It was inevitable that the rise to power of someone who believes he can speak to God would bring new developments to Argentine politics.
One of the most striking concerns is the mystical dimension surrounding the President: religion has become a central issue in the internal power struggle within the governing camp. The battle for power in La Libertad Avanza (LLA) is being fought with The Bible or The Quran in hand, a heavenly dispute masking a struggle for political influence that has put Milei in an awkward position.
The latest escalation began with an incendiary message from Daniel Parisini, the social media star otherwise known as ‘Gordo Dan.’ On October 7, as riots unfolded in France and a significant section of the global new right linked them to Islamic immigration into the country, ‘Gordo Dan’ revealed that he had received a legal complaint from the Islamic Centre of the Argentine Republic. It concerned a previous xenophobic post in which he claimed Islam promoted “burning people alive,” “beheadings,” “paedophilia,” “slavery” and other such practices.
Milei’s presidential adviser, Santiago Caputo, and his entire camp of loyalists rallied behind him, including national lawmaker Agustín Romo, who declared: “We are prepared to die to uphold the Catholic faith.” Lawmakers such as former minister Luis Petri and Patricia Bullrich ally Sabrina Ajmechet, Milei-aligned businessmen Martín Varvsavsky and Mercado Libre founder Marcos Galperín, even singer Andrés Calamaro also intervened. But the dispute reached another level when Milei himself joined the defence of Parisini, posting “take note” in a message celebrated by Sarah B. Rogers, under secretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs at the US State Department.
Putting aside foreign interventions, the episode could so far have been just another in the series of feuds between rival factions within the government. Since taking power, the tussles between Caputo’s camp and the Menems, who – like the late former president – come from the same religious tradition, have often been conducted in theological terms. The passage of time has only deepened the animosity towards the faction aligned with Presidential Chief-of-Staff Karina Milei, while the shifting alliances in the internal power struggle have now drawn Patricia Bullrich’s loyalists into this holy war, on the principle that the enemy of my enemy is my friend.
But the affair has become more complicated. First, those facing complaints – including Eduardo ‘El Presto’ Prestofelippo, a YouTuber who was involved in La Libertad Avanza’s early days before breaking away amid bitter disagreements – claim that the people who drove the legal action were none other than the Menems themselves. Indeed, Caputo's loyalists circulated images of Lower House Speaker Martín Menem, alongside officials from the Islamic Centre, as if this were proof of their allegations.
The most delicate issue lies elsewhere. In an unexpected turn, the President's “greatest intellectual hero,” Alberto Benegas Lynch, published a post criticising ‘El Gordo Dan’ and his followers without naming them directly. “Stoking confrontational religious issues fuels the flames of fanaticism,” he wrote.
The post was shared by both Martín Menem and his nephew Shariff, a leader of LLA's youth wing. Both have previously made clear how “stupid” they consider the comments about Islam made by Caputo's camp.
Parisini crossed a red line by attacking Benegas Lynch, who, to add another layer of complexity, is the father of a lawmaker with the same name.
“I couldn't give a damn about any of you, from first to last, including the person who retweeted it,” he wrote, referring to the lower house speaker. There is no peace within the governing camp.
One initial interpretation of the conflict would be the most rational political explanation: that religious differences are merely another pretext for fighting over power within a turbulent governing coalition, as preparations ramp up to define next year's electoral lists.
“When I post a tweet against Islam, I'm only thinking about the Menems,” admits one furious social media user aligned with Caputo's camp.
Yet not everything in LLA is as it seems. On one side stands the President, a man immersed in mysticism who takes aim at Islam whenever he can as part of his theological crusade. On the other are the Menems – particularly ‘Lule’ Menem, Shariff and Zulema María Eva Menem – who take their religious beliefs very seriously.
As if that were not enough, lawmaker Santiago Santurio has just launched a podcast called ‘Orthodoxy’, an unmistakable statement of support for the most conservative strands of Catholicism.
How far can this holy war go?
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