Libertarians turn infighting into full-blown social media brawl

A recent, bombastic quarrel on X between two high-profile libertarian activists reflected the unrest between two factions within the Argentine government. The brawl’s protagonists were national deputy Lilia Lemoine — a former cosplayer and President Javier Milei’s makeup artist — and Daniel “Gordo Dan” Parisini — a YouTuber and X troll. They represent two sectors of the government that have had a longstanding clash, led by the president’s sister Karina Milei and his advisor Santiago Caputo, respectively. On Friday, Lemoine answered a post by an anonymous user who was criticizing Sebastián Pareja, a political organizer. “OK, stop following Milei,” she wrote, implying that, if someone supports Milei, they should back the likes of Pareja, who is close to Karina Milei. “No,” answered Parisini. Lemoine then accused Parisini of supporting Vice President Victoria Villarruel and Congresswoman Marcela Pagano, both of whom have distanced themselves from the president. “In real life, you’d be letting the government fall,” she said. But the back-and-forth didn’t end there. “You don’t have the authority to kick anyone out or make anyone stop following Milei. You don’t have the jurisdiction here to do that. This isn’t Congress. You won’t get away with it,” Parisini replied. Underlying the argument is the progress of a legal case, initiated following a complaint filed by Pareja, in which authorities are investigating alleged threats and incitement to commit crimes by users believed to be associated with Santiago Caputo. While Karina Milei controls the party’s organization, Caputo holds a grip on key areas of the government — the SIDE intelligence agency and part of the Health Ministry. Recently, Karina has gained control of areas that belonged to Caputo — namely, the Justice and the Interior ministries. “The Bicameral Intelligence Committee oversees SIDE’s expenditures,” Lemoine wrote on Sunday, an apparent jab at Caputo (she heads that committee, and the director of the SIDE, Cristian Auguadra, is a man of Caputo). Another month of clashes An activist close to Parisini’s political organization, Las Fuerzas del Cielo (Heavenly Forces), said that what happened is “beautiful.” “I think we’re in for another month or two of total chaos, and then we’ll get our act together,” the source said. “It reminds me of what they say about Peronists: when it looks like they’re fighting, they’re actually breeding.” According to the source, people within Heavenly Forces could start joining provincial branches of La Libertad Avanza, organized by Karina Milei — except for Buenos Aires province, the person said, where both sides “hate” each other. Two sources within La Libertad Avanza, close to Karina Milei’s sector, said that Santiago Caputo and his people have their days counted. One of the sources said that Caputo is still a member of the government only due to his close relationship with Javier Milei. “They are two factions that have never been on the same side,” the other source close to Karina said. “One of them is going to lose — and we already know which one.”