Argentina’s libertarian president, Javier Milei, has won key midterm victories, backed by billions from the Donald Trump administration.

Mr Milei, a close ideological ally of Mr Trump, announced that his party had gained 14 Senate seats and 64 in the lower house in Sunday’s vote, strengthening its presence in Congress.

Mr Trump called the results “a big win” for his ally, praising him for “doing a wonderful job” as his party’s performance exceeded expectations.

“Congratulations to President Javier Milei on his landslide victory in Argentina. He is doing a wonderful job! Our confidence in him was justified by the people of Argentina,” Mr Trump said in a post on Truth Social.

The US leader added that Milei “had a lot of help from us”.

Speaking to supporters in Buenos Aires after the results, Mr Milei declared: “Argentines showed that they don’t want to return to the model of failure.”

He added that the victory would help him push his radical free-market agenda: “Today we reached a turning point. Today begins the construction of a great Argentina.”

Mr Milei’s government has managed to cut monthly inflation sharply, from 12.8% before his inauguration in December 2023 to 2.1% last month, while also securing a fiscal surplus.

The Trump administration extended a bailout potentially worth $40 billion (£30 billion) to help stabilise Argentina’s peso. Mr Trump’s support ahead of the vote included a $20 billion currency swap and a proposed $20 billion debt investment facility.

As part of its economic assistance to Argentina, Washington is also considering buying Argentine beef to bring down prices in the US.

That proposal has angered American cattle ranchers, but Mr Trump has downplayed their concerns.

“We’re going to get the price of beef down, and I’m going to make sure the cattle ranchers don’t get hurt,” Mr Trump said.

Building momentum nationwide

The election results showed Mr Milei’s party, La Libertad Avanza, winning in parts of the country long dominated by Peronism.

In the Buenos Aires province, a traditional Peronist stronghold representing nearly 40% of voters, La Libertad Avanza narrowly won edged out a win Sunday – just a month after the Peronists had defeated Milei’s party there by 14 points in local elections.

Nationwide, La Libertad Avanza increased its representation in the House of Deputies, the lower chamber of parliament, from 37 to 64 seats out of a total of 127.

Axel Kicillof, governor of Buenos Aires province and the leading figure in the Peronist opposition, has criticised Trump for influencing the election.

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He argued that the billions in US Treasury and investment bank support would do little for ordinary Argentines struggling with Mr Milei’s subsidy cuts and an economy forcing businesses to close.

“I want to make it clear that neither the US government nor JP Morgan are charitable societies,” Kicillof said. “If they come to Argentina, it is for nothing other than profit, putting our resources at risk.”

Mr Milei’s push to deregulate the economy and eliminate tariffs earned him strong backing from Argentina’s influential agricultural sector, helping his party secure a decisive victory in Santa Fe Province, a key hub for soybean production and processing.

The president has said he expects a cabinet shake-up after the election that could include members of the centrist PRO party, a frequent ally of the government in Congress led by former President Mauricio Macri.

After 18 months of surviving forced starvation and shelling by the paramilitary group the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the regional capital and symbolic battleground of Al Fashir is on the verge of full military collapse.

On Sunday, the RSF advanced into the heart of the city and captured the 6th Infantry Division of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) in central Al Fashir after three days of intensified ground battles.

In propaganda videos shared on RSF social media channels, troops waved their assault rifles in the yard of the garrison and celebrated victory in front of a bullet-ridden wall marked with an emblem of the Sudanese military.

They claim to have taken over the city and completed their military control of the Darfur region.

Sudanese army soldiers, civilian resistance fighters and first responders have denounced the RSF’s declaration of full victory and say battles are ongoing to fend off the city’s capture.

A wedge of military-held territory remains on the western edge of Al Fashir where remaining civilians are squeezed in with troops fighting to push outwards and regain key sites lost to the RSF.

“I left because all the residents and forces have been intensely concentrated in Al-Daraja Owla neighbourhood. It was too much and people started fleeing,” said aid worker and resident Adam al Rashid, who left Al Fashir on Saturday.

“The RSF was moving people out and attacking others. So many have been killed by gunfire and shelling from battles. It was clear this was coming. The RSF has been advancing on the 6th infantry division for three days.”

Around 5,000 people have fled Al Fashir since 23 October, according to initial assessments by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).

Videos shared on RSF channels show masses fleeing on foot – some filmed by an RSF surveillance drone scattered across a field and others left in long, sombre queues as RSF soldiers yelled at them from inside their trucks.

Other videos show men of fighting age rounded up and kneeling on the ground as RSF troops yell at them, “You are all army”.

Sources tell Sky News that those fleeing are facing mass arrests and extra-judicial killings on their way out.

There is currently a telecommunications blackout in Al Fashir. An ominous sign that has marked previous takeovers by the paramilitary group, including the city of Al Geneina where the United Nations (UN) accused the RSF of killing 10,000 to 15,000 people.

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“I am very concerned about the life of my relatives, the journalists and the doctors inside the city of Al Fashir. All of us saw what happened in Al Geneina and we are scared that will happen in Al Fashir too,” said Mohamed Zakarea, a journalist from Al Fashir who fled the city a year ago after five months of the RSF siege.

“The people are waiting for the Sudanese army – for the war planes and the air drops. If all of this doesn’t happen, then I’m afraid to say that Al Fashir is falling.”

A hurricane due to hit Jamaica and Cuba has intensified and could reach Category 5 – the highest – when it makes landfall either this evening or early on Tuesday, forecasters have warned.

It is expected to bring catastrophic floods, landslides and storm surges to the region, the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.

Jamaican authorities have urged residents to evacuate to one of 900 shelters set up across the island.

And on Sunday night, Prime Minister Andrew Holness issued mandatory evacuation orders for Port Royal in the capital Kingston and six other areas.

Storm Melissa currently has maximum sustained winds of up to 140mph (220kph) and is expected to strengthen as it heads towards Jamaica.

Desmond McKenzie, minister of local government, said: “Many of these communities will not survive this flooding.
“Kingston is low, extremely low… No community in Kingston is immune from flooding.”

Both international airports are closed.

The slow-moving storm has already killed at least three people in Haiti and a fourth person in the Dominican Republic, where another person remains missing.

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The NHC said Melissa is expected to bring 38cm (15 inches) to 76cm (30 inches) of rain to Jamaica and southern Hispaniola with a local maximum of more than a metre (40 inches).

Eastern Cuba is expected to receive 25cm (10 inches) to 38cm (15 inches), with local amounts of up to 51cm (20 inches).

There are warnings of extensive damage to infrastructure, power and communication outages, and the isolation of many communities in Jamaica.

Dana Morris Dixon, Jamaica’s information minister, said the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency is ready to provide assistance, and several international partners have already pledged support.

“We’ve heard the rainfall numbers. They’re numbers we’ve never heard before,” she said.