Victory of Milei putting Argentina's democratic system 'through it's toughest stress test yet'

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00:00 Joining me now from the University of Bath in the UK is Juan Pablo Fevero, a Latin American

00:06 politics specialist. Juan, thank you so much for your time. What exactly does Javier Millet's

00:12 victory tell us about the situation currently in Argentina?

00:16 Well, to start with, what a way to celebrate the 40th anniversary since democratisation

00:23 in Argentina. The election of the president-elect Javier Millet is putting the democratic system

00:31 through its toughest stress test yet. And I think the result is somehow following a

00:39 general regional trend in terms of those governments in power during the pandemic losing, in turn,

00:46 subsequently the election. And this was very much underestimated by many analysts, including

00:54 myself, the degree of dissatisfaction of the people with the social and economic situation.

01:02 His anti-abortion in Argentina in recent years has led the region in overturning restrictive

01:10 abortion laws. So what is going to happen to reproductive rights for women now in the

01:15 country? Well, it's very worrying for not only for

01:20 women but for minorities in general because Millet is waging those cultural wars that

01:28 the far right is waging elsewhere. And in particular, in Argentina, is being very straight

01:35 and direct against women's rights. But also in terms of going back and withdrawing the

01:43 human rights agenda more broadly that has gained Argentina international recognitions

01:51 by putting the military dictators in jail. So, worrying times for minorities, those rights

02:00 are legal rights right now. So, those collectives will have to resist in parliament and on the

02:11 streets. And how is his victory going to impact the

02:14 country's relationships with key nations such as Brazil or China?

02:19 Well, difficult to tell. When asked in the presidential debate, he actually said that

02:25 he would not have an official state by state relationship with these countries while allowing

02:33 the private sector to carry on with business as usual. And many agree that those two dimensions

02:40 are very much interlinked. Therefore, it's very much an open question and we will see

02:50 what's the reactions from other countries as well.

02:52 Yet, he does lack, doesn't he, a majority in Congress. So, to what extent is he going

02:58 to be actually able to implement his policies? Yeah, well, that's a very good question. The

03:05 political sustainability of Javier Millet's political force. He's very much a one-person

03:12 political force, very little institutional representation. According to the numbers,

03:17 he's 37 in the House of Representatives out of 257, and he needs 129 to get for it. Therefore,

03:27 it's going to be really difficult. At the same time, we have to say that Argentina is

03:31 a presidential system where the president is granted legislative powers in exceptional

03:39 circumstances such as a presidential decrease. But that obviously tests the system, again,

03:46 as I was saying at the beginning. So, we will see to what extent he makes use of those presidential

03:53 powers to bypass Congress. Juan Pablo Ferrero, thank you so much for

03:58 your time. Thank you.

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