4 key facts about Victoria Villarruel, the Catholic vice-president-elect of Argentina

In a Nov. 14 interview with the TN television channel, the congresswoman confirmed that, together with Javier Milei, she wants to reopen the discussion on the abortion law, focusing the debate on “a scientific basis and serious arguments” and not on ideological positions.
However, she later explained that this issue is not a priority considering the exorbitant prices Argentinians are facing due to the country’s very high rate of inflation, but that the abortion law will be addressed at another time.
In another interview with Infobae on May 16, she described the law as “disastrous” and assured that if she could, she would repeal it. “There was a lobby here that was also promoted from abroad, abortion is big business and there is a lobby that promoted this issue,” she said.
On July 8, 2018, Villarruel participated in a Mass for Life at the Basilica of Our Lady of Luján, when the country was debating the legalization of abortion in Congress.

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Ravasi noted that repealing the abortion law will be “difficult because it has to go through Congress and their coalition (Freedom Advances) doesn’t have a majority now. But at least they will surely try to start little by little to work towards achieving this goal.”
3. She opposed same-sex “marriage” during the campaign
During an interview in early May, Villarruel said she was against the “Marriage Equality Law,” the legislation on the so-called “marriage” between people of the same sex passed in Argentina in 2010.
When the host of television channel LN+ (The Nation+), Luis Novaresio, asked her what she thought about gay “marriage,” she said: “For me, it was guaranteed with civil unions. Legally, those rights were guaranteed. Was it necessary to expand them? Yes, but calling it ‘marriage,’ which is an institution that has more to do with religion… For me, we all have rights before the law.”
In response to the congresswoman’s statements, the host pointed out that marriage is not related to religion, but is “a matter of civil law.” After this, Villarruel responded: “Yes, of course. But its origin dates back to the previous establishment of the institution of marriage, which had a religious character.”
Martín Zeballos, a lawyer and former Freedom Advances candidate for comunero (similar to an alderman) in Comuna 1 (similar to a ward) of the City of Buenos Aires, told ACI Prensa Nov. 21 that Villarruel contributed “a very solid discourse” that resonated with “a huge number of Argentines who love their country and want to put the Argentine family at the center of public policies.”
The family “is something that Argentine public policies have forgotten in recent decades and I think it’s important that this new government can bring it back,” he said.
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4. She is the daughter of a soldier and fights for the victims of terrorism
Victoria Villarruel is the daughter of Eduardo Villarruel, a veteran of the Falklands (Malvinas Islands) War with Britain. He was also assigned in northern Argentina to the counterterrorism Operation Independence. The operation began during the period of democratic rule and continued during the dictatorship to confront guerrillas from the People’s Revolutionary Army (ERP), a guerrilla organization in Argentina that was active in the 1970s.
“Victoria Villarruel will be the first vice president of Argentina who is the daughter of a veteran of the Falklands War, an unwavering cause for our country. So much so that it is specifically mentioned in the national Constitution,” Zeballos said.
Since 2006, Villarruel has been president of the Center for Legal Studies Civil Association on Terrorism and its Victims, an organization that took on the task of raising awareness of the victims of crimes attributed to armed organizations during the 1970s in Argentina.
In a May interview with Infobae, the Buenos Aires politician said that “what happened in the 70s hurt all Argentines,” and that only a few have had the “right” to tell what they experienced. “I have always been interested in justice, truth, and reparation for these victims,” she stressed.
In 2014, she co-authored the book “Los otros muertos”  (“The Other Dead”, which tells the stories of victims of terrorism in Argentina.

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