On October 6, 2025, the Movistar Arena in Buenos Aires pulsed with the energy of a rock concert, but the man at center stage wasn’t a typical rock star. It was Argentina’s President Javier Milei, clad in black leather, belting out Argentine anthems and Jewish folk songs while images of bombings and political figures flashed behind him. The occasion? The launch of his latest book, a 573-page tome titled La construcción del milagro (“The Construction of the Miracle”), a collection of his speeches and social media posts from the past year. With his presidency facing its roughest patch yet, Milei hoped the spectacle would reignite the fervor that swept him into office and bolster his party, La Libertad Avanza, ahead of the crucial October 26 midterm elections.
Nearly 15,000 supporters filled the arena, many wearing the signature purple of Milei’s party. The event, part political rally and part rock show, saw Milei perform almost a dozen songs, including “Panic Show” by La Renga and “Demoliendo Hoteles” by Charly García. His band, playfully named La Banda Presidencial—a pun on the Spanish word for both the presidential sash and a musical band—featured not just musicians but also political allies, including Deputy Bertie Benegas Lynch on drums. The mood was electric, but the stakes could hardly have been higher.
As reported by AFP and BSS, Milei’s presidency is at a crossroads. Just a day before the concert, José Luis Espert, one of Milei’s top candidates for the upcoming midterms, resigned amid allegations of links to drug trafficking. This scandal, combined with recent financial and political turmoil, has cast a shadow over Milei’s reformist agenda. Congress had just overturned two of his presidential vetoes on funding bills for universities and pediatric care, striking at the heart of his prized zero-deficit goal. Meanwhile, a significant provincial electoral defeat in early September triggered a run on the Argentine peso, forcing Milei to seek financial assistance from the United States—a bailout that, as of the concert, had yet to materialize.
Undeterred, Milei channeled his campaign persona—the outsider economist with rock star flair—into the performance. Between songs, he addressed the crowd with a mix of bravado and defiance. “Listen up, Kirchnerists, you may have won a round, but you're not going to win the battle, let alone the war,” he declared, referencing his arch-rival, former president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, who has been under house arrest since June 2025 following a corruption conviction. At one point, he prompted the audience to chant “Cristina tobillera,” a jab at the ankle monitor she now wears.
But the night wasn’t just about political jabs. Milei condemned a recent anti-Semitic attack in Buenos Aires, telling the crowd, “We are not going to allow this xenophobia that the left is trying to install.” He then performed “Hava Nagila,” inviting the audience to join in—a gesture that drew a muted response but underscored his message of solidarity with Argentina’s Jewish community. He also paid tribute to the victims of the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel, calling Israel “the stronghold of the West” and urging the release of hostages held in Gaza, including four Argentines.
The spectacle outside the arena was nearly as charged as the show itself. According to AFP and MercoPress, libertarian youth groups known as Las Fuerzas del Cielo (“The Forces of Heaven”) rallied in support, while neighborhood assemblies and the Territorial Liberation Movement staged protests, leading to minor scuffles but no serious incidents. Police set up a ring of steel around the venue to keep opposing factions apart. Some banners outside captured the frustration of many Argentines: “Milei, it's a miracle anyone comes in to buy anything,” read one, alluding to the sharp decline in consumer spending since Milei’s austerity policies began.
Milei’s economic record is a study in contrasts. He has been credited with bringing annual inflation down from over 200% at the end of 2023 to 33% in August 2025, and for balancing the federal budget for the first time in 14 years. But these achievements have come at a steep cost. The peso’s devaluation, deep spending cuts, and slashed subsidies have made essentials like housing, healthcare, and education increasingly unaffordable for many. “I thought he knew something about economics, but he knows nothing. Anyone can bring down inflation if no one’s buying anything,” a local butcher told AFP. Liliana Castelnovo, a 73-year-old retiree and cancer patient, lamented, “This man lives in another country; he has no idea of the hunger people are suffering.”
Even among Milei’s own supporters, there is a sense of urgency and uncertainty. Leonardo Saade, a tourism worker who traveled to Buenos Aires for the event, insisted, “The Argentine economic miracle is being studied in universities around the world.” Yet, outside the libertarian bubble, skepticism is growing. A poll conducted by Zuban Córdoba y Asociados between September 28 and October 4 found that 64.7% of Argentines disapprove of Milei’s government—a sharp increase from the previous month. His negative image stands at 63.2%, and 65.3% of respondents believe the worst is yet to come. Only 12% support continuing his current economic course, and 56% predict a defeat for La Libertad Avanza in the upcoming elections. The poll also revealed that 62% of Argentines feel distant from the United States and Donald Trump, and 64% believe US support for Milei is merely symbolic.
Yet, Milei remains defiant. “If there is one thing that will not change in this government, it is its reformist vocation. Because either freedom advances or Argentina regresses,” he told the crowd, as reported by MercoPress. His drummer and fellow economist, Bertie Benegas Lynch, wrote in the book’s prologue that Milei “has shown that only self-interest and individualism can make peace and prosperity flourish.”
As the concert ended, images of US President Donald Trump and the late far-right activist Charlie Kirk flashed on the arena’s screen, prompting a standing ovation from the crowd. But outside, the mood in Buenos Aires was far more subdued, marked by economic anxiety and political fatigue. In the prologue to his book, Milei is hailed as a warrior for individualism and market freedom, but as the country braces for midterms, the question remains: will his rock star persona and economic reforms be enough to turn the tide?
For now, Argentina watches and waits, caught between the promises of a miracle and the hard realities of everyday life.
