Javier Milei, a right-wing populist who admires Donald Trump and made a name for himself by shouting against Argentina's “political caste” on television, finds himself the front-runner for this month's presidential election. If he emerges as Argentina’s next president, it will be in large part thanks to support from people like Paola Aguirre, a mother of two young girls who lives in a makeshift wooden shack near a landfill in the northern province of Salta.
“God forbid, if something bad happens, we will learn from our mistakes, but we definitely need a change,” said Belén Salva, a health worker who does mammograms. Salva is frustrated because she cannott afford basic essentials. “I want to buy a refrigerator and it’s impossible,” she said. Milei paints himself as a change from the politicians who “decimated your income,” a reflection of how many Argentines are scraping by despite having jobs.