The rise of politically right parties worldwide is quite worrying. The election of Milei was a big but not totally unexpected shock. It is amazing how masterly these parties use media (mass- and social-) and campaigns to make their opponents seem feeble and powerless while trying to present themselves as the only solution, even promise miracles (a lot of people want to believe in easy solutions). Milei did all of those: openly accusing the opposition and promising the amelioration of Argentinian economy in a very very short time.

It’s important to note that ruling parties the influence on the media can be much more immense, so that sometimes the only thing the government has to be effective in is communication with the electoral base, no matter how incompetent it is (e.g. Greece). That is, Milei might only has to persuade and reassure the people that voted for him that the government is effective in order to get re-elected. That seems hard to achieve now, but remember how Milei suddenly got tremendously more popular just before the elections. Political parties’ communication departments can often work miracles in producing believable propaganda, much more so when it can harp on the worries of the people in hard times. Let’s hope the strike is a sign that Milei won’t stay for too long.