Confirmed as pre-candidate for vice president of Javier Milei for La Libertad avanza, Victoria Villaruel spoke with Clarín about her militancy in favor of the recognition of what she calls victims of terrorism in the '70s, what role she will occupy in the formula and also dispatched with criticism to José Luis Espert, the liberal economist who announced his move to Together for Change.
- Almost two years ago she was elected deputy. Do you feel more respected by a sector that questioned you for your ideology?
- I always felt very respected. I knew that what I was saying and doing was complaining about my own pain, also listening to the pain of others. I never felt the isolation. Being in politics today is the result of the natural evolution of a struggle of many years.
- Many consider her an anti-rights activist. What do you say to them?
- I don't know what they are based on. Neither I, with 48 years, nor my family nor Javier Milei have committed a crime. But I can talk about what the parents of Fernanda Raverta, Horacio Pietragalla, Victoria Donda, Wado de Pedro and Cabandié did. The bar is quite tilted in favor of those who chose a violent path and those who were always on the side of the law.
- Isn't the seventies an old debate?
- I do not see it as an old debate since we continue to pay compensation, subsidies and that there are a lot of public offices that recognize some and not others. Subsidies are paid to Mothers and Grandmothers, you have ministers who were children of members of armed organizations and they claim them. It is a situation that should be resolved symmetrically.
- What was it like to be born in the '70s and live in the '80s for a military daughter?
We did not live in fear, but we were aware that they could bomb us, that being the daughter of a soldier my father could be killed. I could not tell my comrades that I was the daughter of a soldier because the other was perhaps the son of a montonero. I had a happy childhood, but I was a girl who thought I could be killed, either her, or a relative.
- Kirchnerism has been vindicating the Montoneros for years. What do you think?
These people were, and are, hidden in society. The function of the terrorist is to blend into civil society. That justice is done is the only way that this does not return and that there is not a group of madmen and messianics who believe that political ideas should be fixed by bombings, murdering and kidnapping.
Victoria Villarruel, with the annex building in the background. Photo: Rafael Mario Quinteros.
- For them the madmen and messianics are you, the libertarians...
- My deeds speak for me. I am not interested in what deputies who have been perpetuated on a bench for years or officials who used the state to enrich themselves say. I was active 17 years before becoming a deputy, and I never received a penny from the State or was subsidized. They accuse me of anti-rights when I always asked for the opposite, that rights be extended.
- The polls show them very competitive with respect to Frente de Todos and Juntos por el Cambio. Doesn't it scare them?
- It doesn't scare us because we prepare for this. Javier is an ace of economics, who today influences the political discourse of all spaces, from left to right, everyone debates his ideas, because the vanguard of the discourse is on his side. We have courage and bravery, that's the most important thing.
- Milei only relates to the hawks of Together for Change. Do you too?
- I have dialogue with all those who do not show an attitude of previous prejudice, an excellent relationship with a lot of Members. I don't distinguish so much between hawks and doves. Yes, I do not speak with Kirchnerism, because they are compact and have no dealings with anyone who leaves their space.
- Are you not also in danger of becoming a caste?
- That I live with them does not mean that it justifies actions that politicians have had who confirm them as a caste. I still take taxis, the subway, I don't do anything so different from the rest of the population. I pay the expenses, the light. I clean my house, the bathroom, I do my laundry. Many politicians should try it, have that act of humility.
- What will you bring to Milei as a running mate?
- I come to serve the country, and to accompany it. This is their moment, and I think we complement each other. He is extroverted in public life and more timid in private, the reverse happens to me. And I think that the plus I can give is from my knowledge in security, justice, human rights. The two main concerns of the people are the economy and security. We can respond to these problems.
- Are you going to propose a reform of the Criminal Code, a lowering of the age of imputability?
- What worries me most is the growth of crime. We have to work on policies that include the creation of prisons. There is no point in a heavy-handed speech, or talking about a reduction in the age of imputability, if we have nothing to do with that discourse afterwards.
Victoria Villarruel, pre-candidate for president for La Libertad Avanza. Photo: Rafael Mario Quinteros.
- Does the qualifier of caste also apply to the Judiciary?
I believe that there is a group of judges who forgot their impartiality and became militants. Each judge may have his own political ideas, but at the same time they must respect his role as a public official. Today that does not happen in many cases.
What do you think of José Luis Espert's decision to join Together for Change? Milei criticized him at the Book Fair, but later said he was referring to Ricardo Lopez Murphy.
- It was like that, I didn't talk about Espert. I respect José Luis, everyone does what they want. But I think it is a deception for the population that those who call heroes of freedom later end up voting in favor of Kirchnerism in Congress. I am not going to give names because I am not interested in demonizing anyone, but the double discourse is not only of Kirchnerism, but also of those sectors that claim to be neat and are not.
So, what do you think of Espert's pre-candidacy for President?
- It's ridiculous, I don't understand what you're doing. He and his mother are going to elect him, because all the deputies he had left with us. I don't understand your strategy. We would have to ask Espert if he likes to be used, if he likes to be Larreta's puppet.
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Javier Milei presented his electoral platform: he proposes to sell all state assets and free bearing of arms
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