MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentine Senate passes scandalous wage hike

“I am not a Senator and can do nothing to stop it,” Vice President Villarruel argued

Argentina's Senate Thursday agreed on a substantial wage increase for the Upper House which stirred controversies as the country grapples to make ends meet. The decision was reached after zero debate and Senators were also asked to raise their hands if they validated the motion. Many then insisted on social media that they were not among the ones approving the scandalous hike.

Vice President Victoria Villarruel, whose natural place is to head the Senate albeit with no voting rights except in case of a tie, reckoned the controversy the wage increase would cause but claimed that “I have no tool to stop it” and warned that “some sectors take advantage” of the situation to smear her.

“I am not a senator, I do not get paid by the Senate and I cannot interfere in those decisions. Nor can I force a roll call vote or justify the decision endorsed by all, because I am not a senator,” Villarruel insisted.

“The senators of all the blocks agreed on an increase in their salary which was voted by a show of hands in the chamber because they had the necessary votes to do so,” Villarruel argued. Wages will go up from AR$ 1.7 million (around US$ 1,700) to AR$ 4.5 million (US$ 4,500).

“This is how the caste moves,” argued Milei who also underlined the case of those Senators who had opposed the increase. The head of state arrived in Bariloche on Thursday to take part in the Llao Llao Forum, during which time he is due to hold meetings with prominent businesspeople from Argentina and elsewhere. The Llao Llao Forum was created in 2012 as Bariloche recovered from the eruption of the Puyehue Volcano.

Earlier Thursday, the Senate had okayed the Executive's proposals for various embassies worldwide, including Argentina's next envoy to Israel, Rabbi Axel Wahnish, who is very close to President Javier Milei. Other diplomats greenlighted were Guillermo Nielsen (Paraguay); Gerardo Werthein (United States), Mariano Caucino (India); Ian Sielecki (France); and Sonia Cavallo (OAS).

Radical Civic Union (UCR) Chairman Martín Lousteau once again questioned Milei's wish to move the Argentine Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, which “entails a risk in multiple dimensions, something recognized by experts in foreign relations from all political sectors,” he stressed.