Don't Cry for the Veep Argentina
Vice Presidents of Latin America Feuding with the President: Part 2
It’s not that weird, at least by the standards of Argentine politics, for the president to call the VP “stupid” and the VP to tell the president to “grow up.”1
Argentina’s president Javier Milei was a surprise victor in the nation’s 2023 presidential elections. A hardline libertarian economist, he was propelled to power by the collapse of Argentina’s main political parties and another bout of Argentina’s endless economic problems.2
Milei has had some successes. By cutting social services and welfare and firing government employees, Milei managed a budgetary surplus and tamed Argentina’s rampant inflation. Economic policy success in Argentina is often short-lived, but for the moment Milei is polling reasonably well. His political inexperience, however, is starting to cost him—particularly given that his own political party is tiny, so he needs broad support from other players to accomplish anything.
As a political outsider, Milei might benefit from an insider VP who could advise on and manage some of these political issues. But that isn’t what he got.
Blast from the Past
As his running mate, Milei chose Victoria Villarruel. She had only been elected to the Chamber of Deputies in 2021, but she was a rising star in Argentina’s reactionary circles. She is embedded in a network of far-right foundations and advocacy groups, with links to international partners on the far-right such as Bolsonaro in Brazil and Vox in Spain. Villarruel is a devout Catholic and opposes abortion and LGBT+ rights (which are broadly accepted in Argentina) and advocates for a return to traditional values and opposes “political correctness.” Also, she’s into guns.
The daughter and niece of military officers, the issue with which Villarruel is most associated is advocating on behalf of the military officers who have been imprisoned for human rights violations during Argentina’s Dirty War against left-wing terrorism in the 1970s and 1980s.
One of her claims is that the left-wing organizations that sparked the military crackdown were far more dangerous than has been portrayed and that the military crackdown was far less deadly and violent than is generally reported.
As a terrorism analyst I can see Villarruel’s point. While pikers compared to al-Qaeda and its spawn, the left-wing terrorist groups of Argentina did spread terror throughout the 1970s. They killed well over 1000 people, mostly police and military, and targeted business executives and military leaders for assassination and kidnapping. In a few cases they kidnapped, tried, and executed top military leaders. Some of their attacks had the potential to become mass casualty events. In 1975 there were nightly gun battles in Buenos Aires between security forces and the terrorists.
Terrorists seek to make things worse, which galvanizes an overwhelming state response, which in turn makes things even worse and drives more people to the terrorist cause. On their initial goal, the leftwing terrorists succeeded. In 1976 Argentina’s military overthrew the elected government and responded with massive state terror. People were seized, held without charges, tortured, and disappeared. Thousands were put on flights and pushed to their death over the open ocean. Newborns were taken from the disappeared and given to military families. The repercussions of this dirty war continue to haunt Argentina.
The military junta collapsed in 1983 after losing an ill-advised and poorly conducted war with the United Kingdom. The junta’s depredations sparked the Madres de Plaza de Mayo, a mass protest movement of mothers and grandmothers seeking the return of their children and grandchildren. Argentina’s new civilian government held trials for those accused of committing crimes during the dictatorship. This work has continues with ongoing investigations, education, and monuments throughout the country. The condemnation of the crimes of the military dictatorship has been jointly embraced by Argentina’s leading political parties and a source of national unity and pride.
As a political analyst, defending the military regime and downplaying its excesses is a weird hill to die on. But it worked. Villarruel and Milei have rejected the national consensus on the evils of the military dictatorship. This rejection attracted support from older generations, those on the far right, and rural voters.
This may unleash the old demons from the dark past.
Villarruel in Office: Poor Match or an Unhappy Triangle?
The Vice President of Argentina is similar to the American Vice President. They have little formal power, although they do preside over the Senate. Vice President Cristina Kirchner (also a former president and First Lady) was an exception to the generally limited relevance of Argentine VPs, primarily because she controlled the levers of power in the Peronist movement.
