Argentina's Milei advised to 'develop up' by VP in public spat over pensions

[ad_1] Vanessa Buschschlüter BBC Information

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/180d/live/04d46b40-609c-11f0-ba44-5934558aeaa1.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/180d/live/04d46b40-609c-11f0-ba44-5934558aeaa1.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/180d/live/04d46b40-609c-11f0-ba44-5934558aeaa1.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/180d/live/04d46b40-609c-11f0-ba44-5934558aeaa1.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/180d/live/04d46b40-609c-11f0-ba44-5934558aeaa1.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/180d/live/04d46b40-609c-11f0-ba44-5934558aeaa1.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/180d/live/04d46b40-609c-11f0-ba44-5934558aeaa1.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/180d/live/04d46b40-609c-11f0-ba44-5934558aeaa1.jpg.webp" loading="eager" alt="Reuters The president of Argentina, Javier Milei, and Vice-President Victoria Villarruel attend a commemorative ceremony in Buenos Aires on 18 March 2024. They are standing next to each other. Villarruel is looking down and Milei is looking straight ahead. Both are wearing black jackets. " class="sc-d1200759-0 dvfjxj"/> Reuters Javier Milei and his vice-president, Victoria Villarruel, have been at loggerheads

Argentine President Javier Milei and his vice-president, Victoria Villarruel, have engaged in a bitter public confrontation over plans to extend pensions.

Milei shared posts on X during which his operating mate had been referred to as "silly" and described as "a traitor", and in response Villarruel advised the president to "develop up".

The president's anger was triggered by a heavy defeat in Congress on Thursday, when the Senate authorized motions aimed toward boosting pensions and rising incapacity allowances - which Milei had vehemently opposed.

Milei mentioned he would veto the pension hike, arguing that the additional expenditure threatened his fiscal surplus, and blamed Villarruel for permitting the vote to proceed.

In Argentina, the nation's vice-president additionally acts because the president of the Senate.

It was on this position as Senate chief that Villarruel allowed the talk on the emergency pension hike to proceed, although senators allied with the federal government boycotted the session.

With government-aligned senators absent, the movement handed with 52 votes in favour and 4 abstentions.

Its backers argue that larger funds are important to ensure that pensioners to make ends meet.

However President Milei says it goes counter to his promise to get rid of Argentina's power fiscal deficit and convey down inflation.

In January, Milei scored a significant financial victory when it emerged that 2024 was the primary yr in additional than a decade that Argentina had registered a finances surplus.

Final month additionally noticed the nation's month-to-month inflation charge drop to 1.5%, the bottom it has been in additional than 5 years.

However the austerity measures that helped the libertarian president decrease the deficit and drive down inflation have additionally triggered protests, with pensioners holding weekly rallies exterior Congress.

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/dc93/live/25d6beb0-60ab-11f0-ba44-5934558aeaa1.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/dc93/live/25d6beb0-60ab-11f0-ba44-5934558aeaa1.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/dc93/live/25d6beb0-60ab-11f0-ba44-5934558aeaa1.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/dc93/live/25d6beb0-60ab-11f0-ba44-5934558aeaa1.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/dc93/live/25d6beb0-60ab-11f0-ba44-5934558aeaa1.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/dc93/live/25d6beb0-60ab-11f0-ba44-5934558aeaa1.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/dc93/live/25d6beb0-60ab-11f0-ba44-5934558aeaa1.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/dc93/live/25d6beb0-60ab-11f0-ba44-5934558aeaa1.jpg.webp" loading="lazy" alt="EPA A demonstrator with a white beard and wearing glasses and a baseball cap is being grabbed by a police officer wearing a black leather jacket. The demonstrator is clutching at the officer's sleave during the protest outside Congress in Buenos Aires on 11 September 2024." class="sc-d1200759-0 dvfjxj"/> EPA Pensioners have clashed with police at among the protests

Following the approval of the movement on Thursday, President Milei was fast to announce that he would block the pension hike.

"I wager 100 thousand to at least one that you simply all know what I'll do. You understand what? We will veto it. And if, by some likelihood, which I do not imagine will occur, but when the veto is overturned, we'll take it to courtroom," he mentioned.

However he additionally turned on his vice-president, reposting a touch upon X during which she was labelled a "traitor, a demagogue and silly in financial phrases".

Villarruel responded on Instagram arguing that pensioners and other people with disabilities "couldn't wait" any longer for his or her funds to be raised and recommended the president ought to make financial savings by spending much less on the intelligence providers and on his travels.

Since turning into president in December 2023, Milei has travelled overseas extensively.

In one of the crucial publicised occasions, he wielded the chainsaw which has turn into emblematic of his authorities cuts earlier than handing it to Elon Musk on the US Conservative Political Motion Convention.