Argentine President Javier Milei’s campaign caravan was abruptly cut short on Wednesday, August 27, 2025, after protesters hurled rocks, bottles, and other objects at his convoy in Lomas de Zamora, a sprawling suburb just outside Buenos Aires. The incident, which unfolded in the heart of a traditional Peronist stronghold, has escalated tensions in the final stretch before crucial provincial and national elections, while also shining a spotlight on deepening political divides and a festering corruption scandal at the highest levels of Milei’s administration.
According to AFP and FRANCE 24, the president was riding in the open bed of a pickup truck, waving to a crowd that was a mix of cheering supporters and jeering demonstrators. Karina Milei, the president’s sister and powerful Secretary General, stood at his side, along with José Luis Espert, a key legislative candidate for Milei’s Liberty Advances party. The rally was meant to be a show of political force ahead of Buenos Aires Province’s legislative elections on September 7 and the national midterms slated for October 26—both widely regarded as referendums on Milei’s leadership and economic reforms.
But the festive atmosphere quickly turned chaotic. Protesters, some carrying signs referencing recent bribery allegations, began chanting “Out with Milei!” and pressed closer to the caravan. Suddenly, rocks and bottles flew over the president’s head, forcing his security detail to surround him with shields and evacuate him in an armored vehicle. Espert, caught in the confusion, made his own dramatic exit—reportedly hopping onto a supporter’s motorcycle and fleeing the scene without a helmet, as recounted by AP and EL PAÍS.
Manuel Adorni, the president’s spokesperson, confirmed that Milei was unharmed, but not everyone escaped injury. A female supporter was hospitalized with rib injuries after clashes broke out between protesters and Milei’s backers. Police made at least two arrests as the situation devolved into scuffles on the streets, according to EL PAÍS and AFP.
The government wasted no time in assigning blame. Adorni and Security Minister Patricia Bullrich pointed fingers at Kirchnerism—the left-wing movement led by former President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, who, despite being banned from politics and under house arrest following a corruption conviction in June, remains a dominant force within Peronism. Bullrich accused Kirchnerist activists of orchestrating the attack, saying it was part of a “model of violence that only cavemen of the past want.” Adorni echoed, describing the protesters as “militants of the old politics, Kirchnerism in its purest form.”
Milei himself turned to social media to campaign against his opponents, writing, “The empty-headed nutters throwing rocks resorted to violence again. On September 7 and October 26, let’s say at the polls: KIRCHNERISM NEVER AGAIN.” In another post, he framed the upcoming elections as a stark choice between “Civilisation or barbarity.”
Yet, beneath the political theater, the incident also underscored the growing public anger over a corruption scandal engulfing Milei’s inner circle. Just days earlier, leaked audio recordings surfaced in which Diego Spagnuolo, the former head of Argentina’s National Disability Agency and a close Milei ally, alleged that Karina Milei took a cut from government contracts intended to help people with disabilities. The scandal has hit a nerve in a country where public frustration with elite corruption helped fuel Milei’s own meteoric rise to power in late 2023.
At the rally, some protesters hoisted mock suitcases adorned with Karina Milei’s face and dollar bills, while others referenced the alleged bribery payments in state purchases of medication for people with disabilities. Joel Domínguez, a demonstrator whose daughter has a disability, told AP, “You never want violence, but there’s so much injustice and hypocrisy. I have a daughter with a disability, and he hits us directly. There’s no reflection or self-criticism because he doesn’t care.”
Milei has responded forcefully to the allegations. In Lomas de Zamora, he told reporters, “Everything he [Spagnuolo] says is a lie. We are going to bring him to justice and prove he lied.” Spagnuolo has since been fired, but the scandal continues to dog the administration, with critics arguing it exposes a gap between Milei’s anti-corruption rhetoric and the realities of his government.
All of this unfolds against the backdrop of Milei’s radical economic agenda. Elected as a political outsider with a promise to slash Argentina’s chronic fiscal deficits and crush runaway inflation, Milei has implemented what he calls “shock treatment” reforms. He famously campaigned with a chainsaw to symbolize his approach to bureaucracy, and his fiscal program has succeeded in dramatically reducing monthly inflation—from 25% in December 2023 to just 1.9% in July 2025, according to AP and AFP.
But the price has been steep for many Argentines. The austerity campaign has included sweeping government layoffs, deep cuts to social safety-net services, and aggressive deregulation. While inflation is down, unemployment and poverty have risen, and purchasing power has declined. As one protester told AP, the combination of economic pain and perceived government hypocrisy was too much to bear.
For Milei and his Liberty Advances party, the stakes could not be higher. With only a minority in the opposition-controlled congress, the upcoming elections represent a critical opportunity to expand their legislative power. But opposition lawmakers have recently passed new spending measures that threaten to derail Milei’s hard-won budget surplus, highlighting the precariousness of his position.
The violence in Lomas de Zamora, then, is more than an isolated outburst. It is a flashpoint in a broader struggle over the future direction of Argentina—a contest pitting a self-styled libertarian reformer against the entrenched forces of Peronism, and a public increasingly weary of both austerity and scandal. As the country hurtles toward its next round of elections, the outcome remains far from certain. But one thing is clear: the road ahead for Javier Milei is likely to be as turbulent as the streets he traveled this week.
