Right-wing populist Milei set to take Argentina down uncharted path: 'No room for lukewarm measures'

Mr. Milei won all but three of the nation’s 24 provinces, and Mr. Massa conceded even before the electoral authority began announcing the preliminary results.

What many deemed impossible just months ago is reality: Right-wing populist Javier Milei resoundingly won Argentina's presidency.

The fiery freshman lawmaker's victory on Sunday night has thrust the country into the unknown regarding how extreme his policies will be following a campaign in which he revved a chainsaw to symbolically cut the state down to size.

With almost all votes tallied, Mr. Milei handily beat Economy Minister Sergio Massa, 55.7% to 44.3%. Mr. Milei won all but three of the nation’s 24 provinces, and Mr. Massa conceded even before the electoral authority began announcing the preliminary results.

Mr. Milei, 53, a libertarian economist, started to outline some of his planned policies on Monday morning. He said in a radio interview that would quickly move forward with plans to privatize state-run media outlets he received negative coverage from during his campaign and which he deemed “a covert ministry of propaganda."

The president-elect also said that state-controlled energy firm YPF should eventually be privatized but first must be repaired so it can be “sold in a very, very, very beneficial way for Argentines.”

“Everything that can be in the hands of the private sector will be in the hands of the private sector,” he told Bueno Aires station Radio Mitre.

Mr. Milei, a self-described anarcho-capitalist with a disheveled mop of hair, made his name by furiously denouncing the “political caste” on television programs. His pledge for abrupt, severe change resonated with Argentines weary of annual inflation soaring above 140% and a poverty rate that reached 40%.