Silvia Lospennato, the Pro rebel who infuriated Cristian Ritondo by rejecting Milei's vetoes.

Pro, Javier Milei 's main ally, is facing an extremely fragile situation. While the identity crisis of the party founded by Mauricio Macri began a long time ago and its fragmentation has deepened in recent months due to its electoral alliance with La Libertad Avanza ( LLA ) in the capital and in the province of Buenos Aires, the bloc of deputies led by Cristian Ritondo displayed its internal differences like never before on Wednesday.

It was during the tense session of the lower house that the opposition dealt a new blow to the government by rejecting presidential vetoes of the pediatric emergency (Garrahan) and university funding laws. Once again, Silvia Lospennato , one of the Pro leaders who resisted the electoral agreement with the Libertarians, distanced herself from the majority of her party and acted against the interests of the ruling party when voting.

Lospennato, whom Milei went from praising for her performance during the debate on the Constitutional Law to criticizing her for her criticism of the government over the failure of the clean slate bill in the Senate, had anticipated that she would not be attending the Casa Rosada during the session this Wednesday. She had been absent from the August 7 session when both initiatives received partial approval. But this Wednesday she assumed a leading role.

She decided to ask to speak to explain the reasons for her vote. She did so after Alejandro Finocchiaro , Macri's former Minister of Education and current LLA candidate for national deputy in Buenos Aires, pointedly criticized Lospennato herself, among other Pro legislators and former members of Ritondo's party, for voting in line with the Kirchnerists.

Finocchiaro, one of Ritondo's loyalists, appealed to irony . He said it "would be magnificent" if Congress changed its chamber to emulate the "facing seats" system of the English Parliament. "That way, some colleagues could shamelessly cross over to the opposite seats, where the cheerful populist gang that wants to overthrow this government resides," Finocchiaro said. Less than a meter away, Lospennato sat in her seat, listening to him.

Just after the former minister lashed out at the dissidents, Lospennato was able to express his position. "It's a good opportunity to speak after another member of the bloc to show that we don't always think the same," he began.

Barely finished her speech when the Pro Party representative, one of Macri's most praised, engaged in a heated exchange with Finocchiaro and Fernando Iglesias. She criticized Finocchiaro for his message. She told him he couldn't call her a "Kirchnerist" and that she wasn't going to switch to the Fuerza Patria camp. " I'm not going to allow you to call me a Kirchnerist because I don't vote the way you want me to," she retorted.

At that moment, Ritondo turned around to reprimand her. He told her he was "tired" of her attitude and that he couldn't complain about others speaking up when she acted independently. He criticized her, above all, for acting with indiscipline in the face of the bloc's joint decision to support Milei's vetoes. It was a tense exchange, in a heightened tone. "Calm down," Iglesias told Lospennato. Meanwhile, Silvana Giudici and Martín Maquieyra tried to calm Ritondo down.

Lospennato was seen in the hallway, visibly upset by the altercation . She described the episode as a bad moment and hinted that she wasn't surprised by Ritondo's behavior.

She was outraged by the angry protests of the Pro bloc leader and the rest of the Macri supporters closest to Milei. According to reports from those close to her, she presumes they attacked her because she spoke out and exposed the bloc's rift. Germana Figueroa Casas and Ana Clara Romero , among others, also declined to support the Casa Rosada's political sparring with the opposition, but they avoided justifying their decision on the floor. Meanwhile, María Eugenia Vidal abstained at the universities and voted in favor of vetoing the law on pediatric emergencies.

Lospennato felt that the targeting was solely his figure for not having supported the presidential vetoes, when several Pro deputies had also disassociated themselves and voted against the government. Even, argue Pro dissidents, some governors who sealed electoral alliances with LLA did not support Milei. This is the case of UCR deputies Pamela Verasay and Lisandro Nieri , from Alfredo Cornejo 's circle (Mendoza), who voted in favor of the university financing law and were absent when it came to speaking out on the pediatric emergency law. Francisco Morchio , a close associate of Rogelio Frigerio , did not help to shield the vetoes either.

"How can they possibly demand from us what their candidates won't do?" ranted Lospennato's supporters. In that sector, they assume Ritondo's anger stemmed from his failure to contain his bloc's leaks at a crucial moment for Milei.

Among the leadership of the Macri party, however, they don't hide their anger at the attitude of Lospennato and the rest of the rebels, like Vidal. They are the standard-bearers of the resistance, pushing to prevent Pro from being absorbed by LLA. They prefer to maintain their own identity and not wear Milei's purple tracksuit .

"At every bloc meeting, we discuss, debate, and establish a common position. Then, in the chamber, she chooses to vote with Kirchnerism," said some of the Pro party's supporters.

Lospennato, an elected Buenos Aires legislator , is accused of having acted "incoherently." She was one of LLA's main collaborators in Congress. She had built a bond of trust with Martín Menem —she was elected third vice president of the Chamber of Deputies—and had earned Milei's praise. But the frustrated debate over a clean slate—the denunciation of an alleged pact with Carlos Rovira , of Misiones, to defeat the bill in the Senate—and the clashes over the Buenos Aires campaign marked a breaking point.

"Lospennato went from being the number one defender of fiscal balance to standing on the other side. Voting differently from the bloc on key issues for Pro, such as fiscal balance, is giving air to Kirchnerism," Ritondo's allies insisted.

What's more, they accuse her of voting last year to uphold Milei's veto of the law that increased funding for universities. But Lospennato had warned Macri that this was the last time she would lean against public universities. "Some people don't realize how much going to university changes the lives of people like Silvia," say those close to the congresswoman. She wasn't willing to make another sacrifice, they claim, and Macri knew it.

For now, the leader of Pro, who is trying to rebuild a party that has splintered into various tribes, exhibiting autonomous movements since Milei came to power, remains silent. He neither condemns nor praises the rebellion of Lospennato or Vidal. His right-hand man, Fernando De Andreis , who secured a spot on the LLA's list of representatives in the city, speaks of recovering the "liberal" Pro and eliminating the "socialist stench."

Whether Macri will intervene to force Lospennato to take office as a legislator remains a mystery. For now, she's dragging her feet. Since her defeat to Manuel Adorni , everything has changed. "If he takes Adorni, he won't have any leeway to avoid taking the seat," say those close to Macri.

In a forceful speech before the fight in Pro began, Lospennato outlined the reasons that led her to distance herself from Milei. She said that no one could call her a "coup plotter" for exercising a constitutional role legitimized by popular mandate. She also railed against the binary logic of friend or enemy. In other words, she argued that there must be room for an alternative between Kirchnerism and the libertarians.

"It's not true that those of us who voted to support the veto want to overthrow the government, nor is it true that those who support the veto do so because they received bribes from the government," he stated. He also noted that the Executive Branch decided not to present the budget proposal in either 2024 or 2025, so Milei cannot speak of "fiscal degenerates," as that was the "first violation of the financial administration law."

He then listed why he believes the government is going through a critical period, failing to defend presidential vetoes in Congress. He said that trust has been broken with society, the political system, and the markets. Specifically, Lospennato spoke of the "absenteeism" recorded in the last provincial elections. "People are telling us, 'Enough of making us choose between pasta or chicken. I'd rather not eat.' Don't make me choose between bad and worse; give me a better option," he stated.

According to