Argentina President Javier Milei used this week’s Torah portion, Parshat Bo, to frame a warning about what he called a Western retreat from liberty during a Wednesday address at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
In the closing section of his speech, Milei referenced Moses’s confrontation with Pharaoh and the final three plagues described in Parshat Bo: locusts, darkness, and the death of the firstborn.
The Argentinian President cast Pharaoh as “the symbol of the oppressive power of the state,” and argued that the sequence of plagues illustrated how societies slide from economic ruin to moral confusion and, ultimately, collapse when they deny freedom.
Milei told the Davos audience that the West had “begun to turn its back on the ideas of liberty,” and connected that claim to his criticism of socialism and “wokism,” which he described as socialism in “hypocritical” form.
He said he had come to Davos in 2026 to deliver “good news,” insisting “the world has begun to awaken,” and pointing to political shifts in the Americas as evidence of a renewed embrace of liberty.
Milei also urged a return to what he called the roots of Western civilization, listing Greek philosophy, Roman law, and Judeo-Christian values, and ended with his signature refrain: “Long live freedom, damn it.”
WEF annual meeting is held in Davos
The World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting is being held in Davos-Klosters from January 19 to 23. Milei delivered the address as part of the forum’s program of special speeches by heads of state.
According to reporting from Davos, Milei also praised US President Donald Trump and emphasized his alignment with Washington, while defending free-market capitalism and denouncing socialism.
Milei has made repeated appearances at Davos since taking office in December 2023, using the stage to press his libertarian message. In his 2024 debut, he warned that “the West is in danger,” arguing that Western leaders had been co-opted by ideas leading to socialism.
In 2025, he again attacked “woke ideology” and promoted what he called the “ideas of freedom,” according to an official transcript of that address by the World Economic Forum.