Argentina's new leader is an English-loving tantric sex expert

A little over a month before he was elected Argentina’s next president, Javier Milei’s supporters listened rapt as the self-described “anarcho-capitalist” and tantric sex expert vowed to take a “chainsaw” to the “parasitic” state.

An Anglophile with an Austin Powers haircut and outsize sideburns who once fronted a Rolling Stones tribute band, Mr Milei was reveling in the crowd’s adulation that day, frenetically waving his arms like a conductor in time with the chant. 

“We are going to kick them in the a---, straight out of office,” he shouted.

Occasionally, in the cavernous conference centre on the outskirts of the Argentine capital, the audience of several thousand interrupted the libertarian economist’s anti-establishment diatribe with chants of: “The caste is afraid.”

It was this term Mr Milei, 53, used throughout his campaign to dismiss the entire ideological spectrum of traditional politicians, everyone from Argentina’s equivalents of Corbynistas to the European Research Group.

He blamed them all equally for a collapsing economy in a country that a century ago was one of the richest in the world, exporting vast volumes of grains, wool and beef. Inflation now tops 120 per cent and the poverty rate is 40 per cent.

The radical outsider promised “the reconstruction of Argentina” when he was voted in on Sunday night. But many Argentines remained deeply concerned for the future of their country.

Their trepidation stemmed partly from Mr Milei’s extreme views on deregulation and privatisation — he has proposed a free market in human organs and even unwanted babies — but also the erratic personal style of the man seen as a lifelong loner.

They wonder whether he has the temperament to lead the troubled society of 46 million.

“Absolutely not,” said Juan Luis González, a prominent journalist and author of El Loco, an unauthorised biography of Mr Milei, when asked earlier this year if Mr Milei was fit to be president.

“I’m very worried about his political ideas, which I just don’t think are implementable in Argentina. But they worry me much less than Milei’s emotional instability. When he’s angry on TV, it’s not an act. He’s really angry.”

Who is ‘El Loco’?

Based on anonymous interviews with personal contacts of Mr Milei, El Loco is full of mind-boggling revelations, including that the candidate hears “voices”, believes God told him to enter politics, and talks with his dead English mastiff, Conan – named after Conan the Barbarian – through a medium.

Mr Milei did not respond to El Loco. But his campaign dismissed the book as “lies” intended to hurt his chances. Nevertheless, The Telegraph did verify one of El Loco’s startling allegations, confirming with Massachusetts-based company Perpetuate that it had cloned Conan, resulting in Mr Milei’s four current English mastiffs.

One of them is named Milton and another Friedman, for the scholar who helped found the neoliberal school of economics.

Despite being a polite free-market nerd in private, Mr Milei has invariably spouted sweary, hyperbolic invective on stage. Highlights have included calling a female journalist a “donkey” and accusing his compatriot Pope Francis of being an “imbecile” and “representative of evil on earth”.

The son of a bus driver and housewife, Mr Milei’s childhood in the bohemian Buenos Aires district of Palermo was, by his own account, an unhappy one. He was routinely humiliated by his father, Norberto, and bullied at school. His mother, Alicia, was cold and unloving, he has said.

The only saving grace was his sister, Karina, with whom he remains extremely close and who is expected to be his first lady.

Mr González tells the story of Karina fainting and having to be taken to hospital as Norberto once beat her brother. Alicia then accused the boy of nearly causing his sister’s death. Although they are now partially reconciled, Mr Milei has acknowledged not speaking with his parents for a decade.

He eventually went on to study economics and play, briefly, as a back-up goalkeeper for his local football side, Chacarita Juniors, in Argentina’s second division. He then became an adviser to Eduardo Eurnekian, one of Argentina’s richest men. Mr Eurnekian’s companies include AA2000, which operates most of the country’s airports.

It was here that Mr Milei rose to national prominence, becoming a regular guest on TV, standing out from the other economics talking heads for his ability to offend and wildly off-topic asides, including claims that Eastern spirituality had turbocharged his sex life.

‘There are two sides to him’

While becoming a popular TikTok and TV personality, Mr Milei has remained a homebody who loves to be surrounded by his dogs and books and whose social circle is largely limited to his sister. He is reported to have had his first long-term relationship at 47. Since August, he has been dating Fátima Florez, a photogenic comedian who impersonates the former president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner.

“There are two sides to him, the violent one, who shouts and fights with everyone, and the lonely 12 year-old craving love and approval,” said Mr González.

Yet separating Milei the man from Milei the policy wonk may be redundant, given the chaos many fear he would unleash with his plans to dollarise the economy, shutter the central bank and 10 of Argentina’s 18 government ministries, and privatise healthcare and education by giving vouchers to the poor. For good measure, he talks of ending diplomatic relations with “communist” countries, including Brazil and China, Argentina’s two largest trading partners.

“He wants to rid the dictionary of the word ‘rights’, whether it’s labour rights, the right to abortion, gender rights or the right to sexual identity,” said Carlos de Angelis, a sociologist who used to appear on TV with Mr Milei and believes the candidate is “on the brink” of authoritarianism. “For him, there are only privileges.”

Dollarisation would require an estimated $40 billion (£32.8bn), experts say, money Argentina does not have and would likely be unable to borrow. Mr Milei has suggested that the first stage could be open competition between currencies, with Argentines using “gold, Swiss Francs or the pound”, as each prefers.

“He doesn’t explain how he’s going to implement his policies,” said Tomas Borovinsky, a political scientist at Argentina’s San Martin University. “He just keeps saying ‘We’ll see.’”

One of Mr Milei’s few known friends, Diego Giacomini, an economist with whom he co-wrote a book before the pair became estranged, accused Mr Milei of wanting to be a “king”. Mr Eurnekian has said his former adviser should learn respect and “shut his mouth”.

Yet despite – or perhaps because of – his eccentric persona, Mr Milei, who is often compared to Donald Trump, has tapped into a deep vein of public fury over Argentina’s economic implosion.

“Milei is riding the zeitgeist,” added Mr Borovinsky.  “This image, of an outlandish rocker, with his leather jackets, shouting insults and being politically incorrect is perfect for the moment. Voters want to punish politicians.”