MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Villarruel in charge of Argentina's Executive due to Milei's trip

Milei is to attend Trump's inauguration and the WEF in Davos, among other engagements

Argentina Presidential Spokesman Manuel Adorni posted on X Friday that Vice President Victoria Villarruel was to be briefed shortly that she was to take over the Executive Branch given President Javier Milei's trip to Washington to attend Donald Trump's inauguration and to Davos for a World Economic Forum (WEF) convention, among other engagements.

Adorni made those remarks after controversies arose during the Senate's session in which Eduardo Kueider, in pre-trial detention in Paraguay for entering the country with an undeclared sum of cash, was expelled. Purists claimed that that session was void because it was chaired by Villarruel, who at the time, was officially in charge of the Executive after Milei's trip. But the Vice President contended that, as per the Government Notary's Minutes, she had not been notified of the transfer of powers.

“In order to clear any kind of doubts, I inform you that in the next few moments, the Vice-President of the Nation will be duly notified of her responsibility as an official in charge of the National Executive Branch in view of the trip abroad that the President of the Nation will start today”, Adorni stressed.

Milei's trip will also feature a meeting in Washington DC with International Monetary Fund ((IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, and Coca Cola's CEO James Quincey, before departing for Switzerland. Joining Milei's entourage are Presidential Secretary (and sister) Karina Milei, and Ministers Luis Toto Caputo (Economy) and Gerardo Werthein (Foreign Affairs).

Given Milei's trip, Villarruel had to cancel a trip to the province of Chubut to oversee the relief works at the Epuyén wildfires. Instead, she contacted Chubut Governor Ignacio Torres to get a firsthand report on the ongoing events. Villarruel has a personal connection to the area because she spent some of her childhood in Epuyén as the daughter of a military officer who served at various destinations nationwide.

In Epuyén, Mayor José Contreras described the situation that started last Wednesday as a “total disaster” and expressed concern about the wind forecasts for the area.

Before boarding the ARG 01 presidential aircraft, Milei sent the so-called “Clean Record” bill to Congress, whereby anyone with a criminal conviction is banned from running for elective office, clearly targetting former President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner (CFK).

“They said everything, but nothing was true: the President of the Nation signed a few moments ago the bill called 'clean record'. The real 'pact' is with all those who want a free and prosperous country,” Adorni wrote on social media.

In the current scenario, CFK might still run because her appeal before the Supreme Court is yet to be decided upon. The new bill would make a lower court conviction upheld by the Appellate Court enough for disenfranchisement. Defense Minister Luis Petri was said to have helped pen the draft.