Financial Times, on the official internal conflict with Bullrich: "Milei faces the most popular leader in his government"

The infighting within the libertarian party between the Milei siblings and the leader of the ruling party's Senate bloc, Patricia Bullrich, took on international scope this week with a publication by the British newspaper Financial Times. Under the headline "Milei clashes with the most popular leader in his government," the article warned that tensions between the President and the former Security Minister are testing the unity of the right ahead of the 2027 presidential elections. In a rundown of the clashes that pitted Bullrich against the President and his inner circle, the article by journalist Ciara Nugent highlighted that, last Thursday, the senator announced she would push for a law to partially reverse the cuts to funding for people with disabilities. From her X account, the former minister warned that the ruling bloc was ready to move forward with consideration of the bill in the upper chamber. Javier Milei, Patricia Bullrich and Karina Milei — Fabian Marelli Bullrich had called the bill last week "a necessary law to solve a problem that has been in dispute for far too many years." In the same message, she added: "The country we are building is with all Argentines, with no one left out." The publication once again raised suspicions within the ruling party, where her words were interpreted as a new gesture of differentiation from the Casa Rosada. "This was the latest in a series of dissident actions that have fueled expectations that she is considering running for president," wrote Ciara Nugent, author of the Financial Times article. She also recalled that, a day earlier, Javier Milei had posted on Instagram an image of a ship on fire accompanied by the phrase: "There are people willing to sink the ship when they realize they won't get to be the captain." The message fueled speculation about a possible rupture between the two. The tension has recent precedents. As LA NACION reported, discontent within the Government deepened after Bullrich gathered political and legislative figures from her circle to showcase her internal support and demand changes in the libertarian administration. The release of that photograph was seen by sectors of the Casa Rosada as a challenge to presidential authority. Those close to Milei even let it be known that the senator had raised the possibility of competing for the presidency in 2027. One of the central points of the Financial Times piece is Bullrich's political capital. According to a poll conducted at the end of October by Sergio Berensztein's consultancy and researcher Eduardo D'Alessio, and shared with the British newspaper, the senator registered a 46% positive image and a 50% negative one. Milei, by contrast, received 33% favorable opinions and 60% unfavorable. President Javier Milei alongside Bullrich, the Secretary General of the Presidency, Karina Milei, and the Chief of Staff, Diego Santilli, during the last legislative campaign — Rodrigo Abd - AP The publication also recalled that Bullrich contributed centrist voters to Milei's victory in the 2023 runoff and that, after competing against him in the presidential elections, she joined his government as Security Minister. Since then, she has built her own profile within the administration and become one of the few voices to publicly question some of its decisions. Although a person close to the senator denied to the Financial Times that she is thinking of leaving the Government or launching her own candidacy, the newspaper noted that last month Bullrich stated: "I feel prepared to be president." For the analysts consulted by the publication, a rupture does not seem imminent, but the politician would be accumulating arguments to differentiate herself from the libertarian project. The article also suggests that a possible split between Milei and Bullrich could benefit Peronism by dividing the right-wing space.