Allegations of expulsions, private far-right meetings... Concerns over Casa Argentina, a student residence at a prestigious Paris university campus, are growing and could be raised during President Javier Milei’s visit to France.
Almost a century old, Casa Argentina at the Cité Internationale Universitaire de Paris, which has in the past housed intellectuals including writer Julio Cortázar, has been embroiled in controversy since the Milei government appointed Franco-Argentine lawyer Santiago Muzio as its director in 2024.
"It’s a mini-dictatorship" where residents live in "constant fear" and there is "no freedom of expression," one resident from the 2025/2026 academic year told AFP.
"We’re all appalled, what’s happening in this house is horrible," said a director of another of the Cité U’s 47 residences.
Like many of the sources contacted by the AFP news agency, both preferred to remain anonymous for fear of a reaction from Muzio, the lawyer who was described as "intelligent" and "skilful.”
A fervent Catholic, Muzio had headed the Madrid branch of the Institute of Social, Economic and Political Sciences (ISSEP) since 2020, a private university founded by French far-right MEP Marion Maréchal, the niece of 2027 presidential candidate Marine Le Pen.
Amid growing concern over his management of the residence, Paris City Hall asked French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot on July 30 to launch an "investigation" and discuss the situation with the government in Buenos Aires.
"We are holding ongoing discussions with the Argentine authorities," Barrot said at a press conference on Tuesday, without providing further details.
Blandine Sorbe, general delegate of the foundation that runs the Cité U, told AFP she was working to ensure the issue is "addressed" at a diplomatic level, in the context of Milei’s planned visit to Paris in late September and early October.
Neither the residence, its director nor Argentina’s Human Capital Ministry has so far responded to AFP’s questions. Nor have France’s Interior and Higher Education ministries.
‘Fear’
The Cité Internationale Universitaire de Paris was founded in 1925, after World War I, as a meeting place intended to "contribute to building a world of peace," according to its website. Each year it hosts around 12,000 students, researchers and artists from 150 nationalities.
They live in residences run by their countries of origin or by institutions, including the Cité U itself, although the rules recommend that 30 percent of residents be of another nationality to encourage exchanges, known as "brassage."
With capacity for around 80 people, Casa Argentina opened in 1928. Its residents currently pay between 620 and 1,210 euros a month ($720-$1,400). Once known for its cultural activities, it has become notorious for controversy since Muzio’s arrival two years ago.
"The Casa was a place of community, culture and art. Today it’s a place of fear, control, surveillance and cameras," said another resident from the past academic year. The "control" aspect applies only to Argentines, the resident specified.
Residents allege that their access to common areas such as the lounge and barbecue area, a hub of social life in Argentina, was restricted. They also say fear led them to speak in "whispers" inside the residence.
One of Muzio’s first decisions was not to sign the Cité U’s Charter of Values, which directors normally sign every year. It upholds respect for human rights and private life and prohibits discrimination based on gender or sexual orientation, among other provisions.
"It set a precedent," Laurent Schneider, president of the conference of residence directors, told AFP. When he asked Muzio why he had refused to sign it, Muzio allegedly replied that he could not sign a document recognising gender and sexual-orientation equality "in good conscience.”
A source familiar with the residence said the director had since removed posters defending LGBT rights, among others.
‘Political persecution’
The "turning point," in the resident’s words, came in February when a plaque "in tribute to the 30,000 disappeared and victims of State Terrorism (1974-1983)" in Argentina was removed, with renovations at the residence given as the reason.
Residents eventually organised a tribute to the disappeared at Germany House (Maison Heinrich Heine), while the foundation that runs the Cité U responded by installing a similar plaque on the campus.
Months later, 13 residents who had taken part in the tribute or challenged the removal of the plaque were told they were unable to remain at the residence during the university holidays, as had been customary, said Salvador Calanni, one of those affected.
Calanni, the vice-president of the residence’s residents’ committee at the time, described that move as "political persecution.”
Around a dozen were accommodated at other residences in July and August, Blandine Sorbe recalled.
Calanni, despite holding the European Union’s most prestigious research fellowship, the Marie Skłodowska-Curie fellowship, again failed to secure a place for the 2026-2027 academic year following a controversial allocation process.
Casa Argentina opened and closed the process in August, whereas it normally takes place in May and June, so that "brassage" arrangements can be made before the academic year begins in September and those who are unsuccessful can find accommodation elsewhere in Paris. Not all available places were allocated.
Of the 42 applicants who were unsuccessful, six challenged the decision before Argentina’s Human Capital Ministry, arguing that they had been rejected "by discretionary decision" rather than on merit, according to a document seen by AFP.
Muzio also dismissed one of the four permanent employees at the residence, while two others left.
‘Reactionary international’
The situation is ultimately affecting the entire Cité U.
"Trust has been broken," said Schneider. "We promote an attitude of openness towards others among students, and we don’t know what he says inside his residence," he added.
The director of another residence was more direct: "I cannot entrust a resident to him. Can you imagine me sending someone there [through the ‘brassage’ system] and them finding a far-right meeting at the Casa?"
For example, two think tanks linked to the far right in Poland and Hungary presented their "Great Reset" plan there in November, a programme proposing to dismantle the EU or reduce its current scope, the independent left-wing outlet Basta! reported at the time.
In May, two months before France authorised euthanasia, the Casa Argentina hosted a debate entitled "Let’s protect human dignity at the end of life: enough with euthanasia in Europe.”
Franco-Argentine Senator Sophie Briante Guillemont asked the government in March whether it planned to introduce measures to ensure that Cité U "infrastructure" could not be used for purposes unrelated to its university mission. The Interior Ministry has yet to respond.
"Milei is part of what is known as the reactionary international. It is legitimate to want to know what is happening inside this residence when, clearly, there are issues that could affect French and even European national politics," the lawmaker told AFP.
France is preparing to hold a presidential election in April and May 2027, a crucial vote for the European Union, with far-right politician Le Pen leading opinion polls.
Difficult response
Muzio invokes freedom of expression and argues that the meetings are private and take place as part of the privatisation of spaces to raise funds for the residence, Sorbe said.
The Cité U’s room for manoeuvre appears limited. The foundation that runs it plans to strengthen its "ethical framework" to establish limits on what is acceptable on campus, according to Sorbe.
Regarding the "dozen" cases of alleged discrimination reported so far – most involving political views and one involving sexual orientation – she said they had been unable to gather "sufficient evidence" to substantiate them under French law.
But the main obstacle to taking action is broader: Casa Argentina reports directly to Argentina’s Human Capital Ministry and, unlike almost all the other residences, does not have a board of directors with representatives from the Cité Universitaire.
Since the 2010s, the Cité U has sought to regularise this legal situation, but "it does not depend solely on us, it is really a matter for bilateral and diplomatic discussion," the general delegate insisted.
Because of the situation at the residence, among other reasons, more than 1,600 people asked the Paris Council to declare Milei "persona non grata", but City Hall told AFP that only the state has the authority to do so.
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by Toni Cerdà, AFP
