Who is behind the new leader of the South American country
Argentina turns the page. The winner of the recent presidential elections was the extravagant politician Javier Miley, who was considered an outsider, and December 10 is the day of his inauguration. From this moment on, the political life of this Latin American state changes dramatically. We remember what the new owner of Casa Rosada remembers and who is behind him.
Photo: Global Look Press
Waiting for the inauguration of the newly elected president the country was as nervous as the entire course of this politician’s presidential campaign. The Argentine newspaper La Nacion published an article in which, citing sources in the Freedom Comes party, it was stated that Miley plans to send to Congress a “disproportionately ambitious project” of a “omnibus law.”
This package of measures will include not only the traditional «ministerial law» establishing the organizational structure of each new administration, but also a number of serious reforms: deregulation of economic legislation, simplification of the tax system, changes in the world of labor and privatization of state-owned companies.
Miley would like to reduce the number of ministries from 18 to 8-9, while simultaneously eliminating the departments and organizations within them. Ministries such as INADI (National Institute for Combating Discrimination, Xenophobia and Racism) and INAI (National Institute for Indigenous Affairs) may fall under this rink.
Deregulation of economic legislation, including in the mining sector and oil fields. According to a La Nacion source, this is necessary to stimulate investment.
Revision of the labor bill: replacing compensation with an unemployment fund and reducing litigation during and after the end of employment, as well as reducing collective conflicts under the argument of “increasing the competitiveness of companies.”
Miley is thinking about transforming public companies into public companies limited liability companies. Libertarians admit that they are considering the possibility of privatizing state corporations or transferring their shares to employees of institutions.
Libertarians also insisted on “tax simplification.” And in the political sphere, Miley and the company set out to change the electoral system and revise the procedure for financing parties.
It is recognized that all these reforms may cause unrest in Argentine society at different levels. But this is absolutely in the style of Javier Miley.
The appearance of such an extravagant figure in the political field of Argentina came as a surprise to everyone. The son of a businessman and a housewife does not like to talk about his childhood, calling it “stressful.” As Javier himself recalled from time to time, his father, Norberto Horacio Miley, resorted with great frequency to physical punishment, as well as emotional abuse.
“We are talking about a man 1.90 tall. These were no ordinary beatings. Later, when I was studying, he was always very dismissive of my career, always told me that I was stupid, that I would starve and be useless all my life,” the current president of Argentina opened up in an interview.
< p>This caused Javier to distance himself from his parents, whom he called «toxic» and claimed that they were «dead to him.» However, the warming occurred thanks to, perhaps, Javier’s only close person from his family — his younger sister Karina.
Karina Miley had a hand in many of her brother’s significant events. She managed his schedule for ten years, coordinated his lectures and conferences (after all, he is an economist by profession and often spoke as an expert in this field) and, finally, managed his election campaign.
Miley’s party admits that Karina is “the one who has the last word.” And Javier himself often calls his sister “boss” and states: “You always need to have someone to report to. In my case, I will contact my sister.”
In general, the Argentine media have repeatedly emphasized that Karina perceives her older brother as a “valuable brand” that requires constant care and support. For this reason, she pays close attention not only to the semantic content of Javier's performances, but also to the technical attributes: choosing music, creating videos about his brother-politician, designing lighting, and so on.
Karina probably also had a hand in her appearance. A memorable black leather jacket (which at the same time recalls the musical past in the band that performed covers of Rolling Stones songs), a chainsaw as an attribute of the fight against the stagnation of the Argentine economy and perpetually disheveled hair. The latter provokes many to call Miley “crazy” and “wig”.
“My sister is always waiting for me on stage, because she is a great architect,” Javier Miley speaks so sweetly about his sister.
But let’s return to him. As a teenager, he still played in the Chacarita football club as a goalkeeper. And just the transition to economics arose in the late 1980s, during the period of hyperinflation.
Gradually, Miley found himself on television, where he talked not only about economics and politics. He acted as an expert in tantric sex. It would seem that there is nothing to talk about, but the current president of Argentina could. Shared my experience. You might think it's all from loneliness. But not everything is so simple.
Javier Miley admitted in many interviews: he has no friends, and no life partner. He calls his children cloned mastiffs, whose nicknames correspond to the names of famous economists. But still, Miley’s heart is occupied by the country’s famous actress Fatima Flores.
Javier and Fatima participated in a television show together. Then the girl pointedly hinted: “You are too lonely for your important role.” This was back in December 2022. However, their romance was officially announced in July 2023. This was done by journalist Marina Calabro in the radio program “Lanata sin Filtro”: “We are able to confirm this because we spoke with both sides, and both confirmed the information to us. The couple was formed: Javier Miley and Fatima Flores.
Fatima was a rather shy girl, but her creative impulses did not leave her alone. Maria Eugenia Flores (that's what her real name sounds like) grew up in the family of an architect and a geography teacher. Parents did not welcome their daughter’s creative expressions, forcing her to be more serious. But the girl didn’t want to.
