Argentine President Javier Milei (C) is guarded during an election campaign event in Lomas de Zamora, Argentina, on Wednesday. Milei was evacuated during the event after opposition protesters threw objects at the open-top vehicle in which he he was traveling, leading to clashes between some protesters and police officers. Photo by Juan Ignacio Roncoroni/EPA
Aug. 29 (UPI) — For the first time since taking office, Argentine President Javier Milei’s approval rating has fallen below 40%, according to a recent opinion poll.
The drop is no coincidence. In recent weeks, Milei has faced a series of corruption scandals affecting his inner circle, including his sister, Karina Milei, who serves as secretary general of the presidency and who the president calls “the boss.”
A poll by the Argentine consulting firm Tres Punto Zero, published this week, showed a sharp drop in the president’s approval rating after the scandals. In July, 48% of Argentines viewed his administration positively. However, three weeks later, that number fell to 39.8%, while 57% said they disapprove of his presidency.
The report also found that corruption has become the top concern for Argentines at 44.5%, far ahead of poverty at 16.1% and insecurity at 13.2%.
The results strike at the core of Milei’s campaign promise to end what he calls the “political caste,” a derogatory label he uses for an elite he says lives off and benefits from the state and political system.
Milei’s image has taken a major hit after the leak of audio recordings attributed to his lawyer, Diego Spagnuolo, recorded while he was executive director of the National Disability Agency, in which he allegedly referred to requests for bribes.
The recordings suggest a bribery scheme in the agency’s purchase of medicines, with 8% of contracts allegedly set aside for illicit payments to officials close to the president, including his sister, who also is hit top aide..
The fallout deepened because the leak coincided with Milei’s veto of a law declaring a “disability emergency” — a measure that, among other provisions, would have updated fees and created a non-contributory pension.
While the administration argued the veto stemmed from lack of funding, the opposition called it a budget cut aimed solely at meeting the government’s zero-deficit goal.
In that context, the leaked recordings became ammunition for critics who question the government’s consistency on the issue and fueled tensions in congress and in the streets, to the point that on Wednesday, Milei suspended a campaign event for the upcoming legislative elections in Buenos Aires after protesters threw stones at the presidential motorcade.
“Everything [Spagnuolo] says is a lie. We will take him to court and prove he lied,” Milei told reporters Thursday.
He added that the violence against him comes amid “crude defamatory accusations,” which he said “faithfully reflect the behavior of the caste in a new attempt to stop the process of change the country is undergoing.”
Public opinion analyst Shila Vilker, director of the consulting firm Tres Punto Zero, said the poll results were not surprising, noting that Milei has been embroiled in several controversies that have eroded his image while pursuing fiscal austerity measures that affected parts of the population, including vetoes of benefits for retirees and people with disabilities.
“There has been an overlap of problems. You have the pension veto, tensions over disability, pressure from the rising dollar and higher prices. And now there’s this new chapter, with corruption starting to surface,” she said.
Even so, Vilker stressed, Milei has not lost the trust of his base, as more than 75% of those who voted for him remain convinced of their choice.
“Three out of four are confident in their vote. They have not regretted it,” Vilker said.
Santiago Giorgetta, director of the consulting firm Proyección, said thst “those who support the president are also having a hard time.”
According to a national survey by his firm, only 35% of respondents consider Milei credible, while perceptions of his honesty have dropped to 32%.
He said the turning point in public opinion came in February, when the president promoted on social media the cryptocurrency $Libra, which was later accused of fraud.
“Before that, Milei had all the indicators in the green. After $Libra, they turned red,” Giorgetta said.