MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Milei attending Paris Olympics amid rumors of rift with VP

Milei was jeered and applauded at the Teatro Colón

Argentine President Javier Milei is off to Paris to attend the inauguration of the 2024 Olympic Games, leaving Vice President Victoria Villarruel at the helm of the Executive Branch amid mounting rumors that things between the two of them are far from good.

Earlier this week, journalist Jonathan Viale, who is known for being close to Milei and a frequent visitor with multiple entries for no official reason at the Olivos Residence, said that Milei and Villarruel do not talk to each other. He also recalled that Milei had already sacked every not echoing the official discourse to a comma but the same process would not apply to Villarruel, who had been elected, not appointed.

The point of no return was said to be Villarruel's posting on social media defending international footballer Enzo Fernández who has taken considerable flak for his arguably homophobic and racist chant, which enraged French authorities, forcing Presidential Secretary Karina Milei to broker some sort of apology the following day at the Embassy, barely days ahead of the presidential trip.

Villarruel has always refused to recant and insisted Tuesday from the Fiesta del Poncho in Catamarca that she only “wanted to defend the Argentine national team and the Argentine people.” She also said she had paid no attention to the interpretations that ensued.

Contradicting Viale's statements, Presidential Spokesman Manuel Adorni said there was no rift “of any kind” between Milei and Villarruel, but insisted that the Vice President's posting resulted in “media noise that should not have been generated.”

“You cannot generate a diplomatic conflict over a sports issue,” President Milei had said in a TV interview. “But well, it's already solved, Karina fixed it,” he added.

LLA's crisis

To add to the ruling La Libertad Avanza's crisis, Senator Francisco Paoltroni stressed it was wrong on Milei's part to disavow a sitting vice president. Those close to Villarruel were reported in Buenos Aires as blaming Karina Milei and Presidential Advisor Santiago Caputo for the deteriorating relationship between the head of state and the first in the line of succession in case of vacancy.

Political analysts in Buenos Aires have long suspected Villarruel might be entertaining the idea of a promotion as popular discontent keeps mounting given the current economic hardships stemming from Economy Minister Luis Toto Caputo's measures.

Former President Mauricio Macri, who endorsed Milei's candidacy for the runoff with Sergio Massa but has now distanced himself from the ruling coalition he helped build, has been said to have approached Villarruel to ask her if she was ready in case Milei needed to be removed from office.

Who's who

Journalist Santiago Cúneo said that “the Vice-President is an employee of Astiz.” He was referring to former Navy officer Alfredo Astiz, who is serving a lifetime sentence for crimes against humanity during the military dictatorship. Astiz also gained worldwide notoriety in 1982 when he surrendered to British troops in the Georgias Islands without firing a single bullet.

“That Javier Milei talked to Astiz, he told me. That Villarruel met with Astiz, I am an eyewitness,” Cúneo claimed. “What society has to understand today is that we cannot go halfway, because we are facing an economic and political tragedy,” he added. Villarruel is the daughter of a former Army officer. She has close connections with many of her father's comrades from the 1976-1983 regime who -Cúneo hinted- financed her campaign in the hope of a presidential pardon.

“Villarruel would never resign before Milei's fall,” Cúneo added. “The conspiracy against Milei stops at Villarruel,” he stressed while offering to appear before Congress to give his version of the story.

Libertarian lawmakers were reported in recent days to have visited Astiz and other detainees with similar backgrounds. Hence, French President Macron was warned by human rights activists of the perils of siding unreservedly with LLA. Cúneo claimed others paid the visits given Villarruel's high profile. Astiz has also been tried in absentia and convicted in France for the 1977 disappearance of French nuns Alice Domon and Léonie Duquet.

“We denounce the intention to free Alfredo Astiz, responsible for the disappearance of French nuns during the Argentine dictatorship”, warned the organization in a note headed “France does not forget” and published Tuesday by Sophie Thonon-Wesfreid, a lawyer for the families of French people who disappeared in Chile and Argentina, and Jean-Pierre Hande, from the organization French Disappeared in Argentina. According to the signatories, “the real purpose of this visit was, in fact, to assure the convicts that their convictions would soon be overturned and that they would be released.”

They have already denounced that Milei, Villarruel, and “several ministers and deputies” of La Libertad Avanza “entertain the intention of freeing convicted criminals” since they came to power. “Neither the pomp of the Olympic Games nor political or economic reasons should make us forget the French demand for justice,” they insisted.

At the opera

Before departing for Paris, the 53-year-old Milei attended the famous Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, where the opera Carmen, released in 1875 by its French author Gerges Bizet, was being shown. Milei was escorted to the presidential box by 64-year-old vedette Amalia Yuyito González, who back in the day was romantically linked to former President Carlos Menem (1989-1999) whom Milei holds as one of his heroes.

It was Milei's first night out since splitting with entertainer Fátima Florez. At the theater, Milei was both applauded and jeered.