Rewriting the Republic and Milei’s Revisionist Agenda
- Krishiv Jaiswal
- May 21
- 6 min read
The Argentine Republic has had a fraught relationship with its past. During the late 1970s and early 80s, the country experienced a military dictatorship marked by extreme violence and systematic human rights abuses. Nearly 30,000 desaparecidos (disappeared people) were reported by several organisations, including the Madres de Plaza de Mayo. To eradicate perceived leftist threats in a Cold War-inspired crackdown on dissent, a right-wing military junta headed by General Jorge Rafael Videla oversaw this era, which came to be known as the Dirty War.
In the aftermath of this dictatorship, Argentina became a leader of the world in transitional justice—a system of legal and extrajudicial actions to address the effects of past human rights violations—during the revolutionary wave of trials and truth commissions.
However, Javier Milei’s tenure as the 59th president of Argentina has brought a paradigm shift to this piece of history. Adamant in their belief that the violence carried about by prominent left-wing guerrilla groups included the Montoneros and the People’s Revolutionary Army (ERP) equate to state terrorism, Vice President Victoria Villarruel has chosen to take her stand as she includes the dead victims of the guerrilla organisation attacks on the same footing as the victims of state terrorism during the 1976-1983 military dictatorship, per the BA Times.
To downplay state terrorism and reframe dictatorship as a ‘war’ rather than a one-sided repression, Villarruel has publicly reduced the number of disappeared people in the 1980s mentioned in government records, strongly clashing with the acclaimed 30,000 by several prominent human rights organisations. Under Milei’s administration, Villarruel’s revisionist position is not unique; rather, it is a component of a larger ideological agenda that aims to alter public memory and cast doubt on the Republic’s long-standing human rights narrative.
Furthermore, Milei and Villarruel attempt to downplay the scope of past state violence and balance the dominant narrative of extensive human rights abuses in this period. In this attempt, the NBC News reports that Milei and Villarruel draw out critics who argue that these statements aim to distract the public from extensive evidence and are reframing the discussion to call attention to the left-wing guerrilla group victims rather than the past dictatorial regime’s inordinate attacks.
Milei’s arguments and the overall public resistance were reaffirmed by human rights marches and campaigns such as the “30,000 reasons” campaign, which aims to preserve the memory of those who disappeared during the dictatorship era by reaffirming the symbolic number of 30,000 people. Moreover, the organisers want to encourage ongoing public interest in the nation’s past while opposing initiatives they perceive as historical revisionism.
This attempt to balance the aforementioned narratives transitions into Milei’s vision for a better public education, led by his opinion of Argentina’s public education system as “brainwashing.” Milei believes that the education system in place forces a certain perspective upon scholars and “brainwashes” them into believing a certain narrative about the violence committed by the guerrilla group.
A similar revolutionary vision was adopted, and initiatives were undertaken by the leaders Jair Bolsonaro and Viktor Orbán, where historical revisionism has reshaped the national identity of Brazilians and Hungarians, respectively.
Milei proposes a reform in the education system, promoting the revision of high school curricula to offer a neutral perception of the dictatorship, accentuating the violent actions of the guerrilla group and softening depictions of the military. These reforms are part of a broader ideological project that mirrors initiatives taken by Brazil in 1964–1985 where Brazilian president João Goulart was overthrown by a military coup, initiating the Brazilian military dictatorship, and Hungary’s Fidesz party’s implementation of education reforms to promote nationalist histories.
As dictatorship denial is on the rise in the country, it has led to an increased number of vigorous riots, accentuating Argentina’s problems. In this overbearing political tsunami of historical reforms, post-dictatorship narratives and mass public discontent, Milei’s Administration has taken concrete steps to reduce the visibility and resources of human rights institutions, according to the Cato Institute. Budgets have been slashed, funds have been restricted, and public comments have fallen on deaf ears.
As reported by the International Center for Transitional Justice, there has been a slowdown in trials against former military officials, despite over 1,100 convictions for crimes against humanity since 2006. Human rights groups such as the Center for Legal and Social Studies (CELS) report mass layoffs and mounting pressure as they seek justification.
Although the judiciary remains a potential check on executive overreach, institutional support structures weaken and may threaten the continuity of ongoing investigations because the judiciary now has less funding and political clout under Milei’s leadership. Essentially, its ability to investigate complicated cases from the dictatorship era has been hampered by funding and human rights oversight cuts.
However, these developments have prompted several organisations and movements to emerge and voice their opinions, irrespective of the rigour and intensity with which Milei and Villarruel tread Argentina’s diluted history. International bodies have voiced concerns over Milei’s controversial policies and his past before becoming the President of the Republic. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights criticised moves by the current Argentine government that “undermine the foundations of truth and accountability,” while the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights has warned that state actions may weaken democratic resilience.
Meanwhile, scholars feel that Milei’s revisionist policies represent more than just a change in Argentina’s internal political landscape. It reflects the rise of a new right-wing “constellation” that is changing the world, from Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil and Donald Trump in the United States to Giorgia Meloni in Italy and the Vox and Chega parties in Portugal and Spain, respectively. The so-called liberal international order and the progressive ideals that have supported the post-World War II international system are positioned against this new global far-right.
These critiques have cast Milei’s reforms as a challenge to Argentina’s human rights legacy. Back home, resistance is growing. Civil society groups, university networks, and activists are rallying against what they call “institutionalised forgetting,” across cities. Drawing comparisons to Spain’s delayed reckoning with Franco’s dictatorship, which saw the public remain silent against the leadership’s crimes, many human rights organisations report suggest that Argentina’s history of transitional justice is now under threat.
Milei’s agenda has also triggered an intense national revolution in Argentina, reckoning with its history, reframing the dictatorship, altering educational narratives, and weakening institutional guardians of memory. The entirety of the country is now trapped in matters of selective national identity, and despite Milei’s attempts to disguise his administration’s efforts in neutrality, it still raises concerns about generational history and educational reform, given that the dictatorship ended just over four decades ago and that many survivors are still alive today.
Their recollections, testimonies, and continuous quest for justice highlight the dynamic nature of Argentina’s history and continue to influence public opinion. In sum, the survivors’ presence acts as a potent reminder that Argentina’s current situation is nonetheless affected by the legacy of state brutality.
Though international actors and local communities are resisting the changes brought by Milei’s Administration, the path forward remains contested. While analysts and reporters unite in huge numbers to warn us off the reforms that could lead to a generational gap in historical memory—which would result in irrevocable differences of opinions and outlooks between one another—it all relies on Milei and Villarruel’s dedication to this path and their decision to either heed this warning or not. Whether Argentina will maintain its legacy as a champion of historical justice or slip into a cycle of revisionism remains to be seen.
Edited by Ananya Karthikeyan
Krishiv Jaiswal (he/him) is an International Baccalaureate student at The Doon School and a Writer at Political Pandora. He holds a keen interest in economics, statistics and international relations, aiming to reframe narratives and craft the real story on the ground-level beyond the headlines. His research focuses on the Indian and European economic and political sphere.
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Keywords: Argentina Dirty War, Javier Milei Dictatorship, Argentina Human Rights History, Transitional Justice Argentina, Madres De Plaza De Mayo, Argentina Disappeared 30000, Victoria Villarruel Revisionism, Argentina Military Junta 1976, Milei Education Reform, Argentina Dictatorship Denial, Argentina Truth And Justice Trials, State Terrorism Argentina, Argentina Historical Revisionism, Argentina Human Rights Backlash, Legacy Of Argentina Dictatorship.
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