President Javier Milei called Vice President Victoria Villarruel a “brute traitor” without directly naming her during his keynote speech at the Libertarian event, La Derecha Fest.

Billed as “the most anti-leftist event in the world,” Tuesday’s event was held at the Quorum Hotel, in the outskirts of Córdoba. Speakers included far-right influencer Gordo Dan, conservative writer and historian Agustín Laje, Milei’s biographer Nicolás Márquez, and evangelical pastors, among others.

“The first rule of economics is scarcity, because there isn’t enough of everything for everyone,” Milei said. “And […] the first rule of politics is ignoring the first rule of economics. And don’t the populists know it? Didn’t they vote for a US$17 billion expenditure weeks ago, with the brute traitor saying she would finance it with 30 [billion dollars]?” 

Milei was referring to the approval of bills granting increases to pensions and more funding to assist people with disabilities.

By the end of his comments, the president was shouting. After he had finished, Milei stayed silent for a few seconds while the crowd chanted “daughter of a b*tch,” before resuming his speech.

Milei and Villarruel have been at odds for the better part of their term. The president and several other senior government officials have accused her of facilitating the July 10 session in which the bills were approved. While Milei is pushing to balance Argentina’s books at any cost before contemplating social spending, Villarruel later wrote on social media that “a retiree can’t wait, much less a disabled person.”

Milei had already called his vice a “traitor” immediately after the session, and has previously accused her of being “closer to the caste” — his term for career politicians and elites. She bit back by suggesting he spend less on travel and funding for the intelligence services.

Although the event was not streamed, the president’s communications team posted Milei’s speech on X on Wednesday. The video shows Milei taking the stage like a rock star, surrounded by people who attempted to take pictures with him. His personal anthem, Panic Show by La Renga, playing in the background.

Journalist evicted from festival

Like in previous events, the Libertarians decided to remain hermetic: none of the panels or talks were streamed. Melisa Molina, a reporter at the left-leaning newspaper Página/12, said she was kicked out by security staff.

In a short Página/12 article, Molina wrote that she paid for a ticket and attended some talks, before being approached by members of the Military House, a civil and military security service that guards the president. They recognized her because she is accredited at the Casa Rosada.

She added that the military personnel told her that there was an order “from Buenos Aires” that Página/12 was not welcome at the event. She had not published any stories about it at that point.

Molina said a man who appeared to be security staff escorted her to a field, purportedly to ask her questions and give her a press wristband. “They wrote down my name, asked how I had gotten to the event, and threw two AR$20,000 bills at me, which is what the ticket I bought cost.” She refused the money and was left with security behind a fence outside the event. She got out by moving a fencing panel.

According to flyers shared on the event’s social media accounts, it was organized by book publisher Hojas del Sur — which has published books by Laje, Libertarian filmmaker Diego Recalde and Márquez, including Milei’s biography — along with far-right publication La Derecha Diario and the Libertarian communication agency Gaucho. The companies are close to Milei and his party, La Libertad Avanza, but they are not formally part of it.

Other topics covered at the festival included the spiritual side of the “culture war” and La Derecha Diario owner and journalist Javier Negre discussing Milei’s recurrent comment that people “don’t hate journalists enough.”

Hundreds of people gathered outside the hotel to protest against Milei, holding a counter-festival they called La Pueblada Fest (The People’s Fest) with music, bands and a craft fair.

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El Gordo Dan, the pseudonym of Daniel Parisini, has been a familiar name to Argentines since Milei took office in December 2023. His streaming platform Carajo, and especially his show La Misa (The Mass) has become a home for far-right enthusiasts.

“I support La Libertad Avanza, whenever, wherever,” Parisini told the Herald’s sister TV channel C5N ahead of the event.