“Rome does not pay traitors”: Javier Milei on a collision course with his vice president

The relationship between Argentine President Javier Milei and his vice president, Victoria Villarruel, was already strained. In recent days, however, the relationship reached a critical point after the vice president criticized the government on social media.

The pair have been on a collision course since last Thursday (10), when the vice president, who in Argentina also leads the Senate, enabled the session in which the emergency increase of 7.2% of reforms was approved , as part of a package of projects that increases fiscal spending.

Villarruel has faced widespread criticism from ministers and government supporters, who question the legality of the session, as it was not called by the Senate president. The vice president defended her position, explaining that senators have the autonomy to call sessions and refuting accusations of treason.

Milei publicly expressed her disapproval of Villarruel, sharing attacks against the vice president on social media.

Villarruel also criticized Milei on social media, suggesting that the president should cut spending on travel and intelligence services, accusing him of being out of touch with the realities of Argentines. The vice president also wrote that the president must behave like an adult when discussing policy.

The conflict reveals deep divisions within the current Argentine leadership. Villarruel has isolated himself in the Senate, and the Casa Rosada (Pink House) has begun spreading the message that the vice president is considering a future candidacy outside Milei's political group, Freedom Advances. Tensions escalated with a public disagreement at an official event, where the president, upon entering the Buenos Aires Cathedral, ignored the vice president and later wrote on social media that "Rome does not pay traitors."

After the government's defeat in Congress, Milei's allies demanded Villarruel's suspension from office. During a speech at the Buenos Aires Stock Exchange, the ultraliberal insinuated that she was not part of his team and had betrayed him.

"We implemented 2,500 structural reforms. So, not only did we have a much more successful stabilization program than [Carlos Menem's] convertibility, but we also implemented 25 times more structural reforms. But we did this with 15% of the Chamber of Deputies, seven senators, a traitor, but with the best chief of staff in history," said the president.

The tension between the victorious duo in the 2023 election race is not new. Villarruel, who had aspirations of controlling the Defense and Security ministries, was marginalized by Milei early in her administration.

The vice president is the daughter of a military man, has visited commanders of the last Argentine dictatorship in prison, and is considered a defender of the Armed Forces. Instead, the president appointed two former candidates in the 2023 elections to cabinet positions: Luis Petri and Patricia Bullrich.

Villarruel advocates for a rethinking of Argentines' memory of the last dictatorship. He has criticized the arrest of military personnel who led the country at the time, questioned the number of 30,000 missing people during the regime, and said that combatants were not tried for crimes in the same way as military personnel. His main point of disagreement with Milei's ultraliberal ideology is that she presents herself as nationalist.

Before the end of her first year in office, the vice president had already been isolated from executive decisions, coming under the radar of the president's sister and secretary of the Presidency, Karina Milei.

In Argentina, friction—in many cases, irreversible ruptures—between president and vice president are not exclusive to the current administration. Fernando de la Rúa (1999-2001) and his vice president, Carlos "Chacho" Álvarez, fell out even before the tragic end of that term, during the 2001 crisis.

Cristina Kirchner was a guarantor, vice president and, later, one of the main critics of the government of Alberto Fernández (2019-2023).

Despite the tension, there are no immediate signs that Villarruel plans to resign, but a growing number of analysts believe the rift between the two is irreversible. Milei's running mate maintains a positive image in polls and, although she lacks power in the Executive branch, acts as an arbiter in Senate decisions.

Milei, who had already argued with all 24 of the country's governors, accusing local politicians of boycotting the government's fiscal adjustment program, promised to veto laws that she considers a threat to her fiscal policy, even if she has to take the decisions to court.