Rocking ‘n’ Rolling: As Elections Approach, Argentina’s President Is Looking For a Miracle
NEED TO KNOW
Rocking ‘n’ Rolling: As Elections Approach, Argentina’s President Is Looking For a Miracle
ARGENTINA
Argentine President Javier Milei headlined a rock concert for 15,000 supporters a few weeks ago, using his Presidential Band to belt out Argentine rock classics as giant screens flashed apocalyptic imagery and fans cheered.
The concert was ostensibly to promote his new book, ‘La construcción del milagro’ (The Construction of the Miracle), but the president himself framed the event as a campaign rally meant to “rekindle the fervor” that propelled him to the presidency in 2023, ColombiaOne reported.
That’s because this enthusiasm has turned to disillusionment and fury among many Argentine voters.
As mid-term elections approach, the president, who had until recently enjoyed extraordinary success with his “chainsaw economics” approach to tackling Argentina’s problems, is starting to look much more vulnerable, especially in the wake of mass discontent with his austerity policies and fury over corruption scandals within his administration.
Analysts say these elections, coming on the heels of big losses in a recent local election, lawmakers vetoing his cuts and curtailing his powers, and infighting within his far-right movement, could spell the end for Milei and his reform efforts.
“Javier Milei has lost his lucky star,” wrote Spanish newspaper El País. “His redeeming power, emanating from the ‘forces of heaven,’ as he often likes to say, was mercilessly crushed… (and) exposed the king. The ‘best government in the history of humanity’ must now find an earthly formula to alleviate the ordeal that lies ahead – the national legislative elections – and it cannot afford another fall.”
Milei, an eccentric libertarian economist and television commentator, was elected as Argentina faced a deep economic crisis with inflation running at more than 200 percent. Since he took office almost two years ago, he’s made deep cuts to government spending, frozen wages, disability benefits and pensions, and brought inflation down to around 2 percent. He delivered a fiscal surplus in his first year after nearly 15 years of deficits. And the country’s projected growth for this year, after two years of recession, could top 5 percent.
Even though he has been hailed at home and abroad for starting to turn things around for Argentina, his policies have prompted weekly protests from Argentines who have struggled to survive.
In June 2025, unemployment figures reached 7.9 percent – the highest level since 2021, partly because of the budget cuts. Meanwhile, the poverty rate reached a record high in 2024 of 54.8 percent, and although it has decreased, more than one-third of Argentines fall under the poverty line today, with double that number telling pollsters they can’t afford their monthly expenses. And Milei’s removal of currency controls has meant that the Argentine peso has appreciated significantly against the dollar, pushing up the cost of living.
Argentina is now one of the most expensive countries in Latin America – with some of the lowest salaries.
The situation came to a head for Milei during elections in Buenos Aires province last month. Boasting how he would trounce the opposition, his right-wing party, La Libertad Avanza, only secured about 34 percent of the vote, while its left-wing Peronist opponents won about 47 percent in an election seen as a referendum on his policies.
Meanwhile, he has been grappling with corruption scandals involving his sister, his lawyer, and members of his administration. He himself is under investigation for his promotion of a cryptocurrency that turned out to be a scam. That has severely undercut his image as an outsider doing things differently, and his promise to stamp out corruption.
“When Milei won Argentina’s presidency in late 2023, a large part of his appeal was his self-portrayal as a populist outsider fighting against the country’s corrupt political ‘caste,’” wrote World Politics Review. “Voters may have been willing to overlook a bit of corruption if they felt Milei’s government was delivering economic policies that were improving their daily lives. However, when people feel economic pain, alleged embezzlement on the part of the president’s lawyer and sister is exactly the sort of scandal that will bring electoral punishment.”
Voters, angry over the scandals, threw rocks and bottles at Milei during a recent campaign appearance.
Meanwhile, Argentina’s Congress, where his party has a minority, has repeatedly vetoed his proposals and also moved to tighten the leash recently. Earlier this month, Argentina’s lower house overwhelmingly passed a bill to limit his ability to use emergency presidential decrees.
In an effort to push forward his austerity agenda, he has issued more than 70 decrees since becoming president in December 2023.
Still, commentators say that a main problem for Milei is that he surrounds himself with a small group of advisors including his sister, Karina, known as “the boss” and members of the politically prominent Menem family – also implicated in corruption schemes – but burns bridges with everyone else including the business community, bankers, the country’s governors and other far-right and conservative political leaders as well as the opposition politicians willing to work with him.
