Milei Evacuated from Campaign Event After Stone Attack

Demonstrators hurled rocks at a convoy carrying Argentina’s libertarian President Javier Mieli on Wednesday as his campaign caravan cut through Buenos Aires province, the cradle of the country’s left-leaning opposition movement.

Milei came away unharmed, his spokesperson said, but the attack on his motorcade cut short the high-profile rally and ratcheted up tensions just days before consequential provincial elections in Buenos Aires, where more than a third of Argentines live.

The incident comes as a corruption scandal threatens to entangle Milei's inner circle, including his sister and chief of staff, Karina Milei, who was riding Wednesday in the bed of the pickup truck alongside the president and key candidates from their governing Liberty Advances party when rocks, bottles and other objects started flying.

There was panic and confusion as cheering supporters and jeering protesters thronged Milei's caravan in Lomas de Zamora, a sprawling low-slung city and historic stronghold of Peronism, the populist opposition movement focused on workers’ rights that has dominated Argentine politics for the past eight decades.

Caught off guard, Milei ducked inside the vehicle as security agents scrambled to shield him from rocks whizzing just over their heads.

The rock-throwing swiftly brought an end to Milei's campaign caravan, staged Wednesday as a show of political force in the battleground of Buenos Aires Province. One Liberty Advances lawmaker, José Luis Espert, even hopped on a motorcycle apparently provided by a supporter and fled the scene without a helmet.

In leaked audio messages published last week, the president of Argentina’s disability agency can allegedly be heard discussing bribery payments made to Karina Milei and her key advisor.