On this Sunday night, during the opening of the ordinary sessions of the National Congressa surprising episode was caught on camera before the president’s speech even began Javier Milei. Upon entering the Legislative Palace, the vice president Victoria Villarruel and Karina Mileigeneral secretary of the Presidency and sister of the president, starred in a brief physical contact, a kind of push.
The images, viralized on social networks and recorded by various media, show Villarruel ahead in the protocol hallway and Karina Milei moving next to him. At one point, the head of the Senate applied a slight push with the shoulder to secure his position, a gesture that was read as a non-verbal manifestation of tension existing in the sectors closest to the president.
The crossing took place while the presidential delegation advanced towards the venue to witness Milei’s speech before deputies and senators. The physical contact was fleetingbut it attracted attention in a context already marked by distancing between the president and his vice president.
In addition to the episode between Villarruel and Karina Milei, the images of the official ceremony reflected other signs of coldness in the institutional relationship: The national network broadcast overlooked the greeting between the vice president and the President, and the placement of the cameras cut the shot of Villarruel for much of the event.
Although officially the opening of sessions focused on the political message and the reforms that the Executive seeks to promote, the previous scene left its own stamp: a minimal gesture that, in the current internal of the ruling partyseemed to condense deeper tensions between the top leadership of the Government.
