Before and after taking office, when Javier Milei was asked who his best friend in the Government was, he did not hesitate in the answer: “Nicolas Posse”he said, immediately, which generated surprise outside the libertarian universe that had heard of his relationship with the Minister of the Interior, Guillermo Francos, perhaps the one with the greatest experience in politics, or with the lawyer Sandra Pettovello, his friend and confidant. For whom the President created a mega ministry in Human Capital that monopolizes sensitive areas – and boxes – that he understands must be protected from temptations and over which he wants to have absolute custody.
Milei considered Posse so fundamental that he accepted the condition he set for him to agree to be his Chief of Staff: “I don’t go to the media, I don’t give interviews and I don’t speak off”was the condition set by the former executive of companies such as Molinos, Red Bull and Aeropuertos Argentina 2000. In the midst of the versions that at that time emerged from different names outside of La Libertad Avanza, Milei granted a prohibitive clause for the position of Chief of Staff who usually acts as a fuse for a President. Indeed, during the first six months of his administration, Posse’s voice was not heard until his first report to Congress. His low media profile is similar to that of Pettovello, which compensates with the number of complaints about corruption of the previous government that come from his ministry and turned it, according to the head of state, into a “machine for uncovering Peronist jobs.” ”.
But it was not his lack of exposure that determined the tension with Posse. Today, that long friendship that dates back to the times they shared Eduardo Eurnekian’s Corporación América and in which he was still Chief of Staff, of whom Milei highlighted his “extraordinary intelligence,” is going through a moment of extreme coldness. To the point that the President does not want to know anything when leaders and people around him try to bring positions closer together. “It’s out”summarized a close collaborator of the President.
Even the Secretary General of the Presidency, Karina Milei, and the all-terrain advisor Santiago Caputo sought to decompress the tension, although they were unsuccessful. “There’s no way, when someone starts talking to him about Posse he gets angry and changes the subject quickly.”add unobjectionable sources from Casa Rosada.
There are voices that claim that the tension is such that Milei and Posse no longer speak to each other. Others rectify: “They speak what is fair and necessary.”
This happened a long time ago, as he was able to reconstruct now. Clarion. At least two months ago, when the unrest had not yet emerged, ministers and officials were surprised by a scene that was repeated: in response to some interventions by Posse, Milei showed a lot of annoyance. It coincides, precisely, with the stage in which the President began to point out in public that his “triad of power” was made up of his sister Karina and Caputo, leaving out the Chief of Staff.
The reasons for anger vary depending on the interlocutors who know behind the scenes. Fewer of them claim to be aware of the plot.
The “official” version points to certain differences in management style and maintains that the President prefers more intensity and rigor in government. It is a way they appeal to deny the noise that is heard in private.
The first call for attention was the departure of Guillermo Ferraro from Infrastructure. He had short circuits with the person he had proposed for that position: the minister blocked the appointments that the Chief of Staff requested of him on boards of directors of companies in which the State has a stake. The result was his dismissal and the explanation did not convince anyone: he was accused of leaking Clarion the detail of a Cabinet meeting. Over time, the President realized that it was an excuse and that someone had lied to him.
This was coupled with another critical moment that the Government faced, when in March a 48% increase in the salaries of ministers and other senior officials was implemented. The President fired the Secretary of Labor, Omar Yasín, for the “error” of the resolution that enabled this increase, in the middle of the adjustment stage, because they pointed him out as the person responsible for the measure.
Weeks later, he finished deciphering that he had been the scapegoat to delimit the responsibility of the Chief of Staff; where he had cooked the text. To exonerate Posse’s direct boss from him, Armando Guibert took responsibility and left his position as Secretary of State Transformation and Public Function. “Javier accepted it but he did not forget that he had already lied to him once”highlights an extremely trusted source of the Milei brothers.
Guibert was not left without a job because days before he had taken over as director at Banco Nación, a modality that is repeated in several officials who respond to Posse, who was in charge of overpopulating ministries and state companies with his troops. In some cases, unlike Guibert; The official worked “ad honorem” in the political position in such a way as to be able to receive a salary in the state firm, where they usually pay better fees.
They were movements that were initially seen as a sign of Posse’s power but that as the administration progressed, they added reproaches.
Milei, and especially Karina, find it extremely annoying when the troops deviate from the essence of austerity that the space proclaims in public.
Certain mismanagement surrounding the Federal Intelligence Agency, run by Silvestre Sívori, a man imposed by Posse, also came to the ears of both. Changes in the area are not ruled out.
Not in vain, as he said ClarionMilei warned his troops that he would be implacable with those who stoked internal affairs in the Government: “Whoever performs an operation, I do it”.
The issue generates discomfort within the Government because no one dares to push for Posse’s departure, taking into account the relationship that united them. No one even dares to answer the rumors about possible replacements for Posse. Ministers like Francos and Patricia Bullrich (Security), who are looking to make the leap, take care of their media appearances.
The other two names that are being considered, Martín and Eduardo “Lule” Menem, face versions that arise from sectors of the opposition, taking advantage of their good harmony with Karina, “El Jefe.” They say in Casa Rosada that they took care to deny rumors that mentioned them with a chance of disembarking instead of Posse.
“The rumors that there are one or the other are coming from the opposition. The only one that Javier confirmed to enter is (Federico) Sturzenegger,” clarifies an important sword with access to the presidential office. Regarding the latter, they affirm that it does not imply that Luis “Toto” Caputo (Economy) or the president of the Central Bank, Santiago Bausili, are going to leave their places: the ideologue of the Bases Law will assume a new ministry that will be in charge of the implementation of the extensive reform of the State that the project proposes.
With everything; From sectors of the opposition they attribute the versions to the Menems.
Likewise, in the Government the intention is to decompress tensions until the Base Law has “an outcome”, as Milei said. Therefore, Adorni, another that sounds like it has a chance of landing in Posse, had to make a huge effort to decompress the situation of the Chief of Staff: when he was consulted at the press conference this Friday, he put the case of the rest of the ministers on the same level and ruled out anger on the part of the President. “They are all assumptions as long as an official remains in office,” he said. And he pointed out that nothing is defined: “There will be some change when the President makes a decision.”
