“Even if it hurts them, Menem was the best president in Argentine history,” said Javier Milei at the inauguration of the bust of Carlos Saúl Menem (1930-2021) at the Casa Rosada.
Milei admires few Argentine politicians, Menem being one of them. Winner of the 1989 presidential elections for the Justicialist Party, he was re-elected in 1995 and finished his term in office in 1999.
“Menem inspired those of us who believe in freedom to follow his example,” the libertarian highlighted in mid-May about one of the most relevant figures of the economically liberal wing of Peronism.
During his campaign, Milei promised to resolve the high inflation that is affecting the Argentine economy with a roadmap that looks to the 1990s.
“Menem is a model for Milei because he was the president who – in democracy and with a lot of social support – managed to do things The most profound structural reforms in Argentine history“political scientist Pablo Touzon, co-author of the book “What are we doing with Menem” (Siglo XXI Editores, 2021), tells BBC Mundo.
Praised by many, criticized by others, the former president remains for Argentines a target of endless discussions and conflicting opinions.
Milei met Menem in 2018, when the libertarian was nothing more than a simple television commentator, with no political history and a speech in defense of dollarization and the reduction of the State to a minimum.
“I went to Carlos’s house and when I arrived he told me something that made my blood run cold: ‘You are going to be president of Argentina’“, Milei remembers the former president telling her three years before his death.
Milei responded saying that “I hated politics”But six years later, the victory of the candidate of La Libertad Avanza (LLA) finally proved the former Peronist leader right.
Despite his anger at the political “caste,” the current president has created a circle of trusted people among whom are former members of the former president’s cabinet and some of his relatives.
Two of his Ministers of Economy, Domingo Cavallo (1991-1996), whom Milei called “the best economist in Argentine history”and Roque Fernández (1996-1999) have been a source of consultation for the libertarian during the campaign.
On the other hand, Martín Menem, the nephew of the former president, has been the president of the Chamber of Deputies since December, while his cousin Eduardo “Lule” Menem is an undersecretary in Karina Milei’s orbit.
“Today we are doing an act of justice”summed up Milei when unveiling the bust of the former president in an act that sought to recover the luster of a worn-out image and thus remove it from the political ostracism of recent decades.
These are some similarities and differences between the two presidents.
Disruptive leadership
While his fans greet him enthusiastically, Javier Milei, with his long sideburns, his disheveled hair and a leather jacket, greets a fanatical crowd.
“If we don’t get down and dirty, the leftists will take us down,” says Argentina’s first libertarian president at the presentation of his book at the Luna Park stadium last May.
The image recalls the way Menem won over voters – first as governor of the province of La Rioja and then as president – with his enormous sideburns, suede jacket and simple way of speaking.
“Follow me, I will not let you down!” Menem repeated at the end of his campaign speeches in 1989, where he promised a “salary increase” and a “productive revolution”, provoking an outburst in the audience in favor of the candidate.
Both Menem and Milei won at the polls because they were different from their time.
“At that time, Menem was seen as a transgressorBut that’s where the coincidences end, because Menem was always a man of politics, who felt part of that universe,” says Touzon.
Menem came to power as a candidate for the Justicialist (or Peronist) Party – one of Argentina’s largest parties – after a competitive internal election. In contrast, Milei won the election with LLA, with almost no political history.
“Menem is the product of a political party. Milei, on the other hand, is product of the definitive crisis of political parties”, of a pulverization of that great system of mediation that are the parties,” Natalio Botana, doctor in Political Sciences and distinguished emeritus professor at the Torcuato Di Tella University, tells BBC Mundo.
Both Milei and Menem are the wrong people for their time. Both know how to speak to their voters and do not hesitate to use the emotional card. But Menem built authority through dialogue, while Milei does so through division.
“Milei builds from the confrontation in language. Menem was the opposite, a very popular and cordial leader who always sought consensus and a kind of harmony,” says Botana.
For Botana, Milei has a “polarizing style” in which the “friend-enemy dialectic” generates a factional policy, that is, a style that tends to divide rather than unite, something that differentiates him from the old leader.
Furthermore, Menem made politics his life. Born in the north of the country, he reached the presidency after an extensive political career. In contrast, Milei arrives at the Casa Rosa with almost no electoral experience, except for his two years as a deputy.
Menem is a politician with a history, while Milei never tires of saying that he hates – and even doesn’t understand – politics. But both find in the show a mode of communication.
The Menem years, with their extravagant style, witnessed several corruption scandals and links between politicians and celebrities, which led to that period being dubbed the era of “Pizza with Champagne”.
Last May, Milei performed at Luna Park in front of a packed auditorium where she sang ‘Panic Show’ with a live rock band.
“Both Menem and Milei sought out the politics of spectacle. But Menem has been the result of the television spectacle, Milei of television and social networks, which gives it great speed,” explains Botana.
State reform
“The largest structural reform in Argentine history was carried out by Menem. Law Bases It is five times larger than the Menem’s State Reform Law”Milei compared the day before the approval of his flagship project in the Senate.
