Many frustrated Argentines pinning hopes on firebrand populist Javier Milei in presidential race

By ALMUDENA CALATRAVA and NATACHA PISARENKO
Associated Press

SALTA, Argentina (AP) — Javier Milei is a right-wing populist who admires former U.S. President Donald Trump and made a name for himself by shouting against Argentina’s “political caste” on television. He is the front-runner heading into the Oct. 22 election thanks in large part to support from people like Paola Aguirre, a mother of two young girls who lives in a makeshift shack near a landfill. Like many Argentines, Aguirre has been overwhelmed by triple-digit inflation that left her family unable to afford the room they used to rent. She now sees hope in Milei, a firebrand lawmaker who describes himself as an anarcho-capitalist and says the answer to inflation running at an annual rate of around 140% is to dollarize Argentina’s economy. Aguirre says “we want a radical change.”