Argentina Elections 2023 LIVE | Latest news on Milei and Massa, news, votes and results

Argentina goes to the ballot this Sunday, November 19, to elect president between the Minister of Economy, the centrist Peronist Sergio Massaand the ultraliberal leader Javier Milei, in one of the most close and polarized elections of its 40 years of democracy. With an annualized inflation of 143%, Massa strives to show himself as a serene and experienced leader, capable of overcoming Argentina’s serious economic crisis with a government of national unity in which he would integrate leaders of other political forces, with a “State strong and protective.”

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Milei, alien to politics until he was elected deputy in 2021, presents himself as a libertarian and anarcho-capitalist. He has promised to eliminate the Central Bank and dollarize the economy to end monetary issuance and inflation.

LOOK: Santiago Rodríguez on the debate in Argentina: “Massa was more professional and prepared than Milei in this format”

In the first round on October 22, Massa got 37% of the votes and Milei 30%. For the runoff, the far-right obtained the support of former president Mauricio Macri and Patricia Bullrich, of the center-right coalition Together for Change (24%).

For this second round, The polls predict a technical tie, and the two candidates try until the last minute to attract the undecided, crucial for victory.

“The economy is about to explode. I am very concerned about education and public health. I’m not sure who to vote for. I think about the future and none of them leaves me satisfied. One already brought problems and the other brought very explosive ideas,” Máximo Alberti, a 17-year-old student who is going to an election for the first time, told AFP.

Milei, a 53-year-old economist, closed his campaign on Thursday with a passionate event in Córdoba before tens of thousands of followers, according to the police, who filled the streets of this anti-Kirchnerist bastion. to the cry of “Freedom, Freedom!” They hailed their idol with disheveled hair and leather jacket with rock star look, who sang again from the podium before delivering his harangue.

Massa chose instead to meet with a group of young people at the Carlos Pellegrini school, in Buenos Aires, in an event without fanfare.more in line with the serene style cultivated by this 51-year-old lawyer, a seasoned politician who in recent decades has been through several governments, party shops and electoral struggles.

Polarization

The campaign oscillated between feelings of anger towards the traditional politics that Massa represents and fear of the disruptive approaches of Mileiwho has been in favor of the free sale of weapons and even declared that the supply of human organs can constitute “another market.”

“We are facing one of the most aggressive campaigns I have ever witnessed, and society has become even more polarized,” Paola Zubán, director of the consulting firm Zubán, Córdoba y Asociados, told AFP, who foresees a very close result.

“It will be a vote by vote election”Zubán pointed out.

Third economy in Latin America, Argentine society has historically been proud of its extensive middle class. But The economy has not grown for more than a decade, and instead poverty has increased to reach more than 40% of the population.

Argentina is in debt to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) through a credit program for 44,000 million dollars that requires a significant reduction in the fiscal deficit.

In that decline, Milei’s speech against what he calls “the chorra (thief) political caste” achieved a greater echo than imagined.

“I am concerned about the policies that the current government is implementing. They are not seeing the country or the people. I voted for Milei and I’m going to vote for it again. The only thing politicians do is look at their pockets,” said Alejandro Santacruz, a 49-year-old butcher.

Fraud ghost

In recent weeks, La Libertad Avanza, Milei’s party, has denounced an alleged fraud attempt, something unprecedented in Argentina.

Thus, on Sunday he refrained from sending all his party’s ballots to the electoral centers, claiming that he does not trust the custody mechanism.

Although experts consider that the electoral system is solid and in democracy no election has ever been contested, Zubán warns that The idea of ​​fraud “has permeated a sector of the population.”

“It is a well-known resource of the radical right to denounce fraud before the vote. Former presidents Jair Bolsonaro and Donald Trump did it. “There is an attempt to delegitimize the election if the other party wins,” said the political consultant.

For this election, attendance is mandatory, 35.8 million people are registered on the registry. Some 86,000 military and police officers are in charge of guarding the process.

Voting centers will open from 8 am local time until 6:00 pm. If there are still people waiting to vote at closing time, they will be allowed to do so until there is no one else in line.

The Government reported that The first partial results will be announced at 9:00 p.m. on the website results.gob.ar.

The new president must take office on December 10 for a period of four years.