Argentina elects president – in the middle of a serious economic crisis UN: 100 trucks of aid needed every day for Gaza ++ 19 Hezbollah fighters killed

The presidential elections have started in Argentina. The libertarian populist Javier Milei was considered the favorite in the first round of voting on Sunday. The self-proclaimed ‘anarcho-capitalist’ wants to introduce the US dollar as legal tender, abolish the central bank and many ministries and radically cut back on social spending. The candidate of the La Libertad Avanza (Freedom Progress) party ran against incumbent Economy Minister Sergio Massa of the left-wing Unión por la Patria (Union for the Fatherland) and former Interior Minister Patricia Bullrich of the conservative opposition alliance Juntos por el Cambio (Together for the Fatherland (change).

South America’s second-largest economy is in deep economic crisis: the inflation rate is 138 percent and about 40 percent of people in the once-wealthy country live below the poverty line. Argentina suffers from a bloated state apparatus, low industrial productivity and a large shadow economy that deprives the state of much tax revenue. The national currency, the peso, continues to lose value against the US dollar and the mountain of debt continues to grow.

To win the election outright in the first round, a candidate must receive at least 45 percent of the vote, or 40 percent of the popular vote, and a ten percentage point lead over the runner-up. If none of the candidates can prevail in the first round, the two strongest candidates will advance to the second round on November 19. The future president will take office on December 10. (sda/dpa)