The results of last Sunday’s PASO exposed a massive vote for La Libertad Avanza (LLA) and its presidential candidate, Javier Milei, much higher than projected in polls: with more than 30% of the votes, he surpassed Together for Change (JxC ) and Union for the Homeland (UxP). The distribution in thirds separated by less than three points, however, places the space as the clear winner of the instance. Milei prevailed in 16 of the 24 provinces, both in those with a Peronist vote (such as the cradle of Kirchnerism, Santa Cruz) and in those inclined to cambiemismo (such as Córdoba nicknamed “Macrilandia”), with exceptions such as the key territories of each force, Buenos Aires and the Autonomous City.
LLA’s growth was rapid, first supported by activism from social networks and the cultural industries, which sought an electoral reference in its heterogeneous “cultural battle” and, with the effervescence of the pandemic moment, turned into visible and enthusiastic street militancy. at the time of Milei’s legislative candidacy in 2021. That election showed a transclassist, transgenerational vote that did not necessarily respond vertically to the ideas of the referent, necessary ingredients for the consolidation of a normalized and competitive representation, which achieved its current flow without territorial framework and disarticulating the results of the national election of the previous provincial ones.
While some denounced that it was not about “true libertarians” who “do not want freedom”, LLA operated based on a political fusionism capable of combining elements of disparate traditions (conservative, nationalist and religious imaginaries with appeals to the neoliberal pantheon) against common enemies, be they “gender ideology”, “progressive indoctrination” or “collectivism”. He did it through a strategy of “right-wing populism” as conceived by Murray Rothbard, a reference author for Milei, for whom it was necessary to create a movement capable of reaching the masses directly, against the political elites that were plundering them: “the caste”, in the language of LLA. From there, and unlike the JxC sector, which is increasingly anti-populist, Milei obtained votes from the right wing, dissatisfied with the experience of the Cambiemite government, as well as in sectors referenced in Peronism: like a needle, that fusionist movement threaded the transformations in the Argentine right. with a process of broader structural change, marked by the economic crisis and the rejection of traditional politics.
* Sergio Morresi is a writer and political scientist. Martín Vicente is a Conicet researcher and writer.
by Sergio Morresi and Martin Vicente
