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🇦🇷 Argentina /Elections & Politics

Questioned director of Casa Argentina in Paris says he wants to “free it from woke ideology”

From La Nación · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources Under investigation
  • Casa Argentina director Santiago Muzio defended his management and said he wanted to remove the residence from what he called the influence of the far left and “woke ideology.”
  • His tenure has drawn criticism over plaques honoring dictatorship victims, resident expulsions and meetings linked to far-right groups.
  • Muzio also defended his refusal to sign the Cité Universitaire’s values charter, citing the Argentine government’s recognition of only two sexes.

Santiago Muzio, the questioned director of Casa Argentina in Paris, says he wants to “free” the university residence from what he calls “the clutches of the extreme left and woke ideology.” The remarks came in an interview with the conservative French newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche, after Paris City Hall asked the French Foreign Ministry to investigate his management.

Muzio, a French-Argentine lawyer appointed by Javier Milei’s government in 2024, said he wanted the residence to return to its original purpose: receiving students who come to study and promoting Argentina, particularly in cultural affairs. His management has faced criticism since his appointment.

I want to free this place from the clutches of the extreme left and woke ideology.

· Santiago MuzioThe director described his stated aim for Casa Argentina in an interview with Le Journal du Dimanche.

At the start of this year, two plaques honoring victims of Argentina’s last dictatorship were removed during renovation work. Residents and human rights organizations objected, and a group of Argentine writers, intellectuals and academics later called for the plaques to be restored. Muzio has also been criticized over the expulsion of residents and the hosting of meetings connected to far-right sectors.

I want this place to return to what it originally was: an institution that receives students who come to study and promotes Argentina, especially in the cultural sphere.

· Santiago MuzioMuzio explained how he wants to redefine the residence’s role.

He explained his refusal to sign the Cité Universitaire’s values charter, which sets out principles of equality and non-discrimination, including on grounds of gender and sexual orientation. “I simply follow the line of the Argentine government, which recognizes the existence of two sexes: male and female,” he said.

Casa Argentina operates within Paris’s Cité Internationale Universitaire, a campus that hosts about 12,000 students, researchers and artists from 150 nationalities each year. Opened in 1928, the residence reports directly to Argentina’s Ministry of Human Capital and has autonomy from the Cité Universitaire authorities. Muzio also said he inherited serious infrastructure problems when he took over and had to hire a contractor after finding the facilities in very poor condition.

I simply follow the line of the Argentine government, which recognizes the existence of two sexes: male and female.

· Santiago MuzioHe gave this explanation for refusing to sign the Cité Universitaire’s values charter.
About this summary

Originally published by La Nación in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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