His expression was stern, his tone harsh: "During the 1970s, there was a war, and during that war, the forces of the state committed excesses." These words, uttered on October 2 by far-right candidate Javier Milei, have caused an uproar. Since the return of democracy 40 years ago, no politician had ever before questioned the existence of state terrorism, which led to the disappearance of thousands of people during the dark years of the dictatorship (1976-1983).

"To speak of war and excess is to repeat the rhetoric that the military used to justify their actions," explained Veronica Torras, director of Memoria Abierta, a group of about 10 human rights organizations. "Since 1983, even the right and the armed forces had refrained from breaking this consensus."

The choice of Milei's running mate for the presidential run-off against the Peronist candidate Sergio Massa on November 19 has also raised concerns: Victoria Villarruel, daughter, granddaughter and niece of military personnel, is the founder of Celtyv, the Center for Legal Studies on Terrorism and its Victims, which focuses on those affected by the attacks carried out in the 1970s by far-left armed organizations.

The vice-presidential candidate – who did not respond to Le Monde's requests for ccomment – was more reassuring: She has said she does not support the dictatorship and that her only concern is to ensure a "complete memory" that also honors the victims of guerrilla warfare. "My intention is not to erase history but to complete it, and I regret that my point of view has been described as fascist," she stated on television.

A few years ago, however, Villarruel expressed the same revisionist views as Milei to the press: "The concept of state terrorism is a political doctrine: at most, the state commits abuses." Moreover, she has previously shown support for military personnel accused of crimes against humanity, for example by visiting coup leader Jorge Rafael Videla and other torturers in prison. Although she insisted that she had done so as part of research for a book published in 2009, journalist Ari Lijalad, of the online media El Destape, revealed that she had continued her visits at least until 2016.

Villarruel went so far as to attack Estela de Carlotto, president of the Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo, who are seeking to identify their grandchildren stolen by the military. "Carlotto has been a rather sinister figure for our country because, under her guise as a kind grandmother, she has justified terrorism," said the candidate, close to Spain's far-right Vox party, claiming that de Carlotto's daughter, who disappeared in 1977 when she was three months pregnant, was a "terrorist."

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