Yelling, gender violence claims, expulsion threats – crisis erupts in La Libertad Avanza caucus

Infighting within the ruling La Libertad Avanza (LLA) caucus erupted out into the open at Congress on Thursday during a conclave in which loud yelling and threats of expulsion abounded.

Libertarian deputy Lourdes Arrieta even denounced her party colleague Nicolás Mayoraz for gender violence after several libertarians openly insulted her.

According to reports, Arrieta, 31, was targeted for criticism by colleagues after she singled out Lower House Speaker Martín Menem as co-responsible for the recent visit by ruling parties deputies to convicted ex-military officers jailed at Ezeiza prison for crimes against humanity dating back to the 1976-1983 military dictatorship.

On Wednesday at the meeting of the Peticiones, Poderes y Reglamentos committee, Arrieta had asked for her party colleague, deputy Beltrán Benedit, to be investigated for organising the controversial visit. 

She also asked that Menem be questioned after he supposedly authorised the minibus transfer of the visiting delegation to interview the so-called “represores” in jail.

The trip has also reignited criticism of the government’s human rights policies. 

Tensions between the President Javier Milei’s administration and human rights groups have run high since the President took office last December. Critics have accused government officials of denialism and of relativising the crimes of the dictatorship. 

Strained tensions

The prison visit has strained tensions in the ranks of La Libertad Avanza. Arrieta is not alone voicing her discomfort at the party’s move to ally itself with figures convicted of murder, torture and kidnapping.

Fellow deputy Rocío Bonacci, 28, has expressed similar sentiments, even though she did join the trip to the prison of Ezeiza. 

After travelling with the rest of the group, Bonacci chose not to enter the jail after finding out who the group intended to visit.

To detach herself from the scandal, Arrieta went deeper, not only presenting a criminal denunciation to probe the visit but also a bill to create a special investigative commission.

These gestures of differentiation and the pointing of the finger at colleagues has profoundly irritated many in La Libertad Avanza, who wanted to know why she kept hammering away at an uncomfortable issue which needed to be closed, not opened up.

The dispute boiled over at a fiery caucus meeting on Thursday after a special session pushed by the opposition in which the government suffered the defeat of its DNU emergency decree assigning multi-billion-peso sums to the SIDE intelligence services.

During that meeting – with Menem present – deputies Benedit and Mayoraz confronted Arrieta over her criminal complaint and her request for a Congress investigation of the Speaker for the meeting.

According to reports, based on sources within Congress, Mayoraz accused Arrieta of lying. She, in response, is said to have begun to “shriek.”

Faced with the accusations of Mayoraz, Arrieta asked her lawyer, Yamil Castro Bianchi, and Bonacci’s father to join the meeting.   

LLA deputies then asked for the collaboration of security staff to remove Arrieta’s lawyer and José Bonacci, who withdrew under his own steam.

Arrieta went with them, but as she did, she reportedly said she would present a denunciation for gender violence against Mayoraz.

Expulsion on cards?

In the midst of the uproar, which included screams and a crossfire of insults, deputy Lorena Villaverde called for the expulsion of her colleague, but caucus chief Gabriel Bornoroni asked everybody to calm down.

The row, however, shows no sign of slowing down. Increasingly, more libertarian deputies want Arrieta out of their caucus.

According to what Noticias Argentinas could ascertain, Menem is closely following the tension in his caucus caused by the “duckling deputy” (a nickname taken from the duckling hairpiece often worn by Arrieta) but does not personally favour carrying the matter further.

Nevertheless, the fact remains that Arrieta’s continuation in the libertarian caucus “is being evaluated.”

“She crossed the line. It’s something never seen before, a departure from the truth. She’s a Mendoza deputy who presented charges in Lomas de Zamora. That’s very odd. But she can always come back,” LLA sources told the news agency.

Outside the entrance to Congress after the explosive libertarian meeting, deputy Lilia Lemoine poured more fuel on the flames of the scandal when questioned by the press.

“What I saw today was the scandal of a mentally unbalanced girl, the girl with a duckling on her head, Arrieta. We suspected as much,” she began.

– TIMES/NA/PERFIL