The fierce internal affairs and the gross errors in Human Capital that jeopardized Sandra Pettovello. The judicial setback that urged the Government to present a food distribution plan, after a couple of weeks of misinformation. Two-thirds for the half penalty in Deputies of the retirement mobility formula. And the shaking of the markets.
They will say, almost like a catchphrase, that the plan is going according to plan, but the last days of Javier Milei and his team were, perhaps, among the toughest since La Libertad Avanza landed at the Casa Rosada. Yesterday at noon, at a lunch with businessmen that was planned in advance, Pettovello, the head of state’s favorite minister, assured that she was not planning to resign and that she would continue with her plan, and she became emotional. Almost to tears, according to some of those present. The conclusions of that meeting were mixed.
On Monday, the minister was more nervous than usual. Milei went to the ministry to talk to her. On the weekend they had already met in Olivos. In the afternoon, it was the official who went to Casa Rosada to meet with the president to reach a consensus on Pablo de la Torre’s replacement, who was ejected and reported for alleged irregularities in the hiring of personnel through the Organization of Ibero-American States (OEI).
The next day, Milei appeared unexpectedly in the Casa Rosada conference room. She improvised a press conference with accredited journalists: she said that Pettovello was the “best minister” in the social area “since the return of democracy”, that Luis “Toto” Caputo He is a “national hero”, and that Nicolas Posse It is already part of “history”.
The Government is going through hours of growing uncertainty. In a few days, Milei got rid of his Chief of Staff – an old friend -, he was forced to deploy a systematic defense of his Minister of Human Capital – another close friend -, Congress dealt him a hard blow in the Lower House, waiting for next week’s session regarding the Base Law and the fiscal package, and the markets acted accordingly.
In this context, the libertarian administration is a rise and fall of officials. According to the latest surveys, In 180 days of government, at least 42 collaborators resigned or were fired. That is, one every four days of management. Of them, a good number corresponds to Human Capital. A permanent bleeding. And an uncertain future for the super minister.
In the last few hours, there were casualties