The conflict between the liberal deputies javier milei Y Jose Luis Espert He added a new chapter, after the leader of La Libertad Avanza published a collage on his Instagram in which he grouped his former political partner on the path of the “socialists” in contrast to himself. “Liberalism versus socialism, it was never so clear,” read the post. Espert’s response was not long in coming: “Enormous pain for not having passed the liberalism test in blood,” ironized the Avanza Libertad deputy.
But the relationship was not always like this. In 2020, when Javier Milei had just announced his launch into politics, he did so in a streaming conversation with Espert, who at that time was not only his co-ideatrix, but also his friend. “”I’m going to get into politics. I’m going to get involved and I’m going to go into the military with you. Since we’ve asked everyone to leave and no one left, they should all stay because we’re all going to get involved and we’re going to kick the ass out…”, Milei proclaimed with her usual exaltation.
At first, the idea was that both would go together in the same space, but then the differences began: not only did they not go together in the 2021 legislative elections, but once inside the Chamber of Deputies they decided not to form a single block. Thus, Espert formed Advance Freedomwith references such as the deputy Carolina Piparoand Milei built Freedom Advances, accompanied by the deputy Victoria Villarruel. On that occasion, Espert made a better choice: it got 656,498 votes while Milei got 310,036, less than half.
Although both politicians shared many ideas, especially economically, they had increasingly visible differences. The main one was Espert’s willingness to dialogue and negotiate with the Together for Change space. Instead Milei was closed to the approach of him, as he called it, “yellow socialism”, although he came to coincide with figures of the hardest wing, such as Patricia Bullrichand even had a meeting with the ex-president Mauricio Macri.
And there were other differences that were accentuated over time: Milei aspired to a national army, while Espert concentrated on promoting a legislative agenda. But there were also differences in terms of certain positions such as the abortion: Although Espert criticized the project that was finally successful, he assured that “personally, I was in favor of it”, while Milei condemned it outright, stating that it constitutes “a murder aggravated by the bond”. They also differed on issues such as climate changewhich for Milei is “an invention of socialism”, while Espert stated that “there is sufficient evidence”.
But the differences began to get bigger and bigger: in June, Espert claimed to be “disconnected” from Milei, and began to say that they could go “separate” in the face of the 2023 elections, which is now increasingly likely. . The crossings continued even within Deputies. In October, Espert voted in favor of the Reform of the Popular Neighborhoods Lawsanctioned in 2018. This rule suspended the possibility of evicting those who live there for ten years.
And on Twitter the debate broke out: liberal users charged against Espert, stating that this law is “against private property”, and even Milei himself criticized the reform on his Twitter account: “Do you realize that when it comes to Violating private property, those of Juntos por el Kargo are not different from those of the Frente de Chorros? They scare you with the KuKo and they do the same but only with good manners”, shot the anarcho-capitalist.
Another of the crossings was during the discussion of the Budget 2023when Espert questioned Milei for absenting herself from the venue when the airport tax was voted, a tribute that the Frente de Todos promoted in order to finance the Airport Security Police (PSA) through a levy on air tickets. “As in this case we reject the initiative, we withdrew from the premises because we are not part of the caste’s tricks that occur before each article-by-article vote,” Milei defended herself then. But Espert crossed it on Twitter: “@JMilei, like you, I generally rejected PP2023 for being a jerk. Unlike you, I stayed all night for the vote in particular, ”said Espert forcefully.
But the conflict already seems irreconcilable and increasingly heated. While the followers of one and the other fight on networks to see who is “more liberal”, both figures are increasingly distanced. Everyone will be able to take his position on one side or the other, but it is clear that “united liberalism” is not close to being a reality.
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