Guillermo Francos gave details of the relationship between Javier Milei and Victoria Villarruel
The internal dispute between Javier Milei and Victoria Villarruel had a new chapter at the end of last week, when the president led an event with the Armed Forces to which the vice president was not invited, although the provisional head of the Senate let it be known that she would have loved to participate. However, the Chief of Staff, Guillermo Francos, tried to minimize today the differences that exist at the highest level of the Executive.
The coordinating minister admitted that there may be “differences on some issues” between Milei and Villarruel, but he affirmed that there are “total and substantial” agreements on the most important issues. However, in the specific case of Friday’s event, Francos assured that the Vice President was invited.
“I don’t know the details, but from what I understand, from what the Minister of Defense told me, Victoria was invited to the event. I think that things are the normal relations between a president and his vice president. Sometimes there are total and substantial agreements and sometimes there are differences of opinion on some issues. They are two political leaders who fulfill different institutional roles and each one plays his own,” Francos said.
The event referred to by the Chief of Staff is the one led last Friday by the president, Javier Milei, in the framework of the presentation of the offices and sabres to the new generals, admirals and brigadiers of the Armed Forces. The event took place in the Libertador Building, headquarters of the Ministry of Defense and the Joint Staff of the Armed Forces, in the Buenos Aires neighborhood of Monserrat.
The Vice President’s entourage assured that she did not receive an invitation to the event, although she did want to attend. Since she did not have a formal invitation, the leader decided not to attend. According to them, “she would have loved to be accompanying the Armed Forces as always.”
Guillermo Francos provided details about the relationship between President Javier Milei and Vice President Victoria Villarruel
During an interview with Radio Rivadavia, the official also stressed that Villarruel participates in Cabinet meetings “and speaks with the President,” which is why, he said, he does not believe there are “substantial differences.”
“Sometimes there is a lot of speculation. (Villarruel) may have differences; she may not agree with the creation of La Libertad Avanza, but that does not mean that she has not formed a presidential proposal that President Milei basically created with her, when they were national deputies and it was when they were the formula that won the elections,” he added.
For his part, the national official spoke out about the video revealed by Infobae in the last few hours, where journalist Tamara Pettinato is seen sitting in Rivadavia’s chair, and talking to former president Alberto Fernández.
“It is a total lack of respect for institutions, for history. Furthermore, it is impossible to understand what the purpose of filming a video is. I cannot understand it. But it seems to me to be a lack of political and institutional positioning for a President of the Republic and it shows a sick personality, someone who is not aware of the responsibilities he has, in a country that was in such particular circumstances as it was at that time,” said Francos.
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“It is a lack of respect for history, institutions and all Argentines,” he added.
In this context, he said that “it is incredible that all these things that have been raised have happened. The most dramatic part is the violence of the former president towards his wife, but they demonstrate the decadence of a part of the Argentine political system. Even if it was covered up, they are the great justification for Javier Milei’s enormous victory in the elections.”
At the same time, she also implicated Cristina Kirchner in the scandal involving the former president, Alberto Fernández. “I have seen some chats where she told him ‘stop bringing women’. Today she is trying to distance herself from his political decisions because everyone has believed her to be a political genius when she chose Alberto Fernández or appointed Amado Boudou as vice president. And they both ended up the same. The truth is that she is not a genius at all,” she said.
Guillermo Francos was also asked about a possible rapprochement between La Libertad Avanza and the PRO, in view of next year’s legislative elections, which the official considers a good possibility to have a parliamentary majority.
“We still need to outline a strategy for next year, but I am convinced that there is a common ground with the PRO, because there are many people who voted for us in the second election for the ticket headed by Javier Milei. Within the Government we have several members of the PRO, from the Minister of Security, Patricia Bullrich, Luisi Petri and Federico Sturzenegger. In general terms, we are walking the same path,” said Francos.
The Chief of Staff spoke of the need for rapprochement between the PRO and La Libertad Avanza
Although he ruled out a merger between the two parties, he did explain the need to work together. “I think that destiny is that we will come together, I am not talking about a merger, but we have to propose a political response to a common electorate. I think that the great challenge for the next elections is to be able to form a parliamentary majority of this sector. Until now everything has been very difficult for us, because between the PRO and LLA we are a minority. Even though we have another sector close to us that helped us with the Ley Bases, but they argued a lot and put difficulties in our way or promote other laws that are impossible to carry out, if we were the majority this would not happen to us,” he said.
The Chief of Staff also ruled out Mauricio Macri being able to run for parliament in the next elections. “I think it is a bit utopian, because I think that President Macri is above a candidacy for senator. The figure of President Macri is important as a leader of a political space and as someone who occupied a very important place in Argentina. Now, if he decides to be a candidate for senator, he will be a very good candidate. But I don’t see it. I see him more as a leader who accompanies than as an active representative in Parliament. But it is a personal opinion.”
