The party of Argentina’s libertarian president, Javier Milei, has suffered a crushing defeat in local elections in the capital, Buenos Aires, even before he completes two years in office, in the most significant act of frustration with his deep-cutting economic austerity policies.

The results, announced on Sunday, put the candidate for Milei’s recently formed La Libertad Avanza (LLA) party, or Liberty Advances, Diego Valenzuela, who captured 34 percent, far behind Gabriel Katopodis, the Peronist left-wing challenger who received 47.4 percent.

LLA won just two of the eight electoral districts of the Buenos Aires province.

Milei conceded that his right-wing party’s crushing 13-point loss to his rivals represented “a clear defeat”.

“We suffered a setback, and we must accept it responsibly

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