A threat of lawsuits and an accusation against La Nación
Following the ruling that dismissed the $LIBRA case against him, President Javier Milei renewed his attacks on the press on Saturday, accused the newspaper La Nación of carrying out an operation and warned that he could take legal action against journalists who covered the case, claiming they had defamed him. In an interview with Radio Mitre, he said he had been smeared for a year, eight months and nine days.[S1][S2]
Milei singled out the La Nación group, naming Fernando Saguier as responsible and saying he had shielded journalist Hugo Alconada Mon, whom the president accused of staining his reputation. He argued that the paper's coverage formed part of an apparent strategy to push the state to forgive a tax debt tied to the Movistar Arena, the concert venue run by the La Nación group, and described it as a corporate maneuver aimed at damaging him and mounting what he called a coup.[S1][S2]
The president also objected to reporting on the judicial proceedings in the United States. He said the claims about the New York case had been rebutted on X by Miguel Nathan Licht, head of the National Tax Court, who commented on the case's developments on social media. Milei said that material was sent to Saguier so he would know he was being smeared.[S1][S2]
Asked whether he intended to sue the press, Milei said he had to assess it with his lawyers. He called the matter a scandal of enormous proportions and said his opponents were trying to create chaos to obtain political favors. He added that no one had apologized for what he described as aberrations and that there had been an attempt to erode the presidency with lies.[S1][S2]
Criticism of the congressional committee and a speech at Fundación Faro
Milei also protested the creation of the congressional $LIBRA investigating committee, calling it a huge institutional irregularity and asking since when Congress had to devote itself to investigating. He described it as an encroachment by other branches on the judiciary and an institutional absurdity.[S1][S2]
On Thursday night, the president opened a speech at Fundación Faro with sharp criticism of the opposition and several journalists over their handling of the $LIBRA case. After entering the room and embracing several of his ministers, he departed from his prepared remarks to ask who would compensate him for a year, eight months and nine days of calumny and insults aimed at staining his honor.[S1]
In that speech, Milei maintained that the case had been used politically and asserted that his opponents had attempted an institutional coup and failed because, in his words, his side was honest and clean. He also praised what he considered the proper functioning of the justice system and attacked Carlos Pagni, Hugo Alconada Mon, Natalia Volosin and Paulino Rodríguez over what he called the filth they had spread, drawing applause from much of the audience, including YPF president Horacio Marín. Patricia Bullrich, by contrast, avoided any gesture of approval.[S1]
Comments on Brazil, Spain and his political course
In the same radio interview, Milei addressed Brazil's upcoming presidential election and restated his support for Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, who is running against President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. The Argentine president called Lula a thief, a liar and corrupt, and alleged that the Brazilian leader had financed a campaign by former advisers to Sergio Massa.[S2]
Milei said a Bolsonaro victory would signal that the opening of the liberal agenda in Mercosur would deepen. He described himself as setting the vision and direction as a libertarian liberal who holds that life and property cannot be violated and that lying is not permitted.[S2]
Referring to his recent trip to Spain, Milei said only an idiot would believe he went to seek a photo opportunity and explained that the visit was about spreading liberal ideas across a region he described as being at a turning point. He launched a harsh attack on Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, calling him a thief and a petty tyrant and accusing him and those around him of criminal conduct.[S2]
