Argentina has entered uncharted waters with the election of self-styled “anarcho-capitalist” Javier Milei as president. Amid the South American nation’s worst crisis in more than two decades, scarred by triple-digit inflation and the failure of successive governments, Argentines plumped for dramatic change in the form of an eccentric television economist.

Milei’s election on Sunday is the latest example of a trend across Latin America, where voters despairing of stagnant living standards, endemic corruption and rising crime have rejected incumbents in favour of radical insurgents from the left and right of the spectrum.

Exactly what Argentines have chosen this time is less clear. In the final weeks of the campaign, Milei, who is untested in government, played down some of his more extreme ideas. He ruled out loosening gun controls or privatising education, though he continues to advocate dollarisation and taking a chainsaw to the state.