He also harmed his reputation as a reformer when the peso came under such pressure and threatened his presidency, that he was forced to ask for financial aid from the US last month, funds conditioned on the results of the mid-terms, say analysts.
Now, in an election where half of the lower house and one-third of the Senate will be up for grabs, his party is expected to lose again, commentators say.
What happens next is up to Milei, they add.
“He is weakened, and yet his opponents underestimate his continuing appeal with voters exhausted by decades of political dysfunction,” wrote Time. “The big question is if Milei, off-balance now, can bounce back.”
THE WORLD, BRIEFLY
Anti-Immigrant Riot Erupts in Dublin
IRELAND
Clashes between demonstrators and police erupted outside of a Dublin hotel housing asylum seekers late Wednesday, in a second night of violent anti-immigrant protests in the Irish capital sparked by reports of an alleged sexual assault of a young girl by a migrant, the BBC reported.
Hundreds of protesters marched outside the CityWest Hotel, waving Irish flags and holding signs featuring anti-immigrant slogans. There were reports of vandalism, and some demonstrators threw stones, bottles and fireworks at officers.
Police said two officers were injured and 23 people were arrested on public order offenses, the Guardian wrote.
Wednesday’s violence followed clashes a day earlier, when hundreds of people protested outside the hotel complex and later fought with police. One police vehicle was set on fire and six people were arrested, according to Euronews.
The unrest followed reports that a 26-year-old asylum seeker had sexually assaulted a 10-year-old girl on the hotel grounds. The suspect – whose identity and nationality have not been disclosed – was later charged in connection with the assault.
Police officials condemned the violence as “unacceptable,” adding that it was organized by “disparate groups on social media, who stir up hatred and violence.”
Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin denounced the attacks on the officers, while acknowledging the “concern, anger and worry of many people” over the assault on the girl. He added that there “has been failure here in terms of the state’s obligation to protect this child.”
This week’s protests come nearly two years after a similar anti-immigrant unrest in Dublin, which erupted after the stabbing of three children outside a school by a man in his 50s from Algeria, Al Jazeera added.
Although Ireland has no far-right members in parliament, authorities have reported a sharp rise in anti-immigrant protests and violence in recent years, including arson attacks targeting asylum-seeker accommodations.
Many demonstrators have cited frustration over rising violent crime and worsening housing shortages as reasons for their anger.
Peru Declares 30-Day State of Emergency in Lima Amid Protests and Rising Crime
PERU
Peru’s interim president José Jerí declared a 30-day state of emergency in the capital of Lima and the neighboring port of Callao this week, in an effort to quell weeks of anti-government protests and a sharp surge in violent crime that has destabilized the country, Agence France-Presse reported.
On Tuesday, Jerí said the decree would take effect at midnight Wednesday, allowing the government to send troops onto the streets and restrict freedom of assembly and movement.
The measure marks the new president’s first major action since assuming office nearly two weeks ago, following the impeachment of his predecessor, Dina Boluarte, over corruption allegations and her failure to curb organized crime.
It follows weeks of youth-led demonstrations that have spread throughout the country, demanding government accountability amid worsening insecurity.
The capital had already been under a partial state of emergency earlier this year following the murder of singer Paul Flores in an alleged extortion attempt.
More than 200 people have been injured in the protests, including police officers and journalists. Last week, one person was killed during demonstrations demanding that Jerí resign.
Jerí – who is expected to serve until July 2026 – has refused calls to step down.
Meanwhile, critics and observers questioned whether the government has a concrete plan to address the root causes of organized crime, including a rise in extortion, Al Jazeera wrote.
Authorities have said extortion cases have surged to an estimated 18,000 this year – a 30 percent increase over 2024 – while homicides rose to 1,690 between January and September, compared with 1,502 during the same period last year.
At least 47 bus drivers have been killed in suspected extortion-related attacks, prompting widespread outrage over the state’s inability to maintain order.
Cameroon Arrests 20 Amid Ongoing Protests Over Disputed Presidential Election
CAMEROON
Cameroonian authorities detained at least 20 people this week as sporadic protests continued across the country days after the Oct. 12 presidential elections, a ballot marred by allegations of fraud and irregularities, the Associated Press reported.
