Alberto Benegas Lynch (h) to Voz Media: “The choice in Argentina is between Kirchnerism or freedom”

Javier Milei , the libertarian who wants to be president of Argentina , came second in the general elections with 30% of the votes, just behind the ruling party Sergio Massa , who obtained 36%. The economist maintains that the second round, scheduled for November 19, is the “most important election of the last 100 years,” since it shows two paths with very different implications: “ Kirchnerism or freedom .”

Alberto Benegas Lynch (h), another economist who turns out to be the reference for today's presidential candidate, thinks in a very similar way. Without going any further, he defined him as “a hero” and as “ the greatest reference of Argentine liberalism of all time .”

It is customary for Milei to cite one of his phrases from memory during his electoral events: “Liberalism is the unrestricted respect for the life project of others, based on the principle of non-aggression and in defense of the right to life, liberty and freedom.” private property". After the great popularity amassed by Milei in recent years, social networks affectionately dubbed him “the father of the child.”

To analyze what is coming in Argentina ahead of the elections, Benegas Lynch (h) spoke exclusively with Voz Media and talked about Milei, the decline of the South American country and even left a message for the Vatican.

Freedom or authoritarianism

Alberto Benegas Lynch (h) is 83 years old, is an economist and has an extensive academic career, which includes two doctorates, memberships in prestigious academies and books with prefaces by Friedrich Hayek , former Secretary of the Treasury William E. Simon , and the Nobel Prize winner in economics James M. Buchanan . In his country, he collaborates with all think tanks that promote the ideas of freedom and is president of the academic council of the Libertad y Progreso Foundation.

According to him, the second round in Argentina has to do with a very clear choice of country model: “ freedom or authoritarianism .”

“Because during this period something that has been happening to us in Argentina for eighty years has intensified, in terms of the constitutional damage to property rights , the tax tangle, galloping inflation , suffocating regulations, labor legislation against work and link with murderous rulers . This defines that authoritarianism has intensified in recent years,” he added, and then recalled that Argentina knew how to be “the admiration of the world.”

Regarding this last point, he compared the current situation in the United States with what the South American country once experienced. His diagnosis is that there is a move away from the “extraordinary values” of the founding fathers and that, as a general rule, “ where there has been great moral and material progress, people take that for granted and that is the fatal moment .”

He also had the pleasure of quoting Thomas Jefferson , who once stated that “ the price of liberty is its eternal vigilance .”

"Where there has been great moral and material progress, people take that for granted and that is the fatal moment", Alberto Benegas Lynch (h)

The second Argentine miracle

The economist also referred to Milei, whom he met because he sent him an email inviting him to lunch at La Biela, a historic cafe and restaurant in the City of Buenos Aires. As he recalled, the current candidate had a copy of one of his books and made a series of comments that caught his “powerful attention” for his “intelligence and curious spirit.”

Many years later, with Milei very close to being president of Argentina, Benegas Lynch (h) assured that he is the “ second Argentine miracle ”, behind Juan Bautista Alberdi , the father of the local constitution.

“His didactic ability and his ability to convert complex topics into relatively simple topics are all credit to him. (…) Their proposals are absolutely extraordinary,” he added.

To explain this phenomenon, supported by the middle and lower middle class, the “professor” mentioned two factors that partly drove Milei: the excess of state plans “coercively financed with the fruit of other people's labor” and indoctrination in educational institutions .

If there is one aspect of the libertarian's personality that has been criticized throughout the campaign, it has been his temperament, questioned for being somewhat flammable. The academic lowered the price to those who say that this would disqualify Milei from being president. "If you ask me what the personal life of Nicolás Avellaneda, Sarmiento, Miter and Roca (historical local political figures) was, I say 'I don't have the slightest idea nor am I interested.' What matters to me is what their conduct of public proposals has been ,” he said in this regard.

In turn, he celebrated that Milei has been able to bring into public discussion topics that he has been amplifying in the academic field for many years, which he described as an “ intellectual orgasm .”

He also highlighted the breadth of the libertarian's message at the international level. To give an example, he cited a conversation he had with Ricardo Ghirsi , a professor and former Peruvian representative, who told him that in the streets of Lima there were people who wanted to vote for Milei.

"After Juan Bautista Alberdi, Javier Milei is the "second Argentine miracle", Alberto Benegas Lynch (h)

Suspend relations with the Vatican?

Days before the general elections, Benegas Lynch (h) was the only speaker who spoke at the closing of Milei's campaign and generated a lot of controversy for a statement about the Church. Making it clear that the request was “in a personal capacity,” he suggested imitating former president Julio Argentino Roca and suspending relations with the Vatican .

Social networks and Argentine political analysts described his comments as “inappropriate,” given that he had gotten involved in a controversial issue days before the elections.

In response, the economist reiterated his position and added a little more context. “As I said in that massive meeting in my personal capacity, and, assuming full responsibility, I emphasize that as a Catholic and out of respect for my Catholic religion, I suggest imitating what President Roca did for an absolutely minor issue compared to what is happening today in the head of the Church, subscribing in my opinion to a totalitarian spirit”, he indicated.

“I think that what the current Pope can do can be summed up when the director of the newspaper La Reppublica asks him, 'What do you say, Your Holiness, when they tell you that you are a communist?', and he responds, I quote: 'As I always say, they are in In any case, communists think like Christians . That seems to me to sum up the spirit of what happens in the Vatican, without prejudice to all its offenses to the institution of private property and, therefore, to two of the commandments,” he continued.

In addition, he celebrated that “Third World” priests had criticized him and highlighted that liberals “are not a herd and we detest single thinking,” so “dissidence is welcome.”

A message for the second round

Finally, he reiterated the importance of the elections in Argentina, focusing on the fact that it is not “a favor to La Libertad Avanza nor a favor to Javier Milei, but in the interest of himself, his children, his grandchildren and of his country".

The full interview