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Buenos Aires, Argentina – David Urbani was 15 years old, barely in high school, when he first encountered the future far-right presidential candidate Javier Milei.

Now an economics student at the National University of Mar del Plata, Urbani remembers surfing on YouTube when he stumbled on a series of educational videos that Milei had put together, as part of his work as an economist and professor in Buenos Aires at the time.

“I think what moved me the most was the simple way he explained concepts,” Urbani, 20, said, holding up an introductory economics book with Milei’s autograph in it. “The guy is an academic, not a politician.”

A relative newcomer to Argentina’s politics, Milei has nevertheless catapulted to international fame as the dark horse candidate in this year’s presidential elections.

This Sunday, he faces centre-left Economy Minister Sergio Massa in a run-off race so tight that polls show the two candidates in a dead heat.

Part of the fuel behind Milei’s sudden political rise has been the devoted following he has whipped up among young, largely male voters like Urbani. Some are devoted libertarians. Others are merely curious and feeling disaffected with the political establishment.

But while pundits and opposition politicians lambaste Milei for his radical right-wing policy proposals, this young generation of “mileistas” say they’re all in.

“I believe we have to try, and that’s it,” Ramiro Gómez, a 21-year-old information technology (IT) technician from the province of Rosario, said of his decision to back Milei.

Elected to the lower chamber of Argentina’s congress in 2021, Milei was still in his freshman term when he launched his long-shot presidential bid in this year’s race.

But he quickly scored an upset. In August’s open primary, he rocketed to the top spot, earning more votes than establishment figures like Massa and former Security Minister Patricia Bullrich.

Milei has remained a frontrunner ever since. In October’s general elections, he finished in second place behind Massa, earning one of two slots in the run-off race.

Many experts credit Milei’s sudden popularity to the dire straits of Argentina’s economy. The country faces a long-running economic crisis, and inflation has topped 140 percent, driving down the value of Argentina’s national currency, the peso.

To address the crisis, Milei has promised to slash key government ministries, charge fees for Argentina’s public healthcare system, shutter the central bank, and adopt the United States dollar as Argentina’s national currency.

He has also adopted an eyebrow-raising mixture of libertarian and conservative social stances, offering support for banning abortion and legalising organ sales. Popular targets for his sharply worded broadsides include women, the LGBTQ community and even Pope Francis, an Argentinian himself.

Yet, while other right-wing populists like former US President Donald Trump and Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro have struggled to win over younger generations, Milei has consistently led polls of voters between the ages of 16 and 35.

Mark P Jones, a professor in Latin American studies at Rice University, credits the difference to the deep-seated frustration with Argentina’s crisis and Milei’s image as a political outsider.

“When younger voters look at Milei, they see someone who’s fighting against the system and a rebel,” Jones said. “And I think one thing Milei has been able to do is effectively dissociate himself with younger voters from his more conservative policies.”

A ‘chainsaw’ to the status quo

Milei’s most ardent supporters often connect through WhatsApp groups and on social media, where fan accounts feature silhouettes of the candidate’s signature sideburns and memes depict him locked in epic anime battles.

Milei’s eccentricity is central to his brand: He once was the frontman of a Rolling Stones cover band, and he currently owns five cloned dogs, each named after right-wing economists.

Videos have also gone viral during the election showing Milei tearing down Post-It notes with the names of the government ministries he intends to cut and shouting his catchphrase, “Long live f***ing liberty!”

Jones described Milei’s base as motivated less by ideology and more by desperation and exasperation with the traditional political establishment.

His bloc of supporters, Jones explained, is largely composed of middle- and working-class voters in their late teens and 20s who are frustrated with struggling to maintain gainful employment.

“Milei is their vehicle to effectively take a chainsaw to the status quo, but also to perhaps try something different,” Jones said, referencing Milei’s embrace of the chainsaw as a campaign symbol.

Alan Quiroga, 28, who lives in a working-class suburb of Buenos Aires and drives for Uber on his motorcycle, said he was first drawn to Milei when he saw the libertarian on television, speaking passionately about Argentina’s “golden age” in the early 20th century.

“What he wants to implement is what they do in the United States, in Spain, in normal countries,” Quiroga said. “What we are experiencing here is going towards Venezuela, Cuba.”

Though popular with many of his supporters, Milei’s proposal to adopt the US dollar faces steep opposition from the broader public. A September poll showed nearly 70 percent of Argentinians disapproved of the idea.

