Milei’s Big Win Opens a Rare Window for Argentina

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  1. Just when some [were already drafting](https://archive.ph/o/CxRWz/https://www.ft.com/content/e5e314d0-31cf-44e0-9167-63a787baac47) Javier Milei’s political obituary, the self-described anarcho-capitalist defied expectations with a resounding victory in Argentina’s midterm election.

    Milei’s La Libertad Avanza [won about 41% of the vote](https://archive.ph/o/CxRWz/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-10-27/milei-s-party-on-track-to-win-argentina-election-in-big-comeback) on Sunday, securing the largest single bloc in the Lower House and tripling its seats in the Senate. Crucially, the president now controls the one-third of seats he needed to block any impeachment efforts and to defend his veto power. Together with its allies, La Libertad Avanza will stand close to a working majority — enough to reinvigorate Milei’s reformist agenda. Markets are understandably rallying on the news in early Monday trading.

    Perhaps more significant, Milei’s triumph laid bare the weakness of the Peronist opposition. Even after adding its various factions, Peronism trailed La Libertad Avanza by [nine percentage points](https://archive.ph/o/CxRWz/https://resultados.elecciones.gob.ar/territorios/0/0/10) in the Lower House race — and by [14 points in the Senate](https://archive.ph/o/CxRWz/https://resultados.elecciones.gob.ar/resultados/1/0/10). Its once-dominant grip on the upper chamber, held [for 42 years through 2021](https://archive.ph/o/CxRWz/https://x.com/HernaniiBA/status/1982612482222113082), will weaken considerably when the new Congress is sworn in December. Fuerza Patria, the main Peronist affiliation, even lost narrowly in Buenos Aires province — just weeks after a landslide win that had seemed to put Milei’s government on the ropes.

    That’s the main takeaway from Sunday’s vote: Despite Milei’s [recent missteps](https://archive.ph/o/CxRWz/https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2025-10-23/what-bessent-doesn-t-get-about-argentina) — and his need to [call on his friend Donald Trump](https://archive.ph/o/CxRWz/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-10-17/why-argentina-turned-to-trump-for-a-financial-rescue) for help through the US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent — Argentines chose to give him another chance rather than return power to a Peronist movement that has yet to reckon honestly with the consequences of its misrule for 18 of the past 24 years.

    This outcome is good news on two fronts: First, it gives Milei breathing room for the second half of his four-year term. After the most turbulent period of his presidency, the libertarian leader has regained the initiative, strengthening the popular mandate for his inflation-fighting, balanced-budget efforts. Second, it underscores the urgent need for Peronism to reform — to accept a minimum of market rules and economic rationality — or risk further irrelevance. Losing three major elections in a row may finally stir the more pragmatic factions of Argentina’s once-dominant political movement to distance themselves from the radical wings tied to former president Cristina Kirchner, who, though under house arrest, still casts a long shadow over the party.

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