On Tuesday, officials said the arrests took place in the northern city of Garoua, but did not specify how many people in total were detained. They added that 20 of the “several” arrested will be brought before military courts on charges of insurrection and incitement to rebellion.
The detentions came as security forces clashed with demonstrators in Garoua and the capital, Yaoundé, where protesters accused the government of electoral fraud and denounced the likely re-election of incumbent President Paul Biya, Reuters noted.
The unrest follows days of uncertainty and unverified tallies after the vote, which saw the 92-year-old Biya face 11 opposition candidates.
Partial results show that Biya is poised to secure an eighth term in office – he has been in power since 1982. Final results are expected on Oct. 26, with analysts noting that the longtime leader is expected to win as the opposition remained divided and his main rivals were barred from running.
Even so, the main challenger Issa Tchiroma Bakary and civil society groups have rejected the preliminary results, alleging widespread irregularities such as ballot stuffing and outdated electoral registers that still list deceased voters.
Tchiroma had declared himself the winner and published a tally from 18 administrative units on his Facebook page that allegedly confirmed his victory. While his supporters praised the move, Biya and other officials questioned their authenticity and urged voters to remain calm until the results are announced.
The opposition candidate warned that any other outcome could plunge the country into further unrest.
Cameroon, a Central African nation of 30 million, has been grappling with a years-long separatist conflict in its western regions and chronic corruption, which has stifled development despite its rich deposits of oil and mineral resources.
DISCOVERIES
Ant Antics
Staff at the Alchemist, a Michelin restaurant in the Danish capital of Copenhagen, famous for pushing culinary boundaries, recently noticed that milk left in a fridge with an ant inside began to curdle, CNN reported.
This accidental discovery sparked the curiosity of anthropologists, microbiologists, food scientists, and others, who eventually realized they had rediscovered a nearly forgotten yogurt concoction once common across the Balkans and Turkey.
The restaurant then turned this concoction into a mascarpone cheese, a cocktail and an “ant-wich” – a yogurt ice-cream sandwich shaped like an ant. The creations were a hit.
The “ant-wich” was “very appreciated” by diners, a spokesperson for Alchemist told CNN.
Meanwhile, a team of researchers investigated the ancient recipe involving ants, explaining in a new study that bacteria, acids, and enzymes contained in ants can kickstart the fermentation process that turns milk into yogurt.
“Today’s yogurts are typically made with just two bacterial strains,” senior author Leonie Jahn said in a statement. “If you look at traditional yogurt, you have much bigger biodiversity, varying based on location, households, and season. That brings more flavors, textures, and personality.”
To better understand the ant recipe, researchers visited Nova Mahala, Bulgaria, the home village of study co-author Sevgi Mutlu Sirakova, where locals remember the tradition, according to Smithsonian Magazine.
One of the traditions consisted of dropping red wood ants (Formica rufa), native to the Balkans and Turkey, into milk.
“We dropped four whole ants into a jar of warm milk (per) the instruction of Sevgi’s uncle and community members,” lead author Veronica Sinotte said. “The jar was then tucked into an ant mound to ferment overnight. By the next day, the milk had started to thicken and sour. That’s an early stage of yogurt, and it tasted that way as well.”
Researchers tried the yogurt during the trip and said it tasted slightly tangy, herbaceous, and with flavors of grass-fed fat.
Back in the lab, they investigated the science behind the recipe and found that ants carry lactic and acetic acid bacteria. These bacteria produce acids that help coagulate the dairy.
Ants themselves, however, also contribute to the yogurt-making process. Formic acid, part of the ant’s natural chemical defense system, acidifies the milk, influences its texture, and probably creates an environment for yogurt’s acid-loving microbes to thrive.
Enzymes from the ant and the microbes work together to break down milk proteins and transform milk into yogurt.
Then, researchers compared yogurts made with live, frozen, and dehydrated ants. Only live ants were able to create the proper microbial community, indicating they are the most effective for yogurt production.
Still, ‘ant yogurt’ has risks: Live ants can carry parasites, and freezing or dehydrating them could allow harmful bacteria to flourish.
The research highlights how traditional practices can increase culinary creativity and inspire innovative approaches to food science.
“I hope people recognize the importance of community and maybe listen a little closer when their grandmother shares a recipe or memory that seems unusual,” said Sinotte. “Learning from these practices and creating space for biocultural heritage in our foodways is important.”