Martina Jaureguy La Libertad Avanza’s (LLA) closing campaign rally ahead of Sunday’s Buenos Aires City elections ended in a ruckus when a group of people claimed in the presence of rolling TV cameras that they had been promised payment for attending, but did not receive the full sum.
No proof of their claims has emerged, and LLA has denied the accusations.
President Javier Milei and his spokesman and lead city electoral candidate, Manuel Adorni, spearheaded the event on Wednesday evening in a park in Recoleta, where several thousand gathered to support them.
Presidency Secretary Karina Milei and several government ministers also turned out to show their support for Adorni, who highlighted the national government’s achievements but said little about the capital city specifically.
“They told us it was impossible to lower inflation, to end protests that block roads,” Adorni said. “Milei’s model has to reach Buenos Aires City, as well as every corner of Argentina.”
Libertarian streamer Daniel Parisini (known as “Gordo Dan”), a member of the government’s communications team, went to the event with several young members of the government and a large group of LLA supporters. Clad in burgundy t-shirts and singing political chants, they waved ancient Roman-style banners and colored smoke flares.
However, another group of people who appeared to be LLA supporters showed up wearing T-shirts that were the purple color of LLA. They were later captured by TV cameras arguing with people who appeared to be members of the event’s organization team.
“We came here for AR$25,000 (US$21 at the official rate) and they want to give us AR$20,000,” a man told news channel TN. “Earlier they tried to give us AR$10,000. They are crazy.” He said he was referring to “Milei’s people.”
“They have the money, but they don’t want to pay us,” another young man said. “I came here voluntarily, but they have to keep their word.”
A man dressed all in black told C5N news channel that he had been hired to do security work, but that the organizers were refusing to pay him because he didn’t want to put on a purple shirt. Another man told TN the organizers had taken their identification cards.
Footage from multiple TV stations showed several men who appeared to be so angry that they almost came to blows, while police officers attempted to calm them down.
A LLA source told the Herald that “all accusations that do not show any credible proof are part of something ill-founded, that only tries to taint an act of democracy and freedom.”
“Those accusations come from a political sector that feels cornered and is trying to project onto others what they did for years.”
The source added that while the LLA national party had given some T-shirts to some local leaders, “the shirts those guys were wearing are not like the ones the party uses.”
During the event, Milei harshly criticized the PRO party, which has been LLA’s main ally in Congress but whom the ruling party is competing against in Sunday’s election. “I won’t waste time describing all the inconsistencies of the yellow losers,” he said, referencing PRO’s color. “They are fighting for fourth place.”
“Adorni is Milei,” the president said at the end of his speech.
