Catholics in Argentina appear both somewhat startled and also divided by the surprising recent success of a firebrand politician who’s termed the country’s most famous native son, Pope Francis, a “communist,” an “imbecile” and even a “leftist son of a b*.”
That politician, Javier Milei, was the big winner of the country’s August 13 primaries, coming in first place with 30 per cent of the vote, ahead of both the major right and left-wing coalitions, and despite lacking a strong party structure of his own.
Milei ended up ahead of Patricia Bullrich, whose right-wing coalition obtained 28 per cent of the ballots, and of Sergio Massa, the current Economy Minister in Argentina’s center-left Peronist coalition, who got 27 perc ent of support.
Milei, a member of Argentina’s Chamber of Deputies, has expressed admiration for former U.S. President Donald Trump. His own politics have been described variously as radical libertarian, even, to use his own term, an “anarcho-capitalist”, and he has a history of run-ins with the country’s Catholic Church.