NEW DEPUTIES SWEAR IN
Last Wednesday the 127 deputies elected last October took their oaths in Congress in the presence of a President Javier Milei celebrating that his La Libertad Avanza was now the leading minority with 95 of the 257 seats after several deputies had crossed party lines. Martín Menem was re-elected lower house speaker by a broad majority with the Kirchnerite Unión por la Patria and the left abstaining.
VILLAVERDE HALF BOWS OUT
Senator-elect Lorena Villaverde (La Libertad Avanza-Río Negro) ended her bid to enter the upper house late Wednesday, pleading family reasons, after being the only one of the 24 future members not to be sworn in on November 28, following a decision by all caucus chairs. Río Negro’s Peronists had initiated the challenge “as morally unfit” due to Villaverde’s alleged links with the businessman Federico ‘Fred’ Machado, recently extradited to the United States on drug-trafficking charges. The withdrawal of her controversial candidacy makes Enzo Fullone the Patagonian province’s new minority senator. Prior to running for the Senate, Villaverde was a national deputy until 2027 – it remains to be seen whether she relinquishes that post as well.
INTELLIGENCE AND OTHER PURGES
President Javier Milei’s government on Tuesday evening confirmed the removal of SIDE intelligence chief Sergio Neiffert and his replacement by accountant Cristian Auguadra after Neiffert’s exit had been intensely rumoured from the start
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