Argentina's Milei pelted with stones on campaign trail

LOMAS DE ZAMORA - Argentine President Javier Milei was pelted with stones while campaigning near the capital Buenos Aires on Wednesday by demonstrators protesting a corruption scandal, AFP reporters said.

The right-wing leader, who was whisked from the scene by his security detail, sustained no injuries after his motorcade was attacked, presidential spokesman Manuel Adorni wrote on X.

Milei, who is campaigning for October mid-term elections, was riding in the back of a pickup truck and greeting supporters in the city of Lomas de Zamora, 20 kilometres (12 miles) south of Buenos Aires, when protesters began throwing plants, rocks and bottles at his vehicle, AFP journalists at the scene said.

The vehicle carrying the president and his sister, Karina Milei, along with other officials, hastily left the scene.

Afterwards, scuffles broke out between supporters and opponents of the libertarian leader.

A female Milei supporter suffered rib injuries and was taken away by ambulance.

The skirmishes arose amid a scandal in Argentina over alleged corruptionat the public disability agency involving Milei's highly influential sister and right-hand woman, Karina Milei.

"Milei came to provoke. And well, he had to leave, as was fitting," Ramon, a retiree who preferred not to give his last name, told AFP, describing Lomas de Zamora as an opposition stronghold.

Ariel Ferrari, a communications expert who supported the president, said he came to "defend the ideas of Javier Milei...to free Latin America and the entire world from socialist, Marxist ideas which never worked."

MILEI SISTER IN SPOTLIGHT

Minutes beforehand, the president had addressed the scandal that has erupted following the leak of audio recordings by the former head of the disability agency, Diego Spagnuolo.

In the recordings, which have received wall-to-wall news coverage in Argentina for days, Spagnuolo claimed that Karina Milei pocketed funds destined for people with disabilities.

President Milei on Wednesday broke his silence on the affair.

"Everything [Spagnuolo] says is a lie," he told reporters in Lomas de Zamora before the protests erupted, adding: "We are going to bring him to justice and prove he lied."

The incident underscored the potentially damaging nature of the scandal for Milei in the run-up to the legislative elections.

The vote will be the first major test of his support since the libertarian economist took office in December 2023 on a promise to revive Argentina's ailing economy.

The 54-year-old has managed to bring down stubbornly high inflation and produce a budget surplus through steep cuts to public spending, including on people with disabilities.