BUENOS AIRES, Argentina, Oct 27, (AP): Argentina’s libertarian President Javier Milei won decisive victories in key districts in midterm elections Sunday, clinching a crucial vote of confidence that strengthens his ability to carry out his radical free-market experiment with billions of dollars in backing from the Trump administration.

In the election widely seen as a referendum on Milei's past two years in office, his upstart La Libertad Avanza party scored over 40% ​​of votes compared with 31% for the left-leaning populist opposition movement, known as Peronism, exceeding analysts' projections.

Milei, a key ideological ally of US President Donald Trump, said his party and allied blocs picked up 14 seats in the Senate and 64 in the lower house of Congress on Sunday, bolstering the government's support in the legislature enough to uphold presidential vetoes and block impeachment efforts.

At La Libertad Avanza headquarters late Sunday in downtown Buenos Aires, a beaming Milei hailed the election sweep as a mandate to press forward with his spending cuts and introduce ambitious tax and labor reforms.

The results also automatically position him as a candidate for reelection in 2027. "The Argentine people have decided to leave behind 100 years of decadence,” Milei exulted as his supporters cheered, referring to a succession of Peronist governments that brought Argentina infamy for its inflationary spirals and sovereign debt defaults.

"Today we have passed the turning point. Today we begin the construction of a great Argentina.” Perhaps never has an Argentine legislative election generated so much interest in Washington and Wall Street.

Trump appeared to condition a $20 billion currency swap deal with Argentina's central bank and an additional $20 billion loan from private banks on a good showing for Milei in national midterms, threatening to rescind the assistance for the cash-strapped country in the event of a Peronist victory.