Vice President Victoria Villarruel lashed out against President Javier Milei’s political decisions, saying he should save in trips and in intelligence expenditures if he wants fiscal balance.

Her comments followed Milei’s, who without naming her, accused her of being a “traitor” for validating a Senate session in which a pension increase and other opposition bills were approved. Despite past clashes and cross-accusations, this is the first time they have shared such harsh comments in public towards each other.

“Assisting the disadvantaged should not be so terrible. A pensioner cannot wait, and a disabled person even less so,” Villarruel wrote in a comment on her Instagram profile, responding to a user who accused her of “breaking the [fiscal] balance” and distancing herself from Milei in ideological terms.

“He should save on trips and the SIDE, and that’s it,” she said. SIDE is Argentina’s State Intelligence Secretariat. The rise in SIDE funding has been subject of the opposition’s criticism for a while, especially because part of it is reserved for confidential purposes. The SIDE is expected to spend AR$80 billion (US$62.7 million at the official exchange rate) in 2025 after the government added two budget allocations to the budget of AR$48 billion (US$37.6 million) it started the year with.

On Thursday, the Senate approved bills related to benefits for retirees — including an increase to their monthly pension and a moratorium that allows more........

© Buenos Aires Herald