Milei has insisted, more than once, on drawing continuity with the State reform plan deployed by Menem in the 1990s. However, for analysts, the comparison is exaggerated.
“I don’t think that Menem’s reform can be compared to Milei’s,” Botana disagrees, although he understands the reasons why the president seeks to compare himself with the former Peronist leader.
Menem, promulgated in 1989 the State Reform Actwhich paved the way for the privatisation of state-owned companies. It also initiated the process of decentralisation of the public education system, health care and ports.
“We will privatize everything that is necessary“said the former president in 1990, referring to public companies such as Aerolíneas Argentinas.
Menem’s reform, which sought to reduce the State to a minimum, deepened its effects in 1996 when the president signed a decree to “rationalize” the State that led to the dismissal of some 127,000 public employees.
Milei confirmed at the Latam Economic Forum in Buenos Aires that he expected to lay off 75,000 state workers.
Milei’s Ley Bases did not succeed in making progress on the privatization of the 41 companies and state entities that the government wanted, instead the list was reduced to eight, but the objective seems to be the same.
“Everything that can be left in the hands of the private sector, will remain in the hands of the private sector”said Milei two months before the approval of the Bases Law in the Senate.
Touzon believes that the reform program that Menem has made is, so far, much more profound than the one Milei is carrying out. However, he identifies the motives of the current president that lead him to look at the Menemist decade as a mirror.
“Menem is a model for Milei because he is the only other president who, from a popular liberalism and with a lot of social support, has managed to implement these measures,” says Touzon.
Although both share great social support for implementing orthodox measures, a central difference between Menem and Milei is that the Peronist won the elections with a speech that did not promise what he ultimately did.
Milei came to power after a campaign centered on the image of the chainsaw, promising to move forward with a severe economic adjustment plan.
“Menem won the elections in 1989 with very attractive slogans, then he came to power and did the opposite of what was expected. On the contrary, Milei won the elections saying that what he was going to do was a drastic adjustment of the economy. That is a key difference,” explains Botana.
The current government does not have a majority in Congress. For this reason, it had to learn to negotiate with the opposition and allied groups. But it also does not have the support of trade union organizations as Peronism did in 1990.
“The union organization supported Menem, which is why he was able to carry out a major political transformation, which included privatizations. These are not the conditions in which Milei finds himself,” he explains.
Brake on inflation
Economic deregulation programs and a demand for state downsizing are usually better received in Argentina in times of high inflation.
In 1989, the country was experiencing hyperinflation that reached 3,079% annually, according to the Consumer Price Index (CPI), so the Argentine peso had almost completely lost its value.
In December of last year, the year-on-year inflation closed at 211.4%, the highest in the world, which enabled Milei to deploy an unprecedented plan to adjust public spending.
In 1991, after its approval in Congress, Menem promulgated the Convertibility Law which established a fixed parity between the Argentine peso and the US dollar, which was popularly known as “one to one.”
“We received the country with 5,000% inflation and we had to work on that issue to the point that when I left the government, that inflation disappeared completely and we were able to start growing,” Menem said in an interview in 2012.
For Touzon, the country’s moment is similar not only because of inflation but because of a ““Crisis of a State-Centered Model”.
“In 1989 and now, we are witnessing a crisis of the State and its ability to respond, where inflation is the most perfect metaphor, which ended up enabling a similar orthodox response,” explains Touzon.
In 2023, Milei recovered the uncomfortable memory of Argentines from that time, promising to “blow up the Central Bank” “and dollarize” the country’s economy, which he later clarified was a matter of “free competition of currencies.”
So far, dollarization is not a reality in Argentina. However, Milei repeats that his goal remains free competition between currencies, although he does not expect it to happen before the 2025 midterm elections.
“Milei and Menem share the attempt to stabilize an economy, “to achieve fiscal order, something that Menem tried but failed to achieve. He also tried to overcome inflation and privatize public companies, something that he did succeed in doing, while Milei is still facing serious obstacles,” explains Botana.
Among the limits of the current government are the lack of a party, the absence of majorities in Congress and a spirit of dialogue with the opposition parties, something that the Chief of Staff, Guillermo Francos, is trying to resolve.
Although Argentina managed to contain inflation and stabilise its economy in the 1990s, convertibility, fuelled by external debt and dollars entering the country through privatisation, could not be sustained for long.
In 2002, President Eduardo Duhalde, who took office after Fernando de la Rúa resigned due to a deep political and social crisis, put an end to the parity between the dollar and the peso, after the “pesification” of dollar deposits.
“Menem is the great failure of recent Argentine political history”Touzon summarizes.
“After the 2001 crisis, the idea of a popular adjustment became uncomfortable for the Peronists, as well as for the liberals who were close to it and for the left-wing sectors due to the popular nature of Menemism.”
On the contrary, Argentina’s first libertarian president did not hesitate to resort to the annoying memory of a president left aside by history to legitimize the next steps of his government.
Meanwhile, the question remains whether his attempt to rescue the Menemist decade from oblivion will benefit him or end up working against him.
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