The libertarian writer and executive director of the Lighthouse Foundation, Agustín Laje assured that after the resounding electoral victory of Freedom Advances (LLA) “a new calmer stage and more prudent” for the president’s government Javier Milei.
“Milei’s speech yesterday has an implicit self-criticism in the way it refers to Congress and governors. I believe that a Freedom Advances is coming more politically prudent and that it will have to be both externally and internally,” Laje highlighted, when analyzing the present and future of the official force.
These statements were made in dialogue with Infobae Liveduring the program a.m.which is led by Gonzalo Sánchez, Carolina Amoroso, Ramón Indart and Cecilia Boufflet. Laje analyzed the electoral results that consecrated LLA with 40% of the total votes at the national level and with a resounding comeback in the province of Buenos Aireswhere he managed to substantially reduce the difference with Peronism in just fifty days.
In that sense, Laje highlighted determining factors such as the mobilization of an electorate similar to Milei that feared “go back” during the elections, the use of the single paper ballot (BUP) and the changes in the political communication of the ruling party.
Laje stressed that little is analyzed in depth about the challenge that the governor faced Axel Kicillof after the electoral split. “It is not said enough how difficult it must be to be in Kicillof’s shoes right now. Having spent the silver bullet in September, unfolding the elections, generated the concept of ‘kuka risk‘” he explained.
“One of the factors is having mobilized the terror of people who do not want to go back and who, however, in September, in the case of the province of Buenos Aires, had not been motivated to vote,” said Laje.
One of the axes of his analysis was the importance of the BUP in the current electoral system. “The single ballot showed all its strength and revealed a problem of democratic quality,” he concluded. For Laje, the fact that Argentine politics regularly resorts to euphemisms — such as “distortions” to talk about fraud or “apparatus” to refer to clientelist manipulation of voters and “a way of treating people like cattle, driven to cast a vote that does not depend on their own will but on that of a political leader.”
For the director of the Lighthouse Foundationthe election also exposed the weakness of the intermediate options: “Center options have revealed not to be an option. United Provinces only won in CorrientesEven in Córdoba, neither with Schiaretti nor adding De la Sota managed to reverse the result. “That leaves that sector out of the game,” he analyzed. He considered that this consolidates the libertarian alternative and accelerates the rearrangement of the Argentine political spectrum.
Analyzing the speeches of Javier MileiLaje contrasted the tone of the last national electoral victory with that of the local elections of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, which were held in May. “The CABA speech was of great explicit euphoria. Last night’s speech was heartfelt euphoria, but a measured speech, with an eye toward building bridges with governors. Milei invited all non-Kirchnerist governors to reasonable dialogue and called on congressmen to form an alliance that is politically sustainable,” he summarized. For Laje, this attitude is an example of “political maturity in a brand new project like Freedom Advances”.
At another point, he stopped especially at the so-called “iron triangle” of the libertarian space, composed of Karina Milei and Santiago Caputovaluing the strategic work from the leadership. “Caputo was key to reworking the strategy, especially the communications strategy, which changed significantly in recent weeks, in addition to international agreements, especially with the United States,” he revealed. He perceived the internal relationship as “worn” after the September defeat, ensuring that after the recent victory the waters will “calm.”
About the defeat of Homeland ForceLaje considered that Peronism “has not been able to create a new speech” for the electoral campaign, and that used “smothered slaps,” where they sought to try to “position the discourse of the homeland against neocolonialism or the yankee imperialism“”A very worn-out thing that is now being tried with very bad results in Colombia, for example,” he pointed out.
And he continued: “Gender issues, which were so critical until just three years ago – where it was necessary to speak even with inclusive language, because otherwise one would become a misogynist or a sexist – were also completely out of the question. And now what do you have? The cultural battle of Kirchnerism was simply a “No”: “No to Trump“, “No to adjustment“, “Not to Milei“, “No to dogs“, “No to Movistar Arena“, “Not to Caputo“Well, you’re not going to achieve much if all you have to offer in terms of speech is a no.”
In the social analysis, Laje relativized the weight of the debate on forms in the campaign. “Violence is more on the street than on Twitter. The social media algorithms stimulate it, but the discursive aesthetics were not responsible for the change. In these elections, the forms have not had an obvious weight in the electorate’s decision.”
On the internal climate of militancy in Freedom AdvancesLaje clarified: “The President is going to moderate in many cases, but the toughest militancy will be what it always was; if you don’t end up becoming the PRO. It is essential not to lose the anti-caste identity and explain the phenomenon through the cultural battle.”
On the other hand, the writer once again questioned the postulates about the gender violencepointing out that “this speech has not served to lower the crime rates” in Argentina, criticizing that the feminism has made the political struggle a battle “without nuances.” She also objected that feminist literature insists on “demonstrating that there is no possible harmony between men and women.”
Laje believes that “the cultural battlebeyond its consequences at the legislative level, is above all symbolic. “The cultural battle is the art of explaining what is happening to a population that has to interpret its own reality. I believe that the Government’s cultural battle is actually very well positioned, the big problem was political in nature,” he noted.
In that sense, he considered that we must “recover the meaning of words like Homeland” and give them meaning from the libertarian space, just like “vindicate traditional moral values” as “individual responsibility” and “freedom”, with “the idea that my actions have consequences and that my freedom in that sense is not free.”
“These types of abstract questions, which in an Argentina culturally destroyed by Kirchnerism, have always told people, no matter what you do, the present State will be there for you and to redistribute wealth in your favor. Therefore, if you don’t even want to work, then don’t do it. The responsibility for your actions will be taken by others and we will use force to make it so,” he exemplified.
Laje also expressed his hope that the Government promotes the repeal of abortion: “Milei is a Pro Life president and does not instrumentalize that flag. The fact that abortion has not been repealed is the result of political limitations, not a lack of conviction; without a majority in Congress it was impossible,” he stressed, and bet that the future will open new opportunities for debate.
“Why didn’t they repeal abortion? Well, because we didn’t have a Congress that would allow us to move in that direction. Now, what are you going to have? It seems to me that there are 98 deputies and 19 senators. Is that enough for you to repeal abortion? No, unless you can really build a majority, with agreements and debates. I hope this can happen,” he expressed.
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The complete interview with Agustín Laje You can find it at this link.
