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So, the AnCap victory in the Argentinian Primaries is showing one of it's main effects: A new paradigm. Let me introduce Javer Milei's running mate: Victoria Villarruel.

So who's this demon? Villarruel is the daughter of a former Admiral, and if there's anything you need to know about the Argentinian Navy is that, on the XX Century it became a literal cesspool of reactionaires of the absolute worst kind. The Navy has always been rabidly anti-Communist but also anti-Peronist, the Armada played a huge role in the fall of the first Peronist government in 1955, first by bombing Plaza de Mayo (in an attempt to kill Perón) which resulted in numerous civilians getting killed, yes, they bombed the city's main square on a very busy day with BOMBS AND MACHINEGUN FIRE FROM NAVY AIRPLANES, and second as Navy warships bombed oil refineries, pro-Peronist Army units and threatened to bomb civilian areas, even with almost-retired battleships armed with 305 mm guns. During the 70s, the Navy also became known for hideous crimes against humanity, the Military Junta had an Admiral in charge of the Government and numerous warships were used as "clandestine detention centres", that is, places were people were brought in, tortured and executed well outside public view. In fact, the biggest concentration camp during the Dirty War period was operated by the Navy.

And why do I say there's a new paradigm being born? Because a few days ago she held a "commemorative" event for the "victims of the guerrillas during the 70s". Okay, the guerrillas did kill innocent people, in truth their goal was to aim for military leaders, officers and businessmen allied to the Military Junta, but that also resulted in random people dying during skirmishes or bomb attacks, and yes, the Peronists, after the fall of the Junta in 1983, did everything to hide the crimes committed by the Triple A (Anti-Communist Alliance, approved by Perón during his last years alive) during the early 70s before the Juntas took power in 1976.

But her intention is not justice or memory, her goals here are: whitewash the Military Juntas, bringing back the old "They were trying to restore order and eliminate subversion" narrative - Place the blame on the Guerrillas, calling them outright terrorists - Claim "the Left" has "politicized" the "humans rights issue" by just going after the military and the police and not the guerrillas - Create an equivalency between a bunch of ragtag guerrillas (which, by the time the Juntas took power, were severely weakened) and the entire State apparatus at the service of the Armed Forces, which carried out extra-judicial killings, arrests, tortures and disappearences, and lastly and I think most importantly, revanchism. The "military families" took big fat Ls during the first years of Kirchnerism, many senior military leaders were investigated, brought into trial by a civilian court and given sentences for crimes against humanity ranging from several decades in prison to life (Some leaders, unfortunately, avoided trial because they died before 2003, when most of the trials began). Kirchnerism also eliminated two controversial laws which prevented senior military and police leaders from being prosecuted, Full Stop Law and Law of Due Obedience, this move allowed for the continued prosecution of criminals.

So this isn't just a bunch of military apologists doing genocide denial, she does believe the Juntas acted in the defense of the nation, and might have "committed some excesses", but also denies 30,000 people were disappeared by the Juntas (A number that shows up in internal armed forces documents, btw). This is flat-out denialism yes, but holding an event that "remembers the soldiers that died in the defense of the nation" sets the scenario for revanchism, they want to get back, they want their people to occupy positions of power again. It is their time now, their chance to counterattack. This is, of course, extremely dangerous. And since her party won the elections, this narrative gained a lot of legitimacy. The media, even the liberal media, has once again began to speak about the "victims of the guerrillas" very openly. The paradigm of shitting on the police and the armed forces for killing up to 30,000 people in just a few years is dying, a new one, containing historial revisionism and revanchism, is being created.

Did I just forgot to tell you Victoria Villarruel studied at the William J. Perry Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies, an institution belonging to the US Department of State? Sus right? We might just have a very clear CIA asset as VP.