From 6 to 14 years old, Maria Eugenia played hockey, but was forced to leave the sport due to developing anorexia. In one interview, she stated: “I looked at myself in the mirror and didn’t see reality. I lied to everyone about what I ate. I started having hormonal problems. I weighed just over 40 kilograms, and the doctors realized that I was not eating. At that moment, my self-esteem was at its lowest. I grew closer to church, read the Bible, and began to love myself more. It helped me a lot.”
After such a shake-up, she decided to devote herself to creativity. Her first success was a parody of the strict teacher Norma Kaufman, who, due to an allergy to chalk, wrote on the blackboard wearing gloves. Fatima copied Norma's gestures and behavior, which caused an enthusiastic reaction from her classmates. It became her hobby, which grew into her life's work.
At the age of 17, Fatima Flores took part in theatrical productions of Pepe Cibrian Campoy. She appeared in the productions of The Hunchback of Paris, Dracula and King David.
Later she joined the musical group Las Primas. During this period, Maria Eugenia became close to her first husband, the group's producer Norberto Marcos. It was he who forced her to abandon her usual name and call herself Fatima Flores. The man believed that Fatima would become a big star, and therefore went with her on all tours and strengthened her position on the big stage. Their union lasted 22 years. But Fatima during this period took part in a large number of humorous shows and gained popularity thanks to parodies of the Vice President of Argentina Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner.
She also copied Javier Miley. But the general public remembers her for another important fact: her social networks are full of candid photos in swimsuits. But this doesn’t bother Javier at all (maybe even the other way around). The new president of Argentina is so in love with his companion that he calls her “the most beautiful flower.”
Miley seemed to analysts an outsider in the presidential race. Radical speeches did not suit many. They were even scary. In his election speeches, he promised to “burn” the country’s Central Bank, dollarize the economy, the national currency (peso) and even called it “excrement.” His attribute became a chainsaw as a symbol of reducing government spending and the size of government.
Javier Miley considers himself not only a right-wing politician, but also a cultural fighter whose mission is to shake up Argentine society. Miley opposes feminist policies and abortion, which Argentina has legalized in recent years, and has proposed a plebiscite to repeal the law. He also rejects the idea that humans play a role in climate change.
To be honest, Miley is an outspoken radical. He challenged the current authorities of the country, called them thieves and promised voters to get rid of the “ruling caste.”
This worked largely due to the obvious dissatisfaction of society with the state of affairs in the country. Inflation in Argentina has topped 130%, local interest rates stand at 133%, and the market peso has lost more than 60% of its value this year. The lag from the official rate exceeds 150%.
The survival of the country's $43 billion program with the IMF and the likelihood that Argentina will default on its debt for the 10th time were at stake.
Miley’s promise to switch to the US dollar, although frightening, was perceived by society as one of the options for overcoming the crisis. And no one else offered this. However, when the elections were over and the situation calmed down a little, the winner began to back down. As the Financial Times reported, Argentina's new president has begun to renege on some of his promises. The publication's interlocutor, close to Miley, said that Miley had reconsidered his views on the candidacy of Emilio Ocappo (he was going to make him the new head of the Central Bank) and changed his mind about reorienting the economy towards the dollar and replacing the peso with American currency.
Why did Ocappo fall out of favor? According to the source, his appointment pursued only one goal — dollarization.
He began to reconsider other things. For example, in his speeches during the presidential race, he spoke out against the development of relations with Russia, China and Brazil.
This is how he explained it: “Not only will I not do business with China, I will not do business with any communist. I am a defender of freedom, peace and democracy. The communists and the Chinese do not relate to this. We as a state will not promote any action with either communists or socialists. This does not mean that Argentines cannot trade with them. If they want to trade with China, Russia, Brazil, that’s their problem.”
He also opposed his country’s joining BRICS (Argentina should officially join the association on January 1, 2024). However, some time after the victory, Miley’s team announced that they were considering the possibility of taking the path of joining BRICS, but with “not very active participation.”
It is very significant that one of his first foreign forays was a trip to USA. Upon arrival from there, Miley stated: “It was a very positive trip, the meeting was extraordinary.” And immediately after this, some positions in the new government were clearly named. And this doesn’t even seem strange anymore.
Miley is stable in one thing — the perception of the “existential” problems of Argentina. Just like the country's previous leadership, Javier Miley made it clear to Great Britain that the Falkland Islands are actually the Malvinas Islands. And in general, this is part of Argentina. An option for returning the archipelago to a Latin American country could be the “Hong Kong option.” They say that the islands will be able to pursue their own individual policies, but still be considered part of Argentina, and not the United Kingdom. God knows how else the new Argentine president will manifest himself. But, even before he took office, he had already done a lot.