Just a few months ago, Javier Milei becoming president of the Argentine Republic was a remote possibility, an almost impossible dream for a few, and a joke for many. Now it has become a reality, demonstrating that, in politics, nothing is irreversible and nothing is impossible. Historical cycles have ends and beginnings. In this case, December 10, 2023 will be remembered as the beginning of the Milei Era in Argentina.

The date of the presidential inauguration is significant, given that it is the 75th anniversary of the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights and 40 years since the restoration of democracy in Argentina with the inauguration of Raúl Alfonsín after six years of military dictatorship. It is a date which has now seen the arrival of the “first liberal libertarian president in the history of humanity,” as Milei puts it in his own words. 

The definitions and style of the new president may seem exotic and even extravagant to some, but it should also be borne in mind that Argentina is a curious nation where anything can happen—the worst as well as the best. Argentina and Argentines are unpredictable, fascinating, and in many ways enviable, as seen in the capacity to surprise the whole world and the capability to lead a political and ideological revolution that questions the diktat of prevailing political correctness and the global mainstream.

Sunday, December 10, 2023, was a day that, from the early hours of a sunny Buenos Aires morning, presaged something special. The blue sky with its white clouds was the ideal backdrop for a crowd of Argentine voters and supporters of the president-elect to assemble in the vicinity of the National Congress and the Casa Rosada as witnesses to—and also protagonists of—the change of cycle.

When asked about their reasons for being there, before the television cameras and microphones,, the replies spoke of hope and faith: “I voted for the first time out of conviction and joy,” said a middle-aged man. A woman on the verge of tears said, “Today is one of the best days of my life. Today I feel free after many years … We are free! We are free!” An optimistic young man proclaimed that, “Corruption, robbery and insecurity are over,” as he stood wrapped in an albiceleste (white and sky blue) flag. A majority of Argentines, almost 56%, chose to follow  the uncertain and unexplored path forged by this new actor in the political arena—one with an image and attitude more like a rockstar than a cold neoliberal economist. In Javier Milei—’the Wig,’ ‘the Lion,’ or ‘the Madman,’ as he is known—the people have placed all their hopes, and perhaps the last hopes, of recovering normality, sanity, and common sense.

On the day of his inauguration as president, Milei complied with the ritual and institutional protocol in his own way. Accompanied by his sister Karina—’the Boss,’ as he calls her, for being the brain behind his election campaign—he arrived at the National Congress to take the oath in front of the arrogant and dismissive gaze of Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, thus beginning the 50th presidency in the republican history of the country.

His inaugural speech was key and significant, taking place not in front of the Legislative Assembly but outside, on the steps of the Congress and in front of the Argentines gathered there, and accompanied by the King of Spain, Felipe VI; the Ukrainian President, Volodimir Zelensky; and the Hungarian Prime Minister, Viktor Orbán. “Hello everyone …” he began, in the deep voice with which he sang “The Lion’s March” at his election campaign rallies. There he proclaimed, “Today a new era begins in Argentina. Today we bring to an end a long and sad history of decadence and decline and begin the road to the reconstruction of our country.” 

Milei did not hide the truth about the seriousness of the situation:

In these days, much has been said about the inheritance we are going to receive. Let me be very clear on this: no government has received a worse inheritance than the one we are receiving. … An inflation rate of 15,000 per cent per year, which we are going to fight tooth and nail to eradicate. … They have made our salaries fall by a factor of 10. So we should not be surprised that populism is leaving us with 45% poor and 10% indigent. … Argentina’s situation is critical. … I prefer to tell you an uncomfortable truth rather than a comfortable lie.

He spoke with brutal honesty, which is unusual for a politician. He promised not to repeat the failed formulas of collectivism that brought degradation and abject misery to one of the richest countries on earth, but he also offered the possibility of hope: 

There will be light at the end of the road. In the alternative case, the progressive, mushy proposal, whose only source of financing is the emission of money, will lead to hyperinflation that will take the country to the worst crisis in its history, in addition to the fact that it will put us into a decadent spiral that will put us on a par with the darkness of the Venezuela of Chávez and Maduro. … We also know that all is not lost: the challenges we face are enormous, but so is our ability to overcome them. It will not be easy—a hundred years of failure cannot be undone in a day—but one day begins, and today is that day.

There were countless gestures, signs, attitudes, symbols that have not gone unnoticed by Argentines. These, too, carry weight and political significance, and show Milei’s courage, bravery, and lack of psychological complexes: in the book of the Congress of the Nation, he signed with his slogan “Viva la libertad, carajo; he gave a menorah to Zelenski; he invoked the story of the Maccabees, symbol of the triumph of the weak against the powerful; he made reference to the festival of Hanukkah, the festival of light; he quoted the unjustly demonised president, Julio Argentino Roca; he was accompanied by international right-wing figures such as Jair Bolsonaro, Viktor Orbán, Santiago Abascal, José Antonio Kast, and Eduardo Verástegui, as well as receiving greetings and congratulations from Donald Trump, Giorgia Meloni, and Matteo Salvini; he appointed his trusted rabbi as Argentina’s ambassador to Israel; he embraced former president Mauricio Macri. These are just a few examples of a radical change on the part of the new government in terms of its ideological and geopolitical alignment with the West and its principles.

What lies ahead of Javier Milei is a serious challenge, but he has the advantage of his natural lack of prejudices, an innovative communication style and a broad-mindedness that has managed to unite conservatives, liberals, patriots, and moderates in a common project, something unprecedented in Argentine politics. His project to rebuild the country and “make Argentina great again” will not be at all easy, as he himself is aware and about which he is honest with the Argentines. He warned that in the first stage of his government, with the application of his forceful economic emergency and austerity measures to put the public accounts in order, Argentines will suffer the consequences of decades of wasteful management and demagogy that led to the current collapse of the economy. According to the president, the results of the implementation of his economic prescriptions will finally put the country on the path of economic growth and welfare. 

The Milei Era has begun with the desire of a people who seek only to recover lost prosperity, security, and welfare. The same motivation urges those who yearn for freedom. However, only the success of his program and time will tell if this political outsider was right or wrong. Ultimately, history has just begun and it will be the one that will finally give its verdict.