thousands of supporters outside Argentina’s turquoise-domed
neoclassical congress, Milei – a mercurial former TV celebrity known as
El
Loco or the Madman – compared his shock election with the start of the Soviet
Union’s collapse.
“Just as the fall of the Berlin Wall marked the end of a tragic era for the
world, these elections represent a tipping point in our history,” he declared,
promising to “fight tooth and nail” to drag his country into “a new era of
peace and prosperity”.
He warned, however, that Argentina – where annual inflation is expected to hit
200% this year and 40% of citizens live in poverty – faced an “emergency”
situation. “The challenge before us is titanic … I’d rather tell you an
uncomfortable truth than a comfortable lie,” he said.
Milei’s speech had strong echoes of Donald Trump’s 2017 inauguration speech in
which the American tycoon vowed to end an age of “American carnage”, crime and
poverty and return power to “the people”. “Argentina has become a bloodbath,”
Milei said, vowing to fight the drug traffickers who had “hijacked” the streets
of its biggest cities.
He had been formally sworn in as Argentina’s next leader moments before in the
presence of far-right associates including Brazil’s former president, Jair
Bolsonaro; Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán, the leader of Chile’s
Republican party, José Antonio Kast, and the leader of Spain’s Vox party,
Santiago Abascal. “The right is rising not only in Europe but all around the
world!” Orbán tweeted as he arrived in Argentina’s capital."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
