San Francisco Frontiers - Argentines vote, seeking elixir for economic ills

Once one of the richest countries in the world, Argentina has stagnated in recent decades, unable to escape cycles of fiscal crises marked by debt, financial mismanagement, and inflation that now stands at 140 percent year-on-year.

With 40 percent of the population living in poverty and a middle class brought to its knees, many voters are keen to see the back of the traditional parties they see as the architects of their misery.

"We need a change. The country is a disaster, really, between the poverty, inflation, people are in a bad situation," said Gabriela Paperini, 57, an election volunteer waiting for voters to arrive in the suburb of Palermo.

She said she was planning to vote for former security minister Patricia Bullrich, but her daughter was backing Milei, who "I think is going to get a lot of votes."

Like many, she said she felt "so much" uncertainty over the outcome of the vote.

To avoid a runoff election on November 19, a candidate needs to win 45 percent of the vote Sunday, or 40 percent with a difference of 10 points or more over the nearest rival.

Milei, a libertarian economist who formed his party Libertad Avanza (Freedom Advances) only in 2021, blindsided most experts and pollsters when he surged to the front of the election race, winning a primary with 30 percent of votes.

The self-described "anarcho-capitalist" with disheveled hair and a rock-star persona has lured voters with his diatribes on television and social media -- where he vows to "dynamite" the central bank and ditch the peso for the US dollar.

He has run his campaign on TikTok and YouTube and showed up at live rallies with a powered-up chainsaw, vowing to slash public spending by 15 percent.

- 'Already broken' -

Political science student Agustin Baletti, 22, said he will be voting for Milei because past governments have "left young people without hope."

"Everything is already broken. Milei isn't going to break anything."

While Milei has topped opinion polls, these have not proved reliable in the past, and analysts say anything can happen between the three frontrunners out of five total candidates.

Charismatic Economy Minister Sergio Massa represents the ruling center-left Peronist coalition, a populist movement heavy on state intervention and welfare programs that has dominated Argentine politics for decades but has grown deeply unpopular.

Having overseen the country's recent economic pains, he has been an easy punching bag for his rivals.

To woo voters, Massa has gone on a pre-election spending spree, slashing income tax for much of the population in a move analysts say will only make the country's fragile financial situation worse.

To counter Milei, his government has taken pains to explain to voters what a loss of key subsidies that keep public transport and electricity, among others, dirt cheap, will mean.

- 'Highly incompetent' -

The other frontrunner is the stern and tough-talking Bullrich, who has also vowed radical change from the overspending, money-printing Peronists and their strict currency controls.

Bullrich served in the government of former president Mauricio Macri (2015-2019), a pro-market, non-Peronist who failed in his promise to contain spending and took out a record $44 billion loan with the International Monetary Fund, which has bailed Argentina out 22 times despite several massive defaults.

Psychoanalyst Irene Landa, 70, said she believes Bullrich is the "most coherent" of the lot.

"Milei, to me, it would be like giving a revolver to a monkey," Landa said. "But I think people are so fed up, so tired, that they believe in what he says."

Argentina's 35.8 million registered voters will be able to cast their ballots until 6:00 pm (2100 GMT).

Preliminary results are expected on Sunday evening.

U.Campbell--SFF