The National Government seeks to leave behind the internal crisis that was unleashed with the departure of Nicolás Posse. With the rise of Guillermo Francostoday the redistribution of the Cabinet was made official.
After the swearing-in of the new Chief of Staff, this morning it was published in the Official bulletin he Decree 484/2024 which establishes the new Casa Rosada organizational chart.
With Francos being head of the ministers, the Government abolished the Ministry of the Interior. This is an unprecedented institutional event in the country of one of the most political portfolios that was demoted to secretary.
In practice, the Ministry of the Interior was always one of the most important portfolios for each Government, since is in charge of direct relations with the governors. It is considered the most political area, since it must establish relations even with provincial leaders of different political affiliations from the national government. Also, among other things, it has under its purview the organization of elections and emergency management, among other vital issues for the functioning of the Republic.
Consequently, “various modifications were made regarding the powers assigned to the Chief of the Cabinet of Ministers.” On the other hand, Francos will be assisted by a Deputy Chief of Executive Staff and by a Deputy Chief of Staff of the Interior, to whom he may delegate powers. Through the Decree 485/2024 the designation of Jose Rolandi as Deputy Chief of the Executive Cabinet after his time at the Executive Secretariat of the Government. Meanwhile he Decree 486/2024 confirmed the appointment of Lisandro Catalán as vice chief of the Interior Cabinet, “on an ad honorem basis.” Both will have the rank and hierarchy of Minister.
In this framework, the Government of Javier Milei, for now, will be made up of seven ministries: Foreign Relations, International Trade and Worship; Defending; Economy; Justice; Security; Health; and Human Capital.
At the same time, the 107 powers of the new Chief of Staff were notified, among which it is highlighted that he may “intervene in the action plans and budgets of State companies, autonomous entities, decentralized or deconcentrated organizations and special accounts and funds, whatever its name or legal nature in its area; as well as in its intervention, liquidation, closure, privatization, merger, dissolution or centralization.
After having been made official as Chief of Staff at the end of last week, Francos was sworn in as such before the president this Monday. Javier Mileithe vice president Victoria Villarruel and all the ministers, in addition to some guests who were present at the event that took place in the White Room of the Casa Rosada.
“I thank President Javier Milei for entrusting me with this very important role, which I am going to face with conviction, commitment and responsibility to continue working day by day for the present and the future of all Argentines,” the former Minister of the Interior published on his account. official of xa few minutes after the formal ceremony.
Meanwhile, it remains to be seen what place the former head of the Central Bank will finally occupy, Federico Sturzeneggerwho in the midst of the changes in the Government announced that he will be appointed in the coming weeks to head a new Ministry, whose name has not yet been defined.
The leader, the main author of the Decree of Necessity and Urgency (DNU) that Milei signed a few days after taking office, will join the Cabinet with the task of “advancing economic deregulation in the different industrial sectors.”
In this sense, as explained to Infobae According to official sources, Sturzenegger will be in charge of eliminating all those “bureaucratic obstacles” that currently exist, which affect both the production and distribution of goods and services and that can be removed without the need for a law.
However, although at one point there was speculation about this possibility, finally the former head of the Central Bank is not going to stay with the management of public companies that the Government plans to privatize.
For these companies, the libertarian administration has two options in mind, although it was still being analyzed which would be the best of both: one idea is to distribute the signatures between the different Ministries and Secretariats, so that Aerolíneas Argentinas would go to Transportation and YPF to Energy. , for example, until they can be sold.
The other alternative that is being studied, and which for now is the one that has the most support, is that companies remain in the Chief of Staffbut that a special team be formed to carry out their sanitation until they can be privatized.
In addition to the changes in the Cabinet, the Executive Branch addressed the crisis that broke out in the Ministry of Human Capital following the scandal over the delivery of food to soup kitchens. After being ejected from the Executive Branch amid complaints of inefficiency and suspicions of corruption, this Tuesday the Decree 477/2024 that limits, “as of May 30, 2024, the appointment of doctor Pablo De la Torre to the position of National Secretary for Children, Adolescents and Family”.
Yesterday the same was done with officials who were in charge: Hector Nicolás CalventeUndersecretary of Social Policies; Maria Lucia RaskovskyUndersecretary of Territorial Policies and Human Development; Fernando de la Cruz Molina Pico, General Coordinator of the National Coordination Commission of the Microcredit Promotion Program for the Development of the Social Economy; and Esteban María Boschnational director of Emergency of the Ministry of Human Capital.
This Monday the portfolio in charge of Sandra Pettovello filed a criminal complaint in the Comodoro Py courts so that irregularities in the hiring of personnel in the area where De la Torre worked are investigated.
Although the complaint is not against any person, but rather relates facts, it indicates that De la Torre He kept dollars that were exchanged when collecting contracts that the Secretariat made with the Organization of Ibero-American States (OEI). The complaint was made based on a story he gave to the authorities of the Ministry Federico Fernandezgeneral director of administration of the Secretary of Children, Adolescents and Family.
“That given the seriousness of the statements and facts reported by the General Director of Administration of the Secretary of Children, Adolescents and Family of the Ministry of Human Capital, from which the possible commission of crimes of public action would arise ‘prima facie’, I file the present complaint”, maintains the complaint to which he agreed Infobae and what they presented Leila GianniLegal Undersecretary of Human Capital, and the lawyer Ariel Romano Angel.
The complaint states that Fernández heard in a media outlet that there was a complaint against him and he went to the Ministry to tell what had happened and what he had witnessed. According to the complaint, Fernández participated on January 24 in a meeting in which the former secretary of coordination of Human Capital, Maximiliano Keczelithe Chief of Staff of the Ministry of Children, Lucia Raskowskyand the former undersecretary of administration of the Ministry of Children, Agustín Sánchez Sorondo,
“There was talk about the hiring of officials and staff. At this meeting, the Childhood area requested the appointment of around 50 officials who were already working there. The deponent understood that said appointment had the endorsement of the named Lucía Raskowsky. As a result, people who were directors of the previous administration were removed to ‘release positions,'” the complaint states, adding that Keczeli said that this was not possible until the structure of the ministry was organized.
The complaint adds that in light of this clarification, Sánchez Sorondo proposed making the contracts through the Organization of Ibero-American States (OEI) but that these contracts had a limit of 1,300,000 pesos and the salary of the directors reaches 2,500,000 pesos. Finally, it was agreed to make contracts for three months and in March those contracts began to be paid.
“It indicates that the money that some of the consultants collected was changed to US dollars in order to reduce the volume of bills to be delivered, this being delivered directly to workers who were not part of the current payroll and other de facto officials with low salaries. “says the text according to Fernández’s story.
And concludes: “Finally, the remaining money in dollars was delivered to Pablo de la Torre to pay off the staff who were never named. Likewise, the declarant wanted to record that Minister Sandra Pettovello was not aware of this irregular situation.”
The case was filed in federal court 4 of Comodoro Py, led by Ariel Lijo, the judge proposed by Milei to fill a vacancy in the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation.
