“Smoke without fire”? Transformation of Javier Milei's public narrative after 2023 presidential election in Argentina

The growing presence of right-wing political actors in Latin America is driven primarily by the peculiarities of national political systems, protest voting, and electoral dynamics, whereby the population refuses to trust incumbent governments and votes for the opposition, rather than by an ideological shift. Against the backdrop of declining voter confidence in traditional parties, the positions of extreme right-wing, anti-system and populist forces are consolidating.

Thus, it is relevant to examine the political dynamics in Argentina, where Javier Milei, a libertarian leader of "La Libertad Avanza", holds presidency since 2023. His success was the result of a set of system factors, as well as the candidate's positioning in the digital media space. 

The paper provides a comparative analysis of Milei's public narrative during the election campaign and the first year of his presidential term. The aim of the study is to identify the features of Milei's narrative transformation after assuming office and his strategy for adapting to the challenges of domestic political and socio-economic development.

The empirical base is over 3 thousand posts on Milei's Twitter account published during the campaign (July 9, 2023 - November 19, 2023) and during his first year as president (December, 10 2023 - December, 9 2024). Research methods include content analysis and hierarchical clustering topic modelling approach.

The study revealed several modifications in Milei's narrative on Twitter after his victory in Argentina: firstly, the share of criticism of the Republican Proposal party in the context of political rapprochement with the center-right has reduced; secondly, greater attention has been paid to the Argentine foreign policy matters; and thirdly, the president has provided massive media support on Twitter for the political course initiated following the elections. At the same time, Milei's narrative retained typical stylistic features of his pre-election communication.

The study of Argentina's political dynamics is important both in the national and regional context. Milei’s victory and the dramatic transformations he initiated may inspire politicians in other countries to use a similar electoral narrative and to implement reforms based on the Argentine model in other national contexts. Therefore, understanding the trends of Argentina’s political development is important for envisioning the political process in other Latin American countries.