Medellín, Colombia – Pablo Rodríguez Laurta, founder of the Varones Unidos (United Males) antifeminist collective, was arrested in Argentina on October 13 for the double femicide of his former partner Luna Giardina and her mother, Mariel Zamudio.
Authorities arrested the 39-year-old Uruguayan national in the eastern town of Gualeguaychú, close to the border with Uruguay. Police believe he had abducted their child after killing Giardina and Zamudio.
According to news reports, the Uruguayan had rented a cabin in the northeastern town of Salto, separated from Argentina by the Uruguay River. He crossed the river in a canoe on October 7, requested an Uber, and drove northward to Córdoba, where 26-year-old Giardina lived with their son and her mother, as per Open Democracy.
Giardina and Zamudio were murdered on October 11, and police found the decapitated body of Uber driver Martín Palacio the following day. Palacio had been reported missing by his family the week prior, shortly after he had driven Rodríguez Laurta to Córdoba. His burned car had also been found earlier on the outskirts of the city.
When taken to court, Rodríguez Laurta claimed he “did it all for justice,” on October 15.
A violent history
The pair met in 2018 through social media, and when Giardina reported physical and psychological abuse, an Argentine court imposed a restraining order and provided Giardina with a panic button.
Court documents show a history of escalating violence. Giardina first reported Rodríguez Laurta for gender-based violence in 2023, which led to a restraining order against the Uruguayan and a preventative court-provisioned panic button.
Months later, Rodríguez Laurta was jailed for entering Argentina with firearms, then rearrested after violating the restraining order when neighbors reported he was hiding in a roof near Giandina’s residence.
Credit: Facultad de Ciencias Sociales, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba
A psychological assessment performed after this second arrest concluded that Rodríguez Laurta understood the criminality of his actions and showed no serious psychopathologies. Because it was determined he was not a danger to himself or others, he was released on February 8, 2024.
Following the double femicide, Córdoba’s Prosecutor’s Office confirmed on October 23, 2025 that Rodríguez Laurta had declined to answer any questions, and only referred to previous complaints he had made before the Sexual Integrity Prosecutor’s Office, where he requested the return of his son.
Feminist backlash
Feminists have denounced the double femicide as an institutional failure.
“Pablo Laurta managed the social media profile of [Varones Unidos], made to criticize women who reported violence. Yesterday, he murdered his ex wife, Luna, and his ex-mother-in-law, Mariel. He kidnapped his son,” said Lucila De Ponti, Member of the Chamber of Deputies in Santa Fe province.
Credit: Jaluj via Wikimedia Commons
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“It’s dangerous to continue thinking that there’s nothing behind verbal and digital violence,” she added.
Nicolás Pontaquarto, a member of the Institute of Masculinities and Social Change, also emphasized the political ideology embedded behind the attacks.
“It is naturalized that these extremist, hateful, misogynistic groups are part of public discourse. What I find problematic is that these ideas are shared by the national government,” he told Presentes, an independent regional news outlet specialized in gender sensitive coverage.
Varones Unidos was created in 2018, and joined forces with YouTubers, preachers, streamers and politicians alike to encourage male dominance over women, according to El País.
Although most of the group’s social media accounts and website were taken down after the Argentinian Ombudsman’s office filed a complaint requesting urgent measures to publicly remove Varones Unidos’ digital footprint, El País details an “impressive misogynistic museum”:
“[The website] gave advice on how to fix a car in three steps, told you everything you needed to know about saws for cutting concrete, and offered seven tips for meeting girls online.”
On Facebook — Varones Unidos’ last-standing active social media account — the collective detailed Giardina’s supposed coercive, manipulative, hostile and threatening behavior prior to the double femicide, arguing that the tragedy was rooted in her actions.
Political ties
Rodríguez Laurta also had political connections to Agustín Laje and Nicolás Márquez, now advisers to President Javier Milei.
“In response to the persistent false accusations of association stemming from two homicides committed by an Uruguayan man named Laurta, who in 2018 invited me and [Agustín Laje] to speak at the Uruguayan National Congress, I clarify that we were there for only one or two days and then left for the Dominican Republic,” Márquez shared on social media on October 13.
Laje also staunchly denied any connection with the alleged killer through a statement on social media, and stressed that he condemns any type of violence against women. Regardless, Laje was among the figures who pushed for the dissolution of Argentina’s Ministry of Women, Genders and Diversity.
The Milei administration began dissolving the Ministry of Women, Genders and Diversity gradually upon his election in 2023, and abolished it completely on June 6, 2024, citing measures to shrink the state and eliminate “politicized organizations”.
The ministry’s mandate had been representing the causes of feminists and diverse populations in the government since its creation in 2019.
Giardina and Zamudio are among at least 178 other women victims of femicide in 2025.
According to the Ahora Sí Que Nos Ven (Now You See Us) observatory, 178 women were killed in Argentina from January 1 to September 29, 2025: 40% of aggressors were victims’ current partners; 29% former partners; 8% family members; and 8% acquaintances.
Featured image: Pablo Laurta did not answer for the double homicide he is accused of.
Source: Ministerio Público Fiscal, Córdoba
