Argentine President Javier Milei was pelted with stones while campaigning near the capital Buenos Aires on Wednesday by demonstrators protesting a corruption scandal, AFP reporters said.
Milei, who was whisked from the scene by his security detail, sustained no injuries after his motorcade was attacked, presidential spokesman Manuel Adorni wrote on X.
Milei, who is campaigning for October mid-term elections, was riding in the back of a pickup truck and greeting his supporters in the city of Lomas de Zamora, 20 kilometers (12 miles) south of Buenos Aires, when protesters began throwing plants, rocks and bottles at his vehicle, AFP journalists at the scene confirmed.
The vehicle carrying the president and his sister, Karina Milei, along with other officials, hastily left the scene.
Afterwards, scuffles broke out between supporters and opponents of the libertarian leader.
A female Milei supporter suffered rib injuries and was taken away by ambulance.
The skirmishes arose amid a scandal in Argentina over alleged corruption at the public disability agency involving Karina Milei, her brother’s right-hand woman and presidential secretary.
Minutes beforehand, the president had addressed the scandal that erupted following the leak of audio recordings by the the former head of the disability agency, Diego Spagnuolo.
In the recordings, Spagnuolo claimed that Karina Milei pocketed funds destined for people with disabilities.
“Everything (the agency head) says is a lie,” President Milei said.