That month, 170 Argentinian economists also published an open letter predicting that a currency switch would lead to further inflation, mass unemployment and “absurd” increases in Argentina’s $400bn public debt.

‘A good crazy person’

But Milei’s appeal among young voters goes beyond his radical economic plan. The candidate has sought to position himself as a critic of corruption among the political elite, whom he calls “the caste”.

High-ranking members of Argentina’s main political parties have recently faced corruption charges. Last year, for instance, outgoing Vice President Cristina Fernandez was sentenced to six years in jail for fraud.

“The Javier Milei I like the most is the effusive Javier Milei, the honest Javier Milei,” Urbani said. “It’s the Javier Milei who gets mad when he’s faced with lies, faced with dishonest people.”

Milei has a penchant for the dramatic, at times appearing overcome with emotion during his public speeches.

“A good crazy person — that’s how I would describe him,” Quiroga said. “It comes from his heart. He can’t control it.”

Yet, even some of Milei’s longstanding supporters have their doubts about his ability to maintain his credentials as a corruption fighter, especially as he broadens his coalition to include the kinds of establishment figures he frequently criticizes.

Former President Mauricio Macri has offered Milei his backing, as has Bullrich, his former conservative rival in the presidential race.

“When he became involved in politics, without wanting to, he became part of the caste,” said Lucas González, a 28-year-old bookstore owner who said he still supports Milei.

Though Milei has built a strong movement, whether or not it survives will depend on the results of Sunday’s election and how the economy fares in the coming months, said Noam Lupu, a professor of political science at Vanderbilt University who researches Argentina.

“There will always be this kind of libertarian, pro-business vote in Argentina,” Lupu said. “But the sort of anti-establishment, anti-status quo, pro-disruption only succeeds if it continues to feel threatened by the status quo and the political class.”

Urbani disagrees. He believes that Milei has triggered a significant political shift among Argentinian youth that will persist regardless of Sunday’s election results.

“The majority of the youth are Milei voters, and especially boys,” Urbani said. “What is coming for Argentina is very good, because a lot of kids have started to reckon with capitalist ideas, with economic concepts in their heads that they were not talking about before.”

The evidence provided by Israeli forces to justify their attacks on Gaza’s hospitals has come up short – and so has the news coverage.

Contributors:
Alice Rothchild – Health Advisory Council, Jewish Voice for Peace
Diana Buttu – Palestinian Lawyer
Meron Rapoport – Editor, Local Call
Yumna Patel – Palestine News Director, Mondoweiss

On our radar:

Israeli politicians are calling for the transfer of Palestinians from Gaza. Producer Tariq Nafi reports on how they’re using the media to transmit the message loud and clear.

The Israeli anti-war Left: Where to next, after October 7?

A special interview with journalist and human rights activist Orly Noy on the pain and loneliness of the Israeli anti-war Left, post-October 7th.

Contributor:
Orly Noy – Chair, B’Tselem

Dozens of people remain under the rubble after attacks on two residential areas in Khan Younis.

At least 28 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli air strikes on two residential areas of Khan Younis in southern Gaza.

A neighbourhood in Hamad was struck in a bombardment on Saturday, said Al Jazeera’s Youmna ElSayed, reporting from Khan Younis. Dozens were also wounded in the attack that mostly killed children.

Another bombing then targeted a house in the town of Khuza’a, east of Khan Younis, she said.

“The total number of people killed is 28 people, but dozens have been injured and dozens still remain under the rubble especially in Hamad residential neighbourhood,” ElSayed added.

The director of Nasser Medical Complex in the south said his facility received 26 bodies and 23 people with serious injuries after the Hamad strike, according to the AFP news agency.

Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have moved to the southern Gaza Strip after Israel ordered them to evacuate the northern region, claiming it would be “safer” amid Israeli forces’ ground offensive there.

Two-thirds of them are now homeless.

In recent weeks, Israeli bombardments have also intensified in the south.

Residents in Khuzaa, Abassan, Bani Suheila and al-Qarara in eastern Khan Younis, the biggest city in southern Gaza, said Israeli aircraft dropped thousands of leaflets overnight on Wednesday and early on Thursday, warning them to leave.

“For your safety, you need to evacuate your places of residence immediately and head to known shelters,” the leaflets said. “Anyone near terrorists or their facilities puts their life at risk, and every house used by terrorists will be targeted.”

It was not clear where residents in eastern Khan Younis were expected to flee as Israel had previously ordered people to relocate to this region for their safety.

In an interview with a US broadcaster on Friday, Mark Regev, an aide to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said they are asking people to relocate because they “don’t want to see civilians caught up in the crossfire”, indicating the Israeli army’s plans to attack Hamas in southern Gaza after subduing the north.

Regev added that Israeli troops will have to advance into the city to remove Hamas fighters from what he alleged are underground tunnels and bunkers, but that no such “enormous infrastructure” exists in less built-up areas to the west.

“I’m pretty sure that they won’t have to move again” if they move west,” he noted.

“We’re asking them to move to an area where hopefully there will be tents and a field hospital,” he said, adding that the western areas are also closer to the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, where humanitarian aid could be brought in “as quickly as possible”.

But UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said that currently, his organisation “do not consider any part of Gaza to be safe”.

Since October 7, more than 12,000 people in the Gaza Strip, 5,000 of them children, have been killed due to Israel’s bombardment of the besieged enclave that is home to about 2.3 million people.

Sitting President Weah was accused of failing to live up to his promises of curbing poverty and fighting corruption.

Joseph Boakai has become Liberia’s new leader after his rival and sitting President George Weah conceded a tight election to mark a peaceful transfer of power in a region that has recently seen many military coups.

The country’s elections commission said on Friday that the 78-year-old Boakai, a former vice president, has managed to secure a narrow victory with 50.9 percent of the vote to Weah’s 49.1 percent, with almost all the votes counted.

“The Liberian people have spoken and we have heard their voice,” Weah said in an address to the nation.

“I urge you to follow my example and accept the result of the elections,” he said, adding that “our time will come again” in 2029 when Boakai’s six-year term in office ends.

The results mark a considerable shift compared with 2017 when former international football star Weah had succeeded in defeating Boakai comfortably by garnering 62 percent of the vote.

He had ridden a wave of public hope to the presidency, promising to combat poverty, develop the country’s ailing infrastructure and crackdown on injustice and corruption.

But voters grew disillusioned over time and the 57-year-old Weah was accused of failing to live up to his election promises to improve conditions in the West African nation.

Regardless of the results of Friday’s vote, the fact that the president conceded even before the final official tally was announced is significant as the region has seen eight military coups in the past three years, raising concerns about the fall of the democratic process.

Gabon, in Central Africa, earlier this year became the latest nation in the region to experience a coup as military leaders swept up power in the aftermath of a presidential election.

When elections are not overtaken by military commanders in the region, they usually are contested in court, with accusations of fraud abound.

But Boakai supporters took to the streets in the capital Monrovia after he was declared the winner to celebrate. Boakai told the Reuters news agency after the results were announced that “we have a job ahead of us to do and I’m excited that the citizens have given us approval”.

“First and foremost, we want to have a message of peace and reconciliation,” he said.

Boakai’s victory comes as Liberia is trying to recover from two civil wars between 1989 and 2003 that killed at least 250,000 people, and an Ebola outbreak in the mid-2010s that killed thousands.

Rescuers in Uttarakhand temporarily suspend work after hearing ‘large-scale cracking sound’.

Indian rescue workers have paused efforts to reach 40 men trapped in a collapsed highway tunnel over fears of more cave-ins.

Rescuers temporarily suspended work on Friday after a “large-scale cracking sound” was heard while trying to restart a drilling machine, the National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation (NHIDCL) said.

The sound created “a panic situation” for rescuers and there was a “strong possibility of further collapse”, the NHIDCL said.

Excavators have been removing debris since Sunday after a portion of the under-construction tunnel in the northern Himalayan state of Uttarakhand caved in.

Rescue efforts have been hindered by falling debris and the repeated breakdown of drilling machinery.

The trapped men have been supplied with light, oxygen, food, water and medicines from the outside and are able to communicate via walkie-talkie.

NHIDCL director Anshu Manish Khalko on Friday warned that the rescue operation “may take time”.

The 4.5km (3 mile) tunnel is being constructed between Silkyara and Dandalgaon to connect the Hindu shrines of Uttarkashi and Yamunotri.

The project is seen as one of the most ambitious undertakings of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government.

Authorities have not given a reason for the collapse, but the region is prone to landslides, earthquakes and floods.

Accidents on large infrastructure construction sites are not uncommon in India.

Earlier this year, Indian authorities evacuated hundreds of people from their homes in Joshimath town, also located in Uttarakhand, after buildings in the area popular with pilgrims and tourists developed cracks.