Election campaign in Argentina: Trump card national feeling

What does the pure doctrine of anarcho-capitalism have to do with nationalism? Nothing. So why is Argentine President Javier Milei playing the nationalist card? Because the water is up to his neck. The image fits the Falkland Islands – which Argentina calls the Malvinas Islands – which is in question. “Our national cause today faces a clear and urgent danger that requires an appropriate response,” Milei said in a nationally broadcast address last Thursday. And: “Las Malvinas son argentinas!” – “The Malvinas are Argentine!”

Milei's poll numbers are poor and his re-election next year is no longer certain. The economic reality, the social hardships and the political disappointments can no longer simply be explained away. And so the radical market fundamentalist discovers and abuses the nation state as a campaign tool. The saying “Las Malvinas son Argentinas” is emotionally charged and is present every day on the mainland. It is taught in kindergarten and school. It is emblazoned on every public means of transport, and anyone driving through the Pampas will pass a street sign with this inscription every few hundred kilometers.

Some Argentine players also took part in this at the World Cup when, after the semi-final game against England, they spread out a labeled bedsheet that some fans had smuggled into the stadium and thrown over the barrier. A common thread from this action leads to the “Malvinization” of the president. While the campaign met with great sympathy and approval from the population, Milei was not very enthusiastic about it. Last week he put himself at the head of the movement. Their goal is no longer the recovery of the islands, but rather his re-election.

But anyone who thinks the maneuver is too transparent and clumsy is wrong. When the military dictatorship was about to end in 1982, the junta leader had the islands occupied. “Las Malvinas son Argentinas, los desaparecidos también”. The slogan “The Malvinas are Argentine, the disappeared too” was written on a banner by the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo. This is also true today: no matter how poorly the government is judged, everyone agrees that whatever is being done against the British invaders is the right thing to do.