When the final whistle blew and Argentina’s players celebrated another Copa America triumph – the icing on the cake of a three-year spell of dominance in international football – few would have predicted that it would cause a rift to appear in government. But, just days and a racism scandal later, that is what appears to have happened.

Javier Milei is no stranger to diplomatic incidents. The libertarian ‘anarcho-capitalist’ has called Pope Francis an imbecile and Brazil’s president Lula a communist – but his vice president’s defence of (some) of the Argentina’s players’ use of a racist and homophobic football chant has proven to be beyond the pale.

Villarruel was also conspicuously absent from the signing of the ‘May pact’ earlier this month

The scandal began when Enzo Fernández, who also plays for Chelsea, posted a video on social media showing some of his teammates singing a song targeting the French team, which Argentina defeated in the 2022 World Cup final. The song includes racist comments relating to the African ancestry of some of the French players.

Condemnation ensued, including from some of Fernandez’s Chelsea teammates and the club itself which promised to discipline him. One person who did not join the condemnation, however, was Argentina’s Vice President Victoria Villarruel.

Argentina wouldn’t be threatened by a ‘colonialist country’, she posted; not least over a football chant which says ‘truths they don’t want to admit’. ‘Argentina, always hold your head high,’ she added.

Such combative comments have perhaps been a feature of Milei’s style of governance, but his spokesman has distanced the President from Villarruel’s statement, saying they are ‘unfortunate’. In a bid to heal a potential diplomatic maelstrom with France, his enforcer (and sister) Karina has been dispatched to salve any potential wounds of the French ambassador.

The incident has shone a light on the differences between Milei and his running mate, who was seen as crucial to building the voter base that led to his largely unexpected electoral success last November.

Villarruel is the daughter of a high-ranking member of the Argentine Army and commands the support of members of the conservative intelligentsia. She made her name as a lawyer running the Centre for Legal Studies on Terrorism and its Victims, an NGO which fought for the rights of those allegedly killed by left-wing guerrillas during the country’s years of military dictatorship in the 1970s and 1980s.

This period has become a political hot potato in the past 18 months. Previous governments and international human rights organisations have condemned the junta – which collapsed in 1983 – for its brutal killings of an estimated 30,000 people, hundreds of whom were reportedly thrown to their deaths from aeroplanes in notorious ‘death flight’.

Villarruel is part of a section of society, though, who describes the period as a justified ‘internal armed conflict’ against people she describes as ‘terrorists’. Both she and Milei were criticised during the campaign for casting doubt on the figure of 30,000 deaths, and during the election campaign she was criticised for holding a memorial for the ‘victims of terrorism’.

This latest disagreement could be seen as evidence of cracks beginning to form in the pair’s relationship. In March, Villarruel, in her official role, signed off on a 30 per cent pay rise for Argentine lawmakers as a response to the country’s rampant inflation. Milei, who campaigned on a promise to take on the political elite and tackle corruption, responded in a television interview that he disagreed with the increase given the levels of poverty in the country.

Villarruel was also conspicuously absent from the signing of the ‘May pact’ earlier this month, a significant victory for Milei in which regional leaders pledged to introduce his reforms. According to the Buenos Aires Herald, the reason given was flu, but she was attending a public event in support of the military only 12 hours later.

Milei only entered the political fray in 2021, having previously garnered followers with his outspoken economic views as a television pundit. His Liberty Advances party is new, and boasts just a handful of senators. While he holds a large mandate with the public given his comfortable victory in last year’s poll, his position in the legislature is relatively weak.

Given his ambitious plans to smash apart the country’s economic orthodoxy and drag it out of decades of inflation-induced malaise, he will need all the support he can get. Fights with his closest allies are something he needs to avoid.