Peter Thiel becomes anti-Milei rallying cry for Argentina’s left

A year out from Argentina’s presidential election, Peter Thiel has become an avatar for the left’s charge that President Javier Milei is putting the country up for sale.

Opposition lawmakers launched a five-hour congressional hearing Friday into Thiel’s interests in Argentina, ramping up scrutiny on the tech billionaire who has purchased a mansion in Buenos Aires and a stake in the country’s biggest oil exporter. 

Thiel also met with Milei and members of the Cabinet earlier this year, just as the libertarian leader began pushing one bill to make it easier for foreigners to purchase Argentine land and another that would allow companies to be run entirely by AI.

The legislative blitz is part of Milei’s push to draw new foreign investment to Argentina. But the bills have drawn popular backlash, giving Milei’s Peronist opponents a chance to seize on nationalist sentiment as they position for next year’s campaign. 

Thiel has become a convenient target. Friday’s hearing was framed around a single question, which flashed in white copy against a blood-red backdrop on flat-screen TVs in the congressional conference room: why is Thiel here?

It came on the heels of a protest outside his Buenos Aires property, where a group of demonstrators dressed as Gandalf in a nod to Thiel’s affinity for Lord of the Rings. Draped in gray cloaks and floppy pointed hats, the protesters chanted expletive-laced football anthems refit with lyrics mocking Thiel and his data analytics company. They held a banner reading, “You shall not pass.”

Lawmakers behind the congressional show attempted to paint Thiel’s interests in the South American nation as more sinister.

“To understand Peter Thiel, perhaps we need to read less Lord of the Rings and watch more Terminator 2,” Juan Marino, a Peronist congressman who organised the event, said. “That futuristic dystopia, where technology exterminates humanity, allows us to see with complete clarity what kind of future and present they are proposing here.”

Paper name plates for Thiel, Milei and other members of his Cabinet lined the table to Marino’s left. Although they’d been invited to appear, none showed. In their place, opposition lawmakers lined up experts in AI, technology, theology and land use to posit differing theories on his interests in Argentina, many alleging that catastrophe could ensue.

A representative for Thiel didn’t respond to a request for comment.

The spectacle took place amid a difficult stretch for Milei, whose approval ratings are near the lowest levels of his Presidency. 

Earlier this month, a property rights bill that would’ve eased limits on foreign land ownership in Argentina inspired public uproar, leading lawmakers to gut its most consequential provisions before approving it. 

Opponents are now keying in on other proposals, including the AI bill and another that would extend generous tax, customs and foreign-exchange benefits to new industries, including data centers. Milei is also seeking to create a passport-by-investment programme, fuelling opposition claims that he’s selling off Argentina’s resources to bolster his 2027 reelection bid.

Thiel is primarily interested in Argentina as a bunker to hedge against the possibility of a nuclear fall-out, two people familiar with the situation said. He also enthusiastically backed Milei’s idea of letting AI run companies but didn’t draft the proposal, according to a government official who requested anonymity to discuss internal matters.

Thiel was scheduled to speak at a business conference in Buenos Aires next week. But he cancelled without an explanation.