Milei exposes an autistic child who demands the rights of people with disabilities

"A 12-year-old autistic boy who talks about autism." This is how Ian Moche is presented on his social media accounts, where he has more than 440,000 followers and has become an activist for inclusion and the rights of people with disabilities. As part of the protests by families and organizations in the sector against the adjustments implemented by Javier Milei's government , the boy was attacked on social media by an army of far-right militants. The president himself republished and disseminated the attack, also placing the boy and his family on "the side of evil."

Communities linked to people with disabilities are mobilizing in Argentina to denounce the withdrawal of pensions, service coverage, and medications, and are demanding the passage of an emergency disability law. The debate will begin this Wednesday in Congress.

It was in this context that, last week, Ian Moche and his mother, Marlene Spesso, recounted the lack of empathy they encountered in Milei's government. According to their revelations, in March 2024 they met with the current head of the National Disability Agency, Diego Spagnuolo , who was Milei's personal lawyer. During the meeting—they reported on the Gelatina platform—the official questioned state benefits for people with disabilities. Ian's mother claimed that Spagnuolo told her: "If you had a child with a disability, that's the family's problem, not the state's." Ian added: "[Spagnuolo] literally asked us a question that was: 'Why do I have to pay a toll and you don't?'" The boy asked that the rights acquired by minorities be respected and expressed that he would like to speak with Milei to tell her about living with a person with a disability in Argentina.

The official denied having said those words, but both Ian and Spesso backed up their story in a new interview, this time on the La Nación+ channel. That's when the attacks on social media began from accounts linked to the government. The message Milei chose to republish targeted journalist Paulino Rodrígues for having interviewed the boy and his mother. "Pautino [the far right insists that any critical journalist is critical because they secretly receive some kind of economic "advisory"] brought a child with autism to operate against Milei," the text said, among other things. And President Milei added of his own: "Pautino is always on the side of evil. He never fails when it comes to operating against the government. Always on the side of the kukas [alluding to Kirchnerism]... he never fails."

On social media, there were multiple expressions of condemnation of the attacks by Milei and her followers. “No political differences justify the public exposure or humiliation of a child. There is no possible excuse for this level of symbolic violence from the highest office of the State,” Amnesty International warned in a statement.

Political leaders from various sectors echoed this sentiment. For example, former Buenos Aires governor María Eugenia Vidal, of the PRO party (National Action Party), a party close to the government, defended the boy: “He's 12 years old. He doesn't shout, he doesn't insult, he doesn't point fingers. He only speaks with respect and knowledge, and he campaigns for inclusion. There are adults who could learn a lot from Ian.” Taking a clearly anti-Milei stance, senator and former Kirchnerist minister Eduardo de Pedro demanded that “the national government stop the violence it's generating. These are children and families suffering. These are real people, not social media trolls .”

Representatives from the Civic Coalition, a centrist party, presented a bill to condemn "the president's public reaction" and demand Spagnuolo's resignation as director of the Disability Agency. The official had already been criticized earlier this year for his involvement in an executive decree that restricted access to disability pensions and used discriminatory terms such as "idiot," "imbecile," and "feeble-minded" to refer to people with intellectual disabilities.