Argentina cast itself into uncharted territory when it voted in Javier Milei, an eccentric libertarian who has vowed to overturn the country's political order.

Even before Milei's election, parallels were drawn between Milei, 53, and former President Donald Trump, both known for their bombastic personality and showman approach to politics. Like Trump, Milei's candidacy was based on his desire to upend the standing political order. The Argentinian economist derided socialism, the Left, and the government as the center of all the country's problems. He has pledged to institute sweeping liberal economic reforms and the drastic cutting of government bureaucracy.

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"Today is the beginning of the end of Argentina's decline," he announced in his victory speech. "Today, we turn the page and return to a path we should never have strayed from. Today, we embrace the ideas of liberty once again [which] made us the world's No. 1 superpower in the 19th century."

Born in Buenos Aires in 1970, Milei went unknown for most of his life until the 2010s, when he gained widespread fame due to his aggressive, foul-mouthed performances in television debates, yelling at and belittling his ideological opponents, who were often members of the government.

He entered politics in 2020, joining the political coalition Avanza Libertad, or Freedom Forward, and later La Libertad Avanza, or Freedom Moves Forward, as a member of the Libertarian Party. After being elected into the legislature in 2021, he ran for president, pulling off his surprise victory in a runoff election.

His victory made him the first-ever libertarian head of state.

Milei described himself as an "anarcho-capitalist" but told the Economist in an interview that he understood this to be too radical a position at the time, so he pragmatically is a libertarian or minarchist, someone who believes the government's only role is providing the citizens with an army, police force, and courts.

In line with this, he said he wouldn't seek his ideal of completely abolishing the government, instead settling for cutting 10 of 18 government ministries; abolishing the pensions of Supreme Court justices, diplomats, and presidents; cutting public spending by at least 15% of GDP; eliminating electricity and gas subsidies; privatizing Argentina's 34 state companies; and cutting or abolishing all taxes, to start. He said establishing his ideal of a minarchist state or abolishing the state altogether would take decades.

To visualize his commitment to slashing down the government, Milei frequently waved around a chainsaw at campaign events.

Milei also wants to adopt the dollar as the country's currency and has pledged to abolish Argentina's central bank. To drive home this point, he beat a bank-shaped pinata with a baseball bat on television.

He wishes to liberalize the country's gun laws and expressed a wish to ban abortions, though he said he would propose it to Congress. The president-elect said he would send his plans to Congress rather than ruling by decree.

Milei didn't rule out decriminalizing prostitution and drugs but said the welfare state must be abolished first.

He set up socialism as his primary opponent, saying it is "always and everywhere, an impoverishing phenomenon. Moreover, it is violent and murderous."

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However, his policies are only part of what has set up Milei as such a controversial figure. He has attributed great importance to his English mastiff, Conan, who died in 2017. He went so far as to clone the animal, now possessing four puppies he refers to as his "four-legged children." He is rumored to have claimed to converse with his deceased dog and take political advice from his pets, allegations he has neither confirmed nor denied.

"Let them say what they want. Let's look at the results. If so, they will want to hire them from all over the world! Look at what they have done in two years, they are great," he said when asked if his dogs advise him politically.