Javier Milei was elected President of Argentina in December 2023. Milei vigorously campaigned as a MAGA style conservative populist in the mold of U.S. President Donald Trump. Brandishing a chainsaw at campaign rallies, he promised to slash both Argentina’s bloated public budget and its thicket of leftist-inspired business regulations. He also vowed to tighten Argentina’s lax immigration policies and cut taxes.
His goals of crushing runaway inflation that was making Argentina an economic basket case and reviving economic growth appealed to voters tired of quasi-socialist government and corruption. Oh, and to the fury of Latin American leftists, he openly admires President Trump and has pledged to make closer relations with the United States.
Since Milei took office, annual inflation has dropped from 300 percent to 39 percent. The Argentina peso has stabilized. Real wages have increased dramatically. Moody’s has upgraded the country’s bond rating. Deregulation, lower taxes and a more stable currency are driving GDP growth. Basically, once again conservative, market-oriented economic policies have shown their stark superiority to left-wing quasi-socialism. And a strong alliance between the U.S. and Argentina benefits both countries.
Now the Peruvian Trump has announced his campaign for the highest office of his country. Rafael Lopez Aliaga has just resigned his position of Mayor of Lima, Peru’s capital, in order to run for president. The post was just vacated with the impeachment of Dina Boluarte, a deeply unpopular politician widely regarded as ineffective and corrupt. The presidential election is scheduled for April 12, and Lopez Aliaga is the current front-runner.
Lopez Aliaga and his fervent supporters have embraced the nickname “Porky,” and to be fair there is some resemblance to the cartoon character. Like Trump, he was an accomplished businessman before entering politics. He founded very extremely successful companies in the finance, railway and hotel sectors. As mayor, he has brought to Lima government a common-sense approach to problem solving.
Like most South American capital cities, Lima has grown explosively in recent decades. When I first visited Lima a few years back, crossing the city by automobile was an interminable crawl. Lopez Aliaga has initiated an extremely impressive program of road and railway expansion. Traffic on major expressways and streets now move along briskly. And this has been done without the corruption scandals that bedevil South American public works projects.
Porky also has a biting wit and what some Peruvians call “una gran personalidad.” He calls his leftwing political adversaries “los caviares,” elites who claim to be “progressive,” eating luxury foods while their policies impoverish the population. In public appearances, Lopez Aliaga explains that this is deliberate. An impoverished people are more prone to the swan song of leftist governments, that only the government subsidies and handouts can assure their well-being.
Peru is not the economic disaster that Argentina was. But corruption is regarded as a national plague, sapping the vitality of the productive sector and undermining social morals. And per capita GDP is considerably lower than that of its neighbor Chile, the global poster child for free-market economic policies. Lopez Aliaga wants to reduce the size of government, reducing the opportunities for bribery and corruption, and increasing the opportunities for private-sector economic growth. One campaign promise is to eliminate most government agencies.
And Lopez Aliaga is a stout social conservative. He is resolutely against the pernicious practice of abortion. He also opposes gay marriage. His morals are grounded in deep Christian faith. And he is the law-and-order candidate, pledging to send hardened criminals to prisons in El Salvador and to establish military tribunals for “urban terrorists.”
The man is unabashedly pro-Trump and pro-America. He openly supports Trump’s campaign of military strikes against narco-terrorists operating out of Venezuela. And he sees the U.S. as a vital counterweight to the growing economic and diplomatic influence of China in South America.
I have visited Peru many times over the years. Peruvians, who are among the friendliest people I’ve ever met, deeply understand the importance of religion, family, and traditional values. They are also hard-working people who don’t expect the government to coddle them or solve all their problems. (Oh, and “la comida Peruana” is, in my opinion, better than anything you’ll find in Paris.) They deserve a president who shares these values and is dedicated to their prosperity and well-being.
For Porky and Peru, the hour and the man have met. I humbly suggest that President Trump invite Lopez Aliaga to the White House and see for himself what an impressive politician he is. And hopefully his election will spur more Latin American countries to pursue a Trumpian path.
Viva Porky!