‘Just like the fall of the Berlin Wall marks the end of a tragic era for this world, this election marks the turning point of our history,’ new president, Javier Milei said.
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina—Javier Milei was inaugurated as Argentina’s new president on Dec. 10 as thousands of enthusiastic Argentines gathered to hear his first speech.
“Today, we are burying decades of failures, internal infighting, and senseless disputes,” President Milei said in front of the National Congress of Argentina.
“Today begins a new era in Argentina, an era of peace and prosperity.”
Mr. Milei evoked Argentina’s history and praised its founding fathers as champions of freedom whose ideas made the country a world power in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Replacing those ideas with collectivism had ruined the country, he said. However, “just like the fall of the Berlin Wall marks the end of a tragic era for this world, this election marks the turning point of our history,” he said.
The crowd erupted in shouts of “libertad,” meaning “freedom.”
President Milei also warned of an inevitable economic “shock” as he introduced his reforms.
“It must remain clear that there is no possible alternative to the adjustments,” he said. “Neither is there a discussion between the shock and ‘gradualism’—first of all because experience shows that all ‘gradualist’ programs ended badly.”
Mr. Milei, an economist, won Argentina’s runoff election on Nov. 19, securing 55.7 percent of votes, defeating Sergio Massa, economy minister for Alberto Fernández’s socialist administration.
Argentina’s new president, 53, is a self-described “anarcho-capitalist,” subscribing to the ideas of free market economy and deregulation.
Dubbed “the Argentine Donald Trump” by some, President Milei campaigned on taming the triple-digit inflation and radically downsizing the government and its deeply rooted political establishment.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump congratulated Mr. Milei for his victory in a post on his Truth Social account.
“I am very proud of you,” Trump wrote on Nov. 19. “You will turn your Country around and Make Argentina Great Again!”
Mr. Milei responded, saying that he’s looking forward to meeting with President Trump.
Despite expectations of a tight margin in an election that was predicted to go either way, Mr. Milei handily won by 11.4 percentage points.
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