The Vice President of Argentina, Victoria Villarruel, is “no longer part of the government,” according to President Javier Milei’s official spokesperson.

Presidential spokesman Manuel Adorni responded to a question from reporters at a press conference at the Casa Rosada when asked about comments from Milei at La Derecha Fest, a far-right event earlier this week, when the president referred to his second in command as a “brute traitor.”

“Everyone knows that the vice president is not part of the project,” said Adorni. Despite rifts between the two staining the relationship over recent months, no official statement or communication has broken the relationship until now.

“The President has considered that she has not been part of the administration for a long time now,” Adorni added.

You may also be interested in: President vs Vice President: Milei and Villarruel spar over Senate approval of pensions increase

“These are issues of everyday life and the dynamics of the government itself. Too much importance has always been placed on certain decisions about the vice president or other people,” Adorni added.

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 a Senate session earlier this month in which two bills opposed by the administration were approved. The bills, which Milei plans to veto, grant increases to pensions and more funding to assist people with disabilities.

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.”

Despite not being part of the same party, Milei chose Villarruel, a hardliner with ties to the military sector, as his running mate in 2023. However, they quickly clashed when, in March 2024, she called Milei “a little piece of ham,” given that he was always between his sister Karina Milei and herself. Milei and the rest of his administration have turned their backs on her ever since.
Last November, Milei made his breakup official when he said the VP has no part in the government’s decision-making and is, instead, “closer to the caste.”