Lilia Lemoine, a former IT specialist and cosplay enthusiast, recalls making models of the Argentine central bank for Javier Milei to destroy in a theatre performance.
“I used to joke that we were doing voodoo magic on the central bank to close it down,” Lemoine said in an interview of their collaboration five years ago. “That’s why we made it as realistic as possible.”
Now their days of smashing model central banks are over. Lemoine sits in Argentina’s congress as a newly elected lawmaker for Milei’s party, and Milei himself became president a week ago at a time of deep economic crisis.
The 53-year-old political novice — whose previous guises have included tantric sex guru, mystic, fanatical dog lover, ultra-libertarian, maverick intellectual and soccer player — has undergone a dramatic shift in image since the campaign, dressing soberly and speaking in serious, statesmanlike terms.
Following his improbable election victory over Argentina’s long-ruling Peronist movement, Milei’s government unveiled a mainstream economic plan of spending cuts and tax rises on Tuesday to balance the budget.
A previous pledge to adopt the US dollar as the national currency was shelved, and there was no mention of the most radical ideas Milei supported during the campaign, such as legalising the sale of human organs or cutting ties with Brazil and China, Argentina’s biggest trading partners.
“It’s as if he suddenly shed his costume,” noted one senior diplomat, praising the president’s newfound pragmatism after having described him during the campaign as a leap into the unknown.
Milei’s economy minister, former Wall Street trader Luis Caputo, announced this week that he was devaluing the peso by 54 per cent rather than dumping it. Instead of burning down the central bank, Caputo appointed a former investment bank colleague
The Biden administration, which fretted about the previous Peronist government’s closeness to the Chinese, expressed a willingness to work with Milei. Officials chose to ignore his admiration for former president Donald Trump and offered help in trying to win a fresh package of financial support from the International Monetary Fund.
Argentina already owes the IMF $43bn and the new government inherited empty coffers, inflation running at above 150 per cent a year and a looming recession.
During Milei’s recent visit to the US, Democrats even organised a meeting with former US president Bill Clinton, who listened to the Argentine’s plans and came away impressed, said a person with knowledge of the encounter.
Milei has not completely shed his unconventional persona, however. At his inauguration, the eclectic list of guests of honour included King Felipe VI of Spain, Hungary’s Viktor Orbán, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Brazil’s former leader Jair Bolsonaro.
His sister Karina, long Milei’s closest adviser, was beside him as they were driven to the presidential palace in an open-topped car after he was sworn in. In his one of his first executive decisions, he overturned a decree banning nepotistic appointments and installed her as his chief of staff.
Along the way, the pair halted their motorcade to greet a golden retriever. Milei’s love of dogs is one of many interests he has taken to extremes: he had his own presidential staff made for the inauguration, with the heads of his five beloved English mastiffs — his original pet Conan, plus four dogs cloned from him and named after libertarian economists — embossed on it.
Before taking office Milei, who was brought up Catholic, travelled to New York to pray at the tomb of Menachem Mendel Schneerson, a renowned Orthodox rabbi hailed by some followers as the Messiah. “He had made a prayer there before the election and after winning, he felt he had to return as president-elect to give thanks to God,” said a person familiar with the trip.
Milei has been studying the Torah and has expressed interest in converting to Judaism, an unusual move towards a religion that does not seek converts and which is a small minority in Argentina.
Milei has sought inspiration in Biblical stories for his insurgent political movement. In his inaugural address he cited the Jewish Maccabean revolt against the Greeks in the second century BC as an example of the triumph of the few over the many, with the help of the forces of heaven. He has compared his sister Karina to Moses and the Messiah.
Despite this week’s apparent shift towards orthodox economics, the first days of the new government smacked of improvisation.
Key posts remained unfilled amid rumours that many experienced hands saw the Milei project as too risky to touch. Announcements were trailed, then postponed.
“Milei did not expect to win and he didn’t have a team ready to govern,” said one politician familiar with the situation. “They might have one inexperienced person who turns out to be a genius, but not a whole government.”
Inured to constant crises, Argentines are now asking themselves whether Milei’s new sober persona is here to stay and what comes next: the profound economic change many voted for, or a fresh disaster.
Alfredo Serrano, head of left-leaning think-tank Celag, said Argentina might become a much more unequal society under Milei, akin to Peru or Colombia, with millions living on the edge amid worsening living standards, or Argentines might simply lose patience with their quirky new leader.
“In that case, Milei has a big problem,” he said. “His support is very ephemeral and very volatile. Voters made a bet on him but that bet has an expiry date.”
In a country of outsize leaders, many of whom lent their names to political movements — Peronismo, Menemismo, Kirchnerismo — will the new president spawn Mileismo?
“For many of us, the best possible thing has happened,” said a senior banking executive in Buenos Aires. “He left the crazy guy in the campaign behind but kept the liberal ideas.
“But for this to work he needs to show some results — an improvement in the economy — within six months. If he doesn’t, it will be chaos.”
