Scandal in Argentina Follows Javier Milei to Paris
July 27—Argentine President Javier Milei is having a bad week. He is embroiled in a national scandal at home, after six congressmen from his Liberty Advances party (LLA) on July 11 visited military prisoners that were convicted of heinous human rights crimes, during the 1976-83 military dictatorship. This was an incredible affront to the Argentine people, 30,000 of whose citizens are officially classified as “disappeared” by fascist terror squads that ran rampant during that period. A majority of Argentines were personally affected by the crimes of the dictatorship, and discussion of this is a sensitive and emotional issue. Thus, the current situation has evolved into a huge scandal.
Particularly horrifying was that one of those visited, was Navy Lt. Alfredo Astiz, aka “the exterminating angel” of the Navy Mechanics School. His numerous crimes include the 1977 murder of two French nuns, who were tortured for 10 days after their capture, sedated and then thrown alive into the Rio de la Plata from a plane. This was a standard practice and many prisoners lost their lives on these “death flights.” In France, Astiz was tried in absentia and convicted of the murder of the two nuns. French human rights lawyers, representing the families of other French citizens who disappeared in Argentina, demanded that President Emmanuel Macron repudiate the visit to the convicted murderers by the LLA parliamentarians.
Milei hoped he would find respite in his visit to France to attend the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games, and meet with French President Macron. But, on the morning he arrived, July 25, the Paris district where he was staying was plastered with posters—on streets, homes, monuments and businesses—with an unflattering picture of him, labeled “persona non grata.” Pictures of the poster were also posted on social media. The Assembly of Argentine Citizens in France also took to the streets to protest Milei’s visit. This was Milei’s 12th overseas trip in his seven months as President, leading many to ask why the man who’s supposed to be governing spends so much time outside the country. He did meet with Macron, but only for 15 minutes, and will otherwise attend the dinner offered to all heads of state attending the opening Olympics ceremony.
The firestorm raging back home has not calmed down, as LLA deputies and allies are getting grilled by the Peronist and other opposition, to explain how the visit to the prison came about. A federal judge has demanded Security Minister Patricia Bullrich provide him with detailed information about how the visit was arranged, which she insists she has no obligation to do, even though the federal penitentiary system falls under her jurisdiction. The president of the Chamber of Deputies, Martin Menem, a Milei ally, is frantic, unable to explain how the LLA Congressmen were allowed to use the official congressional van to visit the jailed assassins, lamely suggesting it was a “personal” visit, that there was no indication of their destination, or that it was just a “humanitarian” visit to aging prisoners—who are referred to as “patriots” and “heroes” by the LLA and its allies.