Weeks before President Javier Milei visits France, scrutiny has grown around an Argentina-run university residence in Paris supposed to promote peaceful coexistence but which activists say instead restricts lodger freedoms and hosts European far-right figures.
Paris city officials have demanded the foreign ministry investigate Argentina House, one of dozens of homes run by foreign nations or French institutions on an international campus in the French capital.
The Cite Universitaire campus, or Cite U, was set up after World War I as lodgings for youth to form lasting connections with their peers across the globe.
But campus sources and former house residents, most speaking anonymously for fear of reprisal, say that the one run by Argentina had gone awry since a Milei appointee, fervent Catholic lawyer Santiago Muzio, became its director in 2024.
“The house used to be a space for community, culture, and art. Today it’s a space of fear, control, surveillance, cameras,” said an Argentine who lived there during the last academic year.
People walk by the main entrance of Cite U in Paris in March. Argentina House has been in turmoil since the 2024 appointment, by the government of President Javier Milei, of Santiago Muzio as its director. Photo: AFP
Residents said their access to common areas such as the lounge or the outdoor barbecue – an epicentre for socialising in Argentine culture – had been restricted.