Overview
- After a decisive Buenos Aires win, Patricia Bullrich confirmed she will leave the Security Ministry to take her Senate seat on December 10, with La Libertad Avanza expanding to roughly 20 senators as the kirchnerist bloc falls to about 28.
- Presenting before the Budget Committee, she previewed a new Penal Code expanding to about 920 articles with tougher penalties, imprescriptibility for grave crimes, a 30‑year term for homicide simple, new cybercrime figures, higher corruption penalties, and added victim protections, while calling for a consensus-driven, yearlong debate.
- She urged approval of a youth criminal regime lowering imputability to 14 and an anti‑barras law, and left open the option of extraordinary sessions in December to advance the security package.
- Bullrich said the 2026 Security budget totals about ARS 7.8 trillion and highlighted an 84% increase for anti‑narcotics efforts, defending anti‑piquete protocols and asserting robberies fell 21% this year.
- Government and congressional sources report active talks to make her the Senate’s provisional president and to have her lead upper‑house negotiations, while she signals an institutional relationship with Vice President Victoria Villarruel and a strategy to court non‑kirchnerist allies and isolate hardliners.