New Delhi, Aug. 29 -- President Javier Milei of Argentina on Thursday fired back at his political opponents and defended his influential sister against claims that she and other close associates profited from a bribery scheme within the country's disability agency.

In his first major remarks on the corruption scandal, Milei accused his rivals of orchestrating a smear campaign against him and his libertarian party.

"This week's operation is nothing more than another item in the long list of schemes by the 'caste,'" Milei told business leaders at a trade conference, using his preferred term for Argentina's left-leaning Peronist opposition that has dominated politics for decades. "Like all previous schemes, it's another lie."

The crisis s...