Argentina’s populist presidential candidate Javier Milei faces criticism as the peso takes a dive

By DANIEL POLITI
Associated Press

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Argentina’s firebrand populist presidential candidate Javier Milei is coming under fire from his rivals who are blaming him for a sharp depreciation of the local currency in the parallel market. Milei is the front-runner to win the Oct. 22 presidential election. He continues to tout his controversial plan for dollarization of the South American country’s economy. The Argentine peso has sharply depreciated over the past week. The informal exchange rate closed at around 1,025 pesos per U.S. dollar on Tuesday. The rate was at 605 pesos per dollar before the upstart Milei rocked Argentina’s political landscape by unexpectedly emerging as the top vote-getter in the country’s national primaries on Aug. 13.