BUENOS AIRES (LifeSiteNews) — Libertarian candidate Javier Milei, who has condemned abortion as murder, has won the presidential election in Argentina.
Milei, who gained tremendous support among Argentinians fed up with the political establishment, economic decline, and surging inflation, achieved around 56% of the vote and convincingly defeated his opponent, Sergio Massa in the run-off election on November 19.
“Today begins the reconstruction of Argentina. Today begins the end of Argentina’s decline.” Milei told his supporters in a victory speech in Buenos Aires. “The model of decadence has come to an end. There is no way back.”
Former U.S. President Donald Trump, to whom Milei has been frequently compared for his brash rhetoric, congratulated the designated Argentinian president on his platform Truth Social:
“The whole world was watching! I am very proud of you. You will turn your Country around and truly Make Argentina Great Again!”
Anti-abortion but pro-same-sex ‘marriage’
Milei has voiced his strong opposition to abortion, calling it “murder” and confirming the scientific fact that “life begins at conception.”
“Philosophically speaking, I am in favor of the right to life,” Milei told Tucker Carlson in a viral interview in September.
READ: Argentine presidential candidate Javier Milei condemns abortion as ‘murder’ in Tucker interview
“Beyond that, there is a scientific justification to be had. It’s the fact that life begins at conception. It’s at that very instant that a new being begins to evolve, with its own unique DNA,” he said.
“While it’s true that women have the right to their own bodies, the child in a woman’s womb is not her body,” he continued. “That makes abortion murder, enabled and aggravated by a power imbalance against a child that has no way to defend itself.”
Milei called the global agenda to push abortion a “bloodthirsty policy, in which some humans believe they should decide who should live and who should not. It is the utmost expression of hubris.”
He expressed his opposition to the country’s abortion law allowing the killing of an unborn child up to 14 weeks’ gestation but stressed that he would “let the Argentines choose” whether to abolish that law and protect the unborn.
The designated president of Argentina called the alarmist climate change narrative a “socialist lie” and pointed to the connection between radical environmental policies pushed by the globalist Club of Rome and the promotion of population control through abortion.
While the eccentric politician called out modern “sexual education” as a “post-Marxist program” seeking to destroy the family, he also said that he is against “marriage as an institution” regulated by the state and that people should be free to marry whoever they want, including people of the same sex.
He has furthermore stated that people should be allowed to sell their own organs.
READ: Re-examining ‘brain death’: Doctors may be harvesting organs before donors are dead
A Catholic VP and calling Pope Francis a ‘communist’
Milei is an outspoken critic of his fellow Argentinian Pope Francis. He referred to the Roman Pontiff as a “Jesuit who promotes communism” as well as less salubrious epithets. He said that Francis “has an affinity for murderous communists” and that the pope “is lenient to the entire left even when they are true criminals.”
READ: Argentine presidential front-runner: Pope Francis has an ‘affinity for murderous communists’
Milei often touts his Catholicism publicly but also studies the Torah, visits with rabbis, and has what has been described as a “fascination” with the Jewish faith. He has also made comments insinuating a possible conversion to Judaism. He furthermore wants to move Argentina’s embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
His designated vice president, Victoria Villarruel, is a Catholic who, according to some reports, attends Mass at a chapel of the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX). She has voiced her opposition to so-called same-sex “marriage.”
An ‘Anarcho-Capitalist’ who wants to abolish the Central Bank
The president-elect, an economist and former TV pundit, has described himself as an “anarcho-capitalist.” He has campaigned on abolishing the central bank and many federal ministries, as well as massively cutting public spending. Milei said he plans to abolish the peso and introduce the US dollar as the country’s official currency, hoping to stop the crippling inflation, which hit almost 143% in October.
It remains questionable if Milei will be able to realize his ambitious plans since his very young Party (founded in 2021), the La Libertad Avanza (LLA) coalition, currently holds only eight of 72 seats in the Senate, fewer than 40 of 257 in the lower house, and governs none of Argentina’s 23 provinces. Milei must, therefore, rely on building alliances with other parties.
Support for Israel and Ukraine
In terms of foreign policies, Milei has taken the position of the U.S. establishment in the Ukraine-Russia and the Israel-Palestine war. He was seen wearing a Ukraine flag pin, and he denounced the Argentine government for its “weakness and complicity” when dealing with dictatorships, such as Russia.
Journalist Michael Tracey shared a video of Milei waving an Israeli flag in one of his last campaign events before the election.
In addition to moving Argentinian’s embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, Milei announced that his first foreign trip as president would be to Israel.
Before Milei’s election, Argentina was set to join the BRICS alliance, headed by China, Russia, India, Brazil, and South Africa. The political bloc is seen as a global competitor to the U.S.-led Western hegemony. However, Milei has referred to China as “murderous” and has said that he will align the country with the U.S. and Israel when he becomes president, making a reversal of the BRICS agreement very likely.