(My new American Thinker post)
In a month, Argentina will elect a new president. They did vote on Sunday but nobody won a majority so a new election is on the schedule. Let's review what happened:
The battle to decide who will run crisis-wracked Argentina is heading to a runoff vote next month between left-wing candidate Sergio Massa and far right libertarian Javier Milei, according to data released by Argentina’s National Electoral Chamber after the first round of voting on Sunday.
After polls closed Massa received the highest number of votes -- 8,877,325, accounting for 36.33% of the total, data revealed. Milei received 7,373,876 votes -- roughly 30.18%.
Third place candidate Patricia Bullrich got 23.82% and conceded defeat late Sunday night.
So I guess we will have to wait another 30 days. My friend from Argentina sent an email late Sunday night wondering if they will have a country by the time he gets to vote. It's not an exaggeration that Argentina is a mess, or "desastre" as they say in Spanish.
The new president will take office in December but can anyone fix the country?
I remember someone saying that there are four types of countries in the world: developed, undeveloped, Japan, and Argentina. I'm not sure about Japan but I understand the reference to Argentina, the world's best example of an underachiever.
How can a country that rich in resources and well-educated people be so dysfunctional? My friends say "Peronismo" or a reference to Evita's husband. Others say that the bureaucrats suck the economy dry. One guy blamed it on tango or meaning that Argentines are too dramatic. I don't know but it's hard to understand Argentina.
We'll see how the runoff election goes. My guess is that Massa, the house candidate, will win but Melei, the opposition candidate, will make the campaign loud and interesting.
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