Last Friday, after the Fuegian senator swore an oath regarding the '30,000 disappeared', Vice President Villarruel took advantage of the absence of staff in the office to change the lock, place a seal on the door, and remove the plaque of the national senator. One of the heads of Security admitted to national senator Juliana Di Tullio that Villarruel herself entered the office last Friday," they specified. "That Vice President Villarruel illegally entered the office of another national senator is an extremely serious institutional attack and a violation of the autonomy of the Legislative Branch," stated López. And he added: "The owners of the National Senate are the senators, not the vice president. Inside the office, the belongings of Senator López remained, including her personal computer," they indicated. According to Senate Security personnel, "it was Villarruel herself who entered the senator's office, with staff who changed the lock, placed a seal on the door, and removed the national senator's plaque." No authority can prevent a legislator from accessing their workplace. For the past two weeks, López and her team have been working in the office of the outgoing senator for Salta, Sergio Leavy. Both senators, belonging to the same political space, agreed that the historic office, used for decades by Fuegian senators, would once again be the workplace for a representative of Tierra del Fuego. This political decision was communicated in advance to the Presidency of the Senate by the Union for the Fatherland inter-bloc, in the same way as was done in the case of other senators. No other office in the Senate was sealed or had its lock changed, even though senators from the ruling party and the opposition had similar political agreements to those of López and Leavy. This Monday, Senator López, after Villarruel did not answer any of her messages or calls over the weekend, went to her office with a locksmith to retrieve her personal belongings that had been left inside. Senate Security personnel, who had set up a barricade with two chairs in front of the door, prevented her, and a scuffle and physical assault against the national senator ensued. The injury was verified by Gustavo Apreda, the Senate's doctor, who described a "5 by 3-centimeter hematoma on the upper part of the right ankle." The Fuegian senator also reported "internal pain in her right arm." After the medical verification, López filed a criminal complaint against her aggressors. "If an authority in the Senate is allowed to punish a senator for their stance, tomorrow the same can be done with any representative. Buenos Aires, December 1 (NA) – National Senator for Tierra del Fuego, Cristina López, filed a criminal complaint this Monday for 'injuries, threats, and sexual assaults' against National Senate security personnel. According to an investigation by the Argentine News Agency, López's filing came after she took an oath regarding the '30,000 disappeared' and the Vice President of the Nation, Victoria Villarruel, entered her office, changed the lock, sealed the door, and took the plaque of the complainant. López was physically and sexually assaulted when she tried to retrieve her personal belongings that were left inside," those close to the senator emphasized. They also added: "During a scuffle at the door of her office, the Fuegian representative was assaulted by personnel responding to Vice President Victoria Villarruel." "It is a very dangerous message for democracy," the complainant stated. #AgenciaNA "Villarruel's actions are unprecedented in the history of democracy."
