President Javier Milei suffered another damaging blow on Sunday as his top candidate in the upcoming October midterms withdrew from the running.
After a turbulent week of speculation and scandal, José Luis Espert bowed to growing pressure and said he would not run in the national midterms for La Libertad Avanza in Buenos Aires Province.
The decision comes less than 48 hours after Espert admitted he received payments from an Argentine businessman under investigation for drug-trafficking.
The economist, a sitting deputy, announced his decision in a post on social media, in which he denounced “an operation clearly orchestrated by a system that has destroyed Argentina for decades.”
He denies any wrongdoing and claims he is the victim of a stitch-up by the opposition coalition.
“I have submitted my resignation as candidate for national deputy for Buenos Aires Province, and President Javier Milei has decided to accept it,” Espert wrote.
"I cannot allow the project for the country that we have undertaken with so much effort to fall apart," the lawmaker said in a post on X.
Milei's government said Sunday that PRO national deputy
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