This is not the first and probably not the last controversy linked to the recent election of Javier Milei in Argentina. The past of a former minister appointed to a senior prosecutor position in the future team of the controversial new leader resurfaces. His old pro-Nazi youthful inclinations resurface. A “teenage madness”, according to the person concerned.
Rodolfo Barra, 75, was appointed attorney general to the Treasury on Friday. A renowned jurist, he was a judge of the Supreme Court and held various positions in governments in the 1990s, including Minister of Justice in 1994-96. He finally resigned from this post, already at the time because of the controversy linked to his youth membership in a nationalist movement with Nazi sympathies, active in the 55-60s, the Tacuara Nationalist Movement.
Between indignation and vigilance
Since his appointment on Friday, several organizations or opposition elected officials have protested or asked the future executive to reconsider this appointment. The Argentine Forum against Anti-Semitism expressed its “concern and rejection” at a nomination that represents “a direct affront to the democratic and plural spirit of our country”.
The Delegation of Argentine Jewish Associations (DAIA), in a more measured statement, took note of the fact that Rodolfo Barra “in the 1990s presented his apologies to the DAIA for his behavior and his horrible demonstrations when he was young”. The DAIA “will be present to guarantee respect for the law and that it is respected, regardless of who governs,” continues the collective of the largest Jewish community in South America (approximately 250,000).
“I was 15, 16, 14 years old, I was a teenager, a teenager lacking maturity, lack of knowledge. Many at this adolescent age do crazy things, and I did that crazy thing. Others, at a more advanced age, were terrorists,” Rodolfo Barra defended himself on Saturday on the LN + channel, apologizing “as others can apologize for so many things that we do to adolescence”. The press also recalled this weekend the past positions of Rodolfo Barra against abortion, at the time of the parliamentary debates which led to its legalization in Argentina in 2021.