Argentina votes in local elections that will test President Milei's support

    Buenos Aires, May 18 (AP) Votes were being cast across Buenos Aires on Sunday in local elections that will test Argentina's President Javier Milei's political strength as he seeks to steer mainstream conservatives toward his radical libertarian platform.
    The election results could boost Milei's La Libertad Avanza party, or LLA, in crucial national midterms later this year. Some 2.5 million people are eligible to vote in Sunday's election, in which half of the 60 legislative seats are up for grabs.
    A former TV pundit known for his angry rants against Argentina's political class, Milei founded LLA just four years ago, drawing a motley crew of political novices into his anti-establishment agenda.
    Seeking to take a “chainsaw” to state spending with just a tiny minority in Congress over his past 1 1/2-year in office — his party holds just 15% of seats in the lower house and 10% in the Senate — Milei has been compelled to compromise with former President Mauricio Macri, the scion of a wealthy family and the face of Argentina's conservative political establishment whose PRO (Republican Proposal) party has governed uninterrupted in Buenos Aires since 2007.
    That uneasy alliance has faltered in recent months as the two clashed over Milei's effort to install a judge embroiled in corruption scandals on the Supreme Court, among other things.
    “The government needs to claim dominance and the leadership over the whole spectrum of the center-right,” said Juan Cruz Díaz, managing director of Buenos Aires-based political consultancy Cefeidas Group.
    The power struggle turned ugly on Sunday as Macri's party said it had filed a complaint with the Buenos Aires electoral court over a widely shared artificial intelligence-generated deepfake of Macri announcing that his candidate was dropping out of the race and urging voters to back Milei's candidate instead.
    While the origin of the false video was unclear, Macri blamed Milei's supporters for “breaking all the rules" and called those who promoted the manipulated clip “a group of crazy people.”
    Milei shot back that Macri was a “crybaby."
    “You're made of glass,” Milei told reporters, addressing Macri, as he went to vote Sunday.
    Wiping out PRO in Buenos Aires would signal a major shift in Argentine politics — one already playing out in the United States, Europe and around the world as increasingly right-wing factions push their way into the mainstream and drown out more moderate voices.
    It would also cement Milei's party as the main alternative to the country's left-wing populist Peronist faction, which has governed economically troubled Argentina for much of the past two decades.
    “If Milei wins in the capital, it will have a very strong symbolic impact,” said Orlando D'Adamo, director of the Center for Public Opinion at Buenos Aires' University of Belgrano. “If PRO wins, it would maintain Macri's power as a valuable partner, boost his brand and put him on equal footing with La Libertad Avanza.”
    Milei has chosen a prominent figure — his spokesperson Manuel Adorni — to head his list of candidates. He put his sister and closest adviser, Karina Milei, on the job as a campaign strategist. Huge banners declaring “Adorni is Milei” blanket the city.
    “It has turned into a crucial battle for the political leadership,” said Ignacio Labaqui, a senior analyst at research group Medley Global Advisors.
    Macri, for his part, has campaigned hard for his top candidate, Silvia Lospennato. In recent appearances, he has criticized Milei for what he sees as a bellicose approach and disregard for traditional Argentine institutions.
    “Putting the economy in order is not enough. We must strengthen institutions, be predictable and regain respect for one another,” Macri told supporters.
    Just two years ago, Macri was key to Milei's landslide electoral victory. His center-right supplied Milei's new government with key ministers, brought him a conservative base and helped him secure the support of critical political brokers to help pass his radical agenda through an otherwise hostile Congress. (AP) AS
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(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)