Economics While theoretically an anarcho-capitalist, Milei identifies in the short term as a minarchist, liberal-libertarian, He explained that he is an "anarcho-capitalist, because the state is the enemy. But you live in the real world and you have to have your feet on the ground. In this context, I am a minarchist – that is, someone who believes that the state should only be in charge of security and justice." he described them as the "best economic government in Argentine history". Additionally, he upholds the ideals of
Juan Bautista Alberdi and his constitution, and defended Alberto Benegas Lynch as "the greatest hero of the ideas of freedom", and the
Generation of '80. Milei envisions eventually dismantling the state and the
Central Bank of Argentina, which he described as "one of the greatest thieves in the history of mankind", allowing citizens to freely select their monetary system, including the potential adoption of a
dollarized economy, to combat the country's
inflationary issues; he says they are made worse by the Central Bank of Argentina, which he accuses of stealing money from Argentines through inflation. he proposes a sharp economic shock to reduce inflation and the
Argentine economy's issues, and to pay the country's debt. He said: "
Central banks are divided in four categories: the bad ones, like the
Federal Reserve, the very bad ones, like the ones in Latin America, the horribly bad ones, and the Central Bank of Argentina." including shale driller
YPF, public services like health care and education, and pledged to scrap soy taxes and ditch
electric-vehicle battery bid as part of his
deregulation program. He also articulated his intention to either shut down, privatize, or redefine the
National Scientific and Technical Research Council, while shutting down or merging most governmental ministries, including the
Ministry of Education, the
Ministry of Social Development, and the
Ministry of Health, A video of him tearing cards from a wallboard with the names of ministries that he wants to abolish and tossing them into the air went viral. In the video, he says: "The state is not the solution. It is the problem." He is opposed to
trade unions, and described the Article 14 of the
Argentine Constitution, which guarantees
labor rights, pensions, and the entire
social security system, as the country's cancer; he pledged to repeal it as president. Milei promises to
balance the budget. Argentina has failed to meet targets on cutting its fiscal deficit and building up foreign reserves under its $44 billion arrangement with the
International Monetary Fund (IMF), which approved a $7.5 billion loan disbursement. In a July 2023 interview with the
Financial Times about this, Milei said that if is elected president of Argentina, he would "overshoot all the targets" in the IMF deal, calling the required spending cuts as small compared with what he says the country needs. About the IMF, which provided Argentina with twenty-two bailouts, Milei said that it "doesn't care" about what he described as the country's deep-rooted challenges. He said: "The IMF are just a bunch of bureaucrats who know that a bank's business is to charge interest. If I'm elected it will be to solve Argentina's problems."
Capitalism, socialism, and communism Milei promotes
capitalism, and strongly opposes
communism and
socialism. In a
TEDx presentation that went viral on social media in February 2019, Milei presented what he described as "a love story" about capitalism, arguing how capitalism and the
free market have lifted people out of poverty. He then cited what he describes as myths regarding capitalism, rejecting the idea that the
Nordic model is socialist, and saying that the Nordic countries are "more pro-market than people think". He labelled the problem of
social inequality as a "lying hoax", and said that "social justice is unfair". He concluded that this was a debate about values, where socialism embodies envy, resentment, and coercion, while capitalism or
liberalism stands for the unrestricted respect for the life project of fellow individuals. More than
Karl Marx, Milei has identified
John Maynard Keynes as his greatest ideological adversary, He further stated that there are only two systems, liberalism or communism, as he believes that any intermediate solution would result in a drift towards communism. During his political campaign, Milei criticized Brazil and China, and said that he would not deal with those he deems to be
communists. are the main reason why political commentators and other libertarians do not consider him truly a libertarian. and rejected comparisons to Trump and Bolsonaro, About taxes and liberalism, he said: "I consider the state as an enemy; taxes are a hindrance to slavery. Liberalism was created to free people from the oppression of monarchs; in this case, it would be the state." After winning the 2023 primaries, Milei announced what he called a "new liberal revolution" and "the end of the caste model, that atrocity that says that where there is a need, a right is born, but it is forgotten that someone has to pay for that right."
Social issues Milei opposes
abortion rights, and has publicly affirmed a staunch
anti-abortion stance, and drew comparisons between abortion and theft. When questioned in September 2021 by a
O Globo journalist about an abortion case involving the rape of a 10-year-old girl, Milei asserted that an abortion in such circumstances would still constitute murder. In October 2021, he said: "Why is one crime compensated with another crime?" He stated his support for legal abortion only when the mother's life is at risk. About this, he said that, if he is elected president, he would propose to hold a
referendum about the law that legalized abortion in 2020, and, in such a case, he said that he would support its repeal. He also opposes
euthanasia. Due to his views about abortion, alongside a crackdown on crime and prohibition of the use of
inclusive language, he has been described as
socially conservative. Milei spoke in favor of a legal
organ trade, seeing as a way to reduce waiting lists for organ transplants, and said that there could be market mechanisms to encourage organ donors. He said: "If women can have control over their bodies, why not everybody else?" In the same interview, he said: "If I had a child, I wouldn't sell them, but that's not the current topic of discussion in Argentine society. Maybe it will be in 200 years, I don't know." Due to the ensuing controversy, he later clarified his position and expressed his opposition to it. He explained his opposition in clearer terms, while separating it from the organ trade legalization as "a different discussion", stating: "Obviously, I do not agree with the sale of children." Milei said that he has no issues with
same-sex marriage and is indifferent to it; he sees marriage as a contract and is opposed to it as an institution. On homosexuality more generally, he stated: "If you decide to be homosexual, how does that affect my life? In nothing. My liberty? In nothing. My property? In nothing. Therefore, I have nothing to say." Milei's comments and stances about transgender rights caused criticism among Argentine
LGBTQ activists. In June 2022, two
Avanza Libertad members of the legislative assembly of Buenos Aires Province proposed a bill to ban inclusive language at schools. According to Sonia Corrêa, co-coordinator of Sexuality and Policy Watch, these bills are not rooted in an ideological belief but are an effort to "lure the constituency of [far-right politician] Javier Milei". During the
COVID-19 pandemic, Milei expressed skepticism about
COVID-19 vaccines. In November 2021, Milei vaccinated himself for
COVID-19, citing economic reasons based on a
risk–benefit analysis that he made, and rejected the
anti-vaccination label that was used to describe his views on the issue; he dismissed the negative impact his COVID-19 vaccine statements could have had on the campaign against COVID-19. On immigration issues, Milei's 2023 presidential platform includes restrictions. Milei stated that he would prohibit the entry into the country of migrants with a criminal record and said that he want to expel those who commit crimes. In addition to that, he honored
Juan Bautista Alberdi, and the of
Bartolomé Mitre,
Domingo Faustino Sarmiento, and
Nicolás Avellaneda. For their government efforts as part of the , he also praised the
Generation of '80, including
Justo José de Urquiza,
Julio Argentino Roca, and
Carlos Pellegrini. He questions the governments and policies applied by the
Radical Civic Union, the
Justicialist Party, and
military coups in Argentina. While Milei publicily expressed that he is not a defender of the last Argentine military dictatorship (the
National Reorganization Process) and the
Dirty War, he has questioned the Dirty War's 30,000 disappeared toll. He asked: "Where are they? Show me the list." His view is that the guerrilla terrorists of the 1970s should be condemned like the Argentine military dictatorship, seeing that period as a war between the state and terrorism. Milei argues that "the only time that pure liberalism was applied was in 1860 and we were a prosperous country."
Juan Domingo Perón,
Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, and
Alberto Fernández. Milei described 1930s Argentina as a fascist regime that led to
Peronism and Perón's "three-legged fascism" rather than a return to liberal policies. and argued that he remains a representative of Peronism, where Peronism is not only an ideology but is considered a way to govern, citing examples of left-leaning Peronism (
Kirchnerism) and right-wing Peronism, such as that of Menem, who privatized and engaged in
neoliberal reforms. Others agreed that Milei is a populist but argued that he is using populism for liberal ends. Milei also criticized individual politicians of the
Juntos por el Cambio centre-right coalition, which he was able to push to the right since 2015. Milei described
Patricia Bullrich, the 2023 Juntos por el Cambio leader, as "part of the Argentine failure". Additionally, he scorned socialists in Latin America and abroad. Analysts stated that a breakdown of
Argentina–China relations could harm the Argentine economy. About China, Milei said: "People are not free in China, they can't do what they want and when they do it, they get killed. Would you trade with an assassin?" Milei endorses the
Madrid Charter, a document drafted by Vox that characterizes left-wing groups, such as the
São Paulo Forum and the Puebla Group, as enemies of
Ibero-America and accuses them of engaging in "a criminal project under the umbrella of the Cuban regime" that "seeks to destabilize liberal democracies and the state of law". He signed the document alongside other far-right politicians across the region, including
Eduardo Bolsonaro from Brazil,
Rafael López Aliaga from Peru, and
José Antonio Kast from Chile. He condemned the
October 7 attacks. At the start of the
Russian invasion of Ukraine in early 2022, Milei entered the
Palace of the Argentine National Congress with a
Ukrainian flag, showing his position towards the conflict. A supporter of
law-and-order politics, Milei endorses the unrestricted ownership of firearms, saying that Argentina needs the forces "to have authority again". As a proponent of
non-interventionism in foreign politics, Milei criticized the
Falklands War. == See also ==