In a dimly lit theater Daniel Parisini, one of the government’s communication strategists, grabbed the microphone. “This group which we are creating here, the Heavenly Forces, is La Libertad Avanza’s armed wing,” he said to an audience of men in their 20s and 30s wearing suits. Behind him, vertical banners read “Property,” “Freedom,” “Life,” “God,” “Homeland,” and “Family.” The central banner said: “Argentina will be the lighthouse that illuminates the world.”

On Saturday, a group of President Javier Milei’s officials, lawmakers, and activists launched Las Fuerzas del Cielo (The Forces of Heaven), a new radicalized group, in an event in San Miguel, Buenos Aires, with iconography reminiscent of Ancient Roman aesthetic. Some observers said the event bore a resemblance to fascist mass meetings or Nazi rallies.

The event sparked criticisms from opposition parties, who said the group could escalate political violence. On Tuesday, socialist deputies Mónica Fein and Esteban Paulón filed a complaint against the group for inciting hatred, public intimidation, and inciting group violence.

Parisini, who posts under the moniker of El Gordo Dan (Fat Dan) and participates in the national government’s communication strategy, called the group “President Javier Milei’s Praetorian Guard.” Agustín Laje, a far-right author who spearheaded the event, said they could “perfectly identify the good and bad people.” 

“On one side are those of us who defend life and human dignity, on the other, the commie sons of bitches,” he said.

Buenos Aires Province Deputy Agustín Romo, Religion Secretary Nahuel Sotelo, and National Deputy Santiago Santurio also took part in the event. On Monday, Romo said that “armed group” referred to a group using “the most powerful weapon of the 21st century” — the cellphone. According to him, the group’s goal is to fight “the culture war.”

Jonathan Naselli, a libertarian university leader who also is part of the group, concurred that “armed wing” was symbolic. “We also claim to be the Praetorian Guard, and we do not dress up with capes, spears, and shields,” he added. “[Peronist group] La Cámpora sings ‘We are Perón’s soldiers’ in their events, and nobody is scandalized.”

The complaint

Socialist deputies Fein and Paulón made the legal complaint on the grounds that declarations expressed during the event constituted hate speech and encouraged violent action towards specific groups and people. “It should be noted that in the speech, there were explicit and implicit references to fascism, anti-Semitism, anti-LGBT+ hate speech, misogynistic hatred, physical violence, etc.,” the complaint said.

Paulón was on the receiving end of homophobic attacks by libertarian trolls accusing him of being a pedophile earlier this year. He told the Herald that “part of the violence in social media is starting to be transferred into the streets.” The deputy said that on Tuesday, a group of libertarian activists physically assaulted a group of geologists doing fieldwork in Potrerillos, Mendoza. After police intervention, the aggressors uploaded a video accusing the scientists of stealing from the state. Milei and his trolls have consistently insulted scientists since before taking office.

“It’s not necessarily somebody who belongs to their party, but some people receive this message and feel that they have to act accordingly,” Paulón said. “And if they call people to be in Milei’s ‘armed wing’ and somebody feels that a deputy, an activist, or a university student jeopardizes Milei’s ‘holy project,’ somebody could feel that they have to [act violently],” Paulón added.

Paulón said that Milei has recently attacked journalists and that last week, the president created a think tank called Faro (“Lighthouse”) led by far-right intellectual Agustín Laje, who has consistently made homophobic remarks and justified the 1976-1983 dictatorship. Media reports said that businesspersons paid US$25,000 to attend.

“If I work or want to work in one of the companies that attended [and] I am gay, lesbian, or a trans person who wants to work in that company. What would I think? Would I be able to be open? That they will not discriminate against me? That’s a strong signal they are sending,” Paulón said.

According to the deputy, the complaint’s goal is to make sure the issue is addressed. “There is a large part of the political system that says, ‘Milei is like this, and we have to put up with the political debate’,” he said. “This is not a political debate, this is political violence — and in Argentina, we have a history of political violence that ended badly. Since 1983, when democracy returned, we’ve had a pact of peace, which we put at risk with attitudes like this.”