A prominent topic in Argentina's electoral campaign, the suspicion that Javier Milei talks to a dog that died in 2017 has once again become a topic of political discussion in the country.
Insinuations that the Argentine president was seeing – and talking – to a deceased dog were the subject of two Casa Rosada press conferences, protesters at a recent large protest, discussions among politicians on social media and even in Congress.
The doubt looms over the number of dogs that the Argentine president actually has: whether there are five, as he claims, or whether there are only four and one of the animals has already died (and Milei would be talking to him even after he was dead).
In the book “El Loco”, an unauthorized biography of Milei, author Juan Luis González states that after the death of his dog Conan, in 2017, Milei sent the English mastiff's genetic material to be cloned in a laboratory in the United States .
From the procedure, a copy of Conan and four more clones emerged, named Murray, Milton, Robert and Lucas, in honor of the economists Murray Rothbard, Milton Friedman and Robert Lucas.
But, according to González, Conan's clone also died. One of the arguments is that in all of Milei's appearances with the clones and photos, there are only 4 dogs.
Milei states that she has five dogs, as she did in a recent interview with CNN . A few months ago, he was also questioned by presenter Mirtha Legrand, and said he had five dogs: Conan and four children.
Last Monday (22), when asked about the number of dogs in the presidential residence, government spokesman Manuel Adorni responded to an Argentine journalist: “I don't understand what changes for you if there are four dogs, five dogs or 43 rabbits. What is the difference?”. “If the president says he has five dogs, he has five dogs and that’s it,” he added.
On Tuesday (23), several allusions to the topic appeared in a protest that brought together an estimated total of 800,000 people, in Buenos Aires alone, against the budget reduction for federal universities. “The University of Buenos Aires exists, Conan does not!”, said one of the protesters’ posters. Another teased: “I study to not ask a dead dog for advice.”
On Thursday (25), the spokesperson had to respond again on the matter after a journalist stated that the number of canines in the residence is of interest to all Argentines “because if the president has four dogs and sees five we are talking about a person who sees something that does not match reality.”
The presidency spokesperson described it as “a lack of respect” to define Milei “as a person who talks about things that don’t exist”. “I think it’s disrespectful, this is messing with his family and I think we need to stop talking about certain issues,” Adorni complained.
Conspiracy theory or not, the subject even invaded the discussion of the new mega-bill that the government sent to congress to reform public administration. “We are not going to say that Conan is alive so that they can give us the final text of the law”, complained the deputy and former candidate for president Myriam Bregman, about the difficulty of getting the project changed after the debate.
“My dog doesn’t advise me (and he’s alive)”, former president Alberto Fernández wrote on the social network X in response to Milei’s accusation that he was a puppet of Cristina Kirchner. “My actions and reactions are the result of reflection and not of psychological changes,” he replied.
Source: CNN Brasil
Bruce Belcher is a seasoned author with over 5 years of experience in world news. He writes for online news websites and provides in-depth analysis on the world stock market. Bruce is known for his insightful perspectives and commitment to keeping the public informed.
