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This came after Argentina’s Senate passed a motion to boost pensions, which Milei’s government had criticised out of concerns that it would threaten the country’s fiscal surplus.
Argentina President Javier Milei with VP Victoria Villarruel. (Reuters/File)
A heated dispute over plans to increase pensions in Argentina escalated as President Javier Milei and his vice president, Victoria Villarruel, exchanged barbs in public, wherein the latter told him to “grow up”.
This came after Argentina’s opposition-controlled Senate passed a motion to boost pensions, which Milei’s government had criticised out of concerns that it would threaten the country’s fiscal surplus. Milei vowed to veto the motion, having already done it last year.
Milei also blamed his VP for allowing the vote to proceed, and shared posts on X which called her “traitor, a demagogue and stupid in economic terms”, as reported by BBC.
In response, Villarruel said pensioners and people with disabilities “could not wait” any longer for their payments to be raised, and urged to president to “speak and act like an adult” and spend less on the intelligence services and his travels abroad.
As Senate leader, Villarruel allowed the debate on the emergency pension hike to proceed, even though senators allied with the government boycotted the session. The motion was passed with 52 votes in favour and four abstentions.
Since taking office, Milei has slashed public spending in a bid to wrangle inflation under control, though the austerity drive has also hit workers. Retired citizens have launched weekly protests in capital Buenos Aires to demand adjustments to their pension payments, occasionally facing off with police.
While proponents of the pension reform argue that it is important for pensioners to make ends meet, Milei said it went contrary to his promise to eliminate Argentina’s chronic fiscal deficit and bring down inflation.
Aveek Banerjee is a Senior Sub Editor at News18. Based in Noida with a Master’s in Global Studies, Aveek has more than three years of experience in digital media and news curation, specialising in international…Read More
Aveek Banerjee is a Senior Sub Editor at News18. Based in Noida with a Master’s in Global Studies, Aveek has more than three years of experience in digital media and news curation, specialising in international… Read More
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- Location :
Buenos Aires, Argentina
- First Published:
