Javier Milei has been sworn-in as the President of Argentina as the Latin American country reels from the effects of inflation.
Milei, 53 and an economist who was sworn-in on Sunday rose to fame on television with profanity-laden tirades against what he called the political caste. He won a congressional seat and then swiftly ran for president.
A libertarian, he has insisted that there would be no “half-measures” as he tackles decades of overspending, debt and convoluted currency controls in Argentina, the Latin America’s third-biggest economy.
“I swear to God and country… to carry out with loyalty and patriotism the position of president of the Argentine nation,” he said as he took the oath of office.
Thousands of supporters lined the streets outside Congress, waving the country’s blue-and-white flag and chanting Milei’s rallying cry of “freedom!”
“Perhaps it will take us many years to rebuild the country but maybe this is the beginning of a new era for us,” said Javier Lobos, 41, a shopkeeper.
“We will be able to work and strive to fulfill our dreams without the burden of suffocating taxes, inflation and the strain of a currency system that is crippling our nation.”
The event brings together a diverse handful of world leaders, including Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky and Hungary’s nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban – the only EU leader who has maintained close ties to Russia.
“The Right is rising not only in Europe but all around the world,” Orban wrote on social media, sharing a picture of a meeting with his “good friend,” Brazil’s far-right ex-president Jair Bolsonaro, who is also in town for the ceremony.
Chile’s leftist leader Gabriel Boric and the King of Spain Felipe VI are also attending.
Mr Milei will give his first speech as president from the steps of Congress. He will later swear in a cabinet of nine ministers – a major slimdown from the current 18.
He has said his first set of measures will be presented to Congress in a matter of days.
Mr Milei’s inauguration caps a meteoric rise for the former television panelist who entered politics only two years ago.
His rants against the “thieving” establishment fired up voters and drew comparisons to leaders like Bolsonaro and former US president Donald Trump.
He vowed to “dynamite” the central bank and replace the ailing peso with the US dollar.
