Agustín Laje presented his book to nearly a thousand people, championed the cultural battle, and formed the "dream team" of his far-right Latin America.

"A photo, Agustín, a photo!" Agustín Laje couldn't keep up. He tried to please everyone by signing books, shaking hands, and crouching on the stage of the José Hernández hall at the Book Fair , but it was clear he was struggling. A mixture of shyness and stage fright prevented him from coming down and embracing those who treated him like an idol. To tell the truth, his audience, most of whom had very short, coarse hair, wouldn't have allowed it either. There, before nearly a thousand people, the essayist shared his derogatory vision of the state, with provocative and precisely dedicated words: " We still have time to abort this embryo of the state." He also urged activism on social media and denied key points of 21st-century humanism , such as the international system and animal rights.

A dedication ceremony was concluding, one in which the inspiration for Javier Milei—his ideologue and organic intellectual— approached the fire the president spreads in his presentations before those followers who turn it into a high-temperature party. Before nearly a thousand people, Laje presented his book "Globalismo" (Harper Collins), published in 2024, in the main hall of the Fair. Laje is an essayist, lecturer, and political scientist from Córdoba of the new fundamentalist right. He is the founder and president of Fundación Libre, a conservative think tank . He opposes same-sex marriage, same-sex adoption, euthanasia, and abortion, even in cases of rape . He also promotes the cultural battle against progressivism, which he calls "cultural Marxism." He wrote a biography of Milei with Nicolás Márquez.

On Saturday afternoon he was accompanied in the presentation by another “beacon” of this ideology: the professor and rector of the Eseade University, Alberto Benegas Lynch (h), the same one who when Milei was in the political campaign in 2023 proposed: “Out of consideration and respect for my Catholic religion, I believe that we should imitate what President Roca did and suspend diplomatic relations with the Vatican while the totalitarian spirit prevails there.”

There was a one-hour delay in the start of the event. A quick movement of several people allowed VIP guests to enter the front row. First, the Minister of Justice, Mariano Cúneo Libarona ; the Secretary of State for Worship and Civilization, Nahuel Sotelo ; the Director of Human Rights at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Úrsula Basset ; the national deputies of LLA, Alberto Tiburcio “Bertie” Benegas Lynch (wearing a red Red Hot Chili Peppers t-shirt), Nicolás Fernando Mayoraz, and Santiago Santurio . Also attending the libertarian event were Milei's personal documentary filmmaker, Santiago Oria ; the President's photographer, Macarena Rodríguez ; Andrés Mega, the editor of Hojas de Sur—the publishing house where Laje published some of his books; and Gordo Pablo , one of the hosts of the streaming channel Carajo , among others.

Beyond that row of organic products, families with young children, groups of expectant young people, single men, and women in groups multiplied. A mix of curious onlookers and fans? People in jeans, worn sneakers, sweats, some carrying mate and thermoses. Their faces expressed curiosity, perhaps hope. Cell phones active in their hands, many left nothing and no one unphotographed or filmed.

Once everyone was settled, Benegas burst onto the scene with a lecture-like tone, recounting key figures on the libertarian path, both economists and political thinkers. He argued that "the core of democracy is respect, the guarantee of people's rights; and the mechanical, formal, accessory, and secondary part is the vote count." He also launched into slogans such as: "Human rights is a rather grotesque redundancy because rights cannot be anything other than human; they are not mineral, vegetable, or animal"; and that "no Marxist has ever explained how the logical structure of a proletarian differs from that of a bourgeois," referring pejoratively to the concept of social class.

Then, Laje finally conquered the centrality of the act and differentiated: “globalization is an economic phenomenon, globalism is a political phenomenon.” What are the characteristic institutions of globalism?, he asked, and answered: “They are not so much those of the nation-state, but, above all, those of supranational, supranational organizations, organizations that began to multiply in the second half of the 20th century.” In his book, Laje argues that globalism is institutionalized in organizations that are sometimes completely public , other times completely private, but in most cases they are public-private hybrids. These are sometimes called “Public International Organizations,” sometimes called “NGOs,” and sometimes they are called “Global Forums.”

In this definition, Laje lays out much of his conception of what a state is: "So, the creature that has been given life is not a state, but a superstate that is still, however, in an embryonic state. That is to say, we still have time— as the girls with the green scarves like to do—to abort it . Only in this case, we would be doing good, not harm. We still have time to deactivate this embryo that develops under the inertia of progressive accumulation of political power that is inherent in the nature of these modern machines," he provoked, earning applause and laughter.

Wearing a suit, black shoes, and a tie, he asked: "How can we combat globalism? On the one hand, with a cultural battle. That is, each of us has an active role to play; there are no more excuses. We are in the era of social media. Today, everyone can make their voice heard, and everyone has a moral and political responsibility to make their voice heard. But along with the cultural battle, we must advance our electoral battles; we must win the elections. Because in the end, it is the state that ends up deciding whether or not to support this transfer of power to international spheres."

Laje concluded his presentation by imagining a common destiny for Latin America, with Argentina as a libertarian beacon illuminating and guiding the destiny of Chile; with Johannes Kaiser, the libertarian YouTuber; in Peru, with the ultraconservative Rafael López Aliaga, current mayor of Lima; in Colombia, with TV presenter Vicky Dávila ; and many others. “Imagine globalizing, not globalism, but resistance.”

Laje signed some books and left through the back of the stage. Below, hundreds of fans of all stripes dispersed and took selfies with Fat Pablo. Outside the venue, a reporter from the Carajo channel interviewed the audience, who displayed restrained enthusiasm. Some had been hopeful about the possibility of a surprise appearance by the president, or perhaps Karina Milei or the no-longer-secret Santiago Caputo . Almost simultaneously, the three sides of the iron triangle were invoked in different rooms of the Fair with biographical books or books about presidential controversies.