Javier Milei at the Jockey Club: the return of liberalism to its historic home

In an event filled with symbolism and political significance, President Javier Milei visited the historic Jockey Club de Buenos Aires this Friday. It was not simply another dinner or a protocol activity: it was an act with institutional weight, an ideological message, and a declaration of principles.

After decades of collectivist deviation and cultural decline, an Argentine president once again stood before the productive elites with a clear message: "The future is liberal."

The Jockey Club, founded in 1882 by former President Carlos Pellegrini, is not only a symbol of Argentine tradition, but also a pillar of local liberalism that, for decades, built the foundations of Argentina as a powerhouse. Its founding aimed to create a space for dialogue among politics, economics, literature, and art, representing the best of an Argentina that valued merit, excellence, and civilization.

Milei's visit—the first sitting head of state to set foot in the club in decades—is no minor event. It is an act of historical reparation with an institution that once hosted the true architects of the country: men such as Pellegrini himself, Miguel Cané, Roque Sáenz Peña, José María Rosa, and the leaders of economic liberalism like Juan Bautista Alberdi and Vicente Fidel López, whose ideas permeated the club's halls.

For much of the twentieth century, however, that Argentina, proud of its liberal tradition, was cornered by populist demagoguery. The club was attacked in 1953 by a horde of Peronist activists who set its library on fire and destroyed part of Argentina's cultural heritage. That attack was a warning: the country was abandoning the model of progress to embrace statism. Decline became state policy.

Milei's speech at the Jockey Club is no coincidence. It is a vindication. In his address, the president recalled Carlos Pellegrini, whom he described as a "storm pilot," drawing a clear parallel with his own administration. "They told us that adjustment was impossible, that it was not possible to govern without a deficit. Today we've shown that it is possible to reduce public spending, lower inflation, and return to growth," he stated defiantly.

The data supports him. Milei highlighted that in just six months of government, the Central Bank's deficit was reduced by 15 points of GDP, primary spending by 30%, and inflation from over 25% monthly to just 1.6% in June. Moreover, GDP grew by more than 6% year-on-year and poverty, according to his words, dropped from 57% to 31%. "We lifted 12 million Argentines out of poverty," he asserted, emphasizing that this was achieved without printing a single peso.

But the most important thing was not the figures, but the tone. Milei did not speak to please or to seek easy approval. He spoke directly, bluntly, and with an ideological clarity not heard in Argentine politics since the generation of the 1880s. "Many governors and municipalities, instead of tightening their belts, increased taxes. That is perverse," he denounced. He called on the country's elites to leave behind the "scarcity mindset" and to regain the courage to take risks, invest, and dream big.

It was a speech that appealed directly to the heart of a liberalism that once was the majority, and that today Milei seeks to rebuild. The fact that he did so from the Jockey Club is not a mere aesthetic gesture. It is a way of saying: we are back.

Argentine politics, in recent decades, has been characterized by a toxic combination of resentment, misunderstood egalitarianism, and contempt for excellence. The institutions that were once beacons of merit and progress were persecuted or reduced to caricatures by a ruling class more interested in perpetuating its power than in building a country.

In this context, Milei represents an anomaly: a president who, instead of promising "more state," promises less. Who, instead of attacking those who produce, calls on them to lead the change.

Some may say that speaking at the Jockey Club is an "elitist" act. But what Milei did was quite the opposite: he challenged the productive elites to move out of passivity and assume their historical responsibility. "Our grandparents and great-grandparents dreamed of a great Argentina. It is time to recover that ambition," he told them. He warned them: "If we do not dream for ourselves, the bad guys will dream for us."

This message—uncomfortable for many—is necessary. Because Argentina will not move forward with subsidies, welfare plans, or barricade speeches. It will move forward when talent, merit, and responsibility once again occupy their rightful place. That begins, precisely, by recognizing those who once made the country great.

Milei's presence at the Jockey Club is a signal. A signal that, after years of darkness, there is a government willing to once again value the ideas that once placed us among the most prosperous countries in the world. It is, ultimately, the return of liberalism to the house where it all began.