MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentina's vice-president says she is “extremely worried” about those who cannot make ends meet

“The political class has to start thinking about those issues, almost to the exclusion of everything else,” she added, speaking to farmers and reporters

Argentina's vice-president, Victoria Villarruel, has again distanced herself from Javier Milei's government, voicing concern over unemployment and the financial difficulties facing households. “I am extremely worried about Argentines who today have no work or who cannot make ends meet,” she said at the opening of Expo Venado 2026, an agricultural fair in Venado Tuerto, Santa Fe province.

“The political class has to start thinking about those issues, almost to the exclusion of everything else,” she added, speaking to farmers and reporters. She argued that without work there is no family and without production there is no work, and that the country ought to have a successful future given its potential, though at present it “has many complexities.”

The remarks contrast with the executive's position on household debt. Arrears on credit to individuals reached 17.5% of total lending in June, according to a study by Universidad Austral and the consultancy Eco Go, and both Milei and his economy minister, Luis Caputo, have described the situation as a matter between private parties for the market to resolve.

Villarruel also called for the elimination of export duties, known in Argentina as retenciones, a levy applied for decades to overseas sales of grains and other products. She said farming and industry should operate without those taxes and argued that “the future of Argentina is agricultural and industrial.” She called for a policy of strong support for domestic industry.

The vice-president cut the ribbon alongside Leonel Chiarella, mayor of Venado Tuerto and president of the national committee of the Unión Cívica Radical, a party outside the governing coalition. Asked about the 2027 electoral landscape, she said it is “fundamental to think about national unity” without the debate being absorbed by discussion of “candidacies or political parties.”

Villarruel was Milei's running mate in the 2023 elections and presides over the Senate, but has maintained a distant relationship with the presidency for months. Figures close to the president have publicly called for her resignation.

That distance was visible again on Monday, when she was not invited to the official ceremony led by Milei marking the anniversary of the death of José de San Martín, the general who led the independence campaigns of Argentina, Chile and Peru and the central figure in the Argentine national pantheon. The vice-president marked the date on her X account, writing that “his example is the guide for Argentines who do not kneel and who defend national sovereignty every day.”