Milei promised Villarruel lead on defense and security issues, including a major uptick in defense spending. In office, however, Milei has reformed the military and increased spending, but Villarruel has not been a key player. Patricia Bullrich, who had been the mainstream right candidate for president, and previously served as Minister of Security, was appointed to that position again by Milei. Bullrich’s running mate, Luis Petri was named Minister of Defense. With two experienced politicians running the national security portfolios, Villarruel was boxed out. Bullrich and Petri came in third in the first round of Argentina’s elections, eliminating them from the second round, which Milei won. Bringing his former opponents into his cabinet may also allow Milei to co-opt the tattered remnants of Argentina’s mainstream right and potentially build a stronger party.
Private feuding between the president and vice president probably began immediately, but it became public just months into their term. Milei’s closest advisor is his younger sister Karina. In an interview in March 2024, Villarruel said: “Karina has a big personality, but so do I, and we both love Javier and we both want the best for Javier.” Then she added that they come into conflict and, “in the middle is Javier. Poor little ham.”
Belittling your boss as a hen-pecked little boy caught between powerful women seems unwise. When your boss is the president of a country, a gig that tends to go to people with huge egos, it seems really dumb.
In November, just a year into their term in office, Milei, in a TV interview, stated that the VP, “has no influence whatsoever in decision-making,” does not attend cabinet meetings, and that he barely speaks with her. Milei was only making public what was an open secret among Argentina’s political class.
Just last week, the Senate approved a number of bills that increase pensions and disability support. Milei has been long been frustrated with Villarruel failure to advance his agenda in the Senate.3 These bills threatened Milei’s libertarian economic agenda and he called his VP a “traitor” in a speech. Villarruel wrote on Instagram that Milei should, “speak and act like an adult.”
So what?
Can the President and Vice President Trust One Another?
In general vice presidents want to become president. In the U.S. the wisest path is to be VP to a successful president, so a VP is heavily invested in the president’s success. They will advise and try to help. A VP might try to distance themselves from an unpopular president, but it usually doesn’t work. As we saw the other day, Francia Márquez of Colombia has remained publicly loyal to Gustavo Petro—despite his unpopularity and his poor treatment of her.
But Argentina is different.
Having been cut out of real power, Villarruel may have judged that Milei will implode. His austerity programs have worked so far, but consistent economic performance has been elusive in Argentina over the past several decades. Further, austerity means cuts to public services and social welfare, which will drag down Milei’s approval ratings.
If this happens, distancing herself from an unpopular president and even opposing some of his most disliked initiatives, could position Villarruel for her own run at the top job. (She also lambasted a potential agreement between Argentina and the UK over the disputed Falkland/Malvinas Islands, which are a deeply emotional issue for many Argentines.)
Leading a country is hard, ideally vice presidents can help. Presidents are often inclined to mentor their VPs as successors. But the nation’s politics and institutions need to enable this level of trust. As we saw in the earlier look at Colombia’s VP and now Argentina’s VP, the political conditions for this trust are not present.4 Some of this is rooted in the complicated personalities of the national leaders. But at least some of it is institutional. Could the general status of president-vice president relations be an indicator of a nation’s political health? It’s a question worth considering.
For starters, Argentina means “land of silver” and its great river, the Rio de la Plata is the “river of silver.” There is no silver in Argentina. (In fairness, when I visited two years ago the air in Buenos Aires seemed fine, but they do have a dogshit on the sidewalks problem.) Based on this two week trip, I consider myself an expert. But mostly because I took these amazing walking tours.
Argentina’s ongoing economic woes are source of fascination. A century ago it was one of the wealthiest nations in the world. It is said that there are four types of economics: developed countries, undeveloped countries, Japan, and Argentina.
I don’t have a clear picture of how much influence over the Senate the vice president wields, more research is needed.
This may characterize many of the nations of Latin America, where presidential removals by the legislature occur semi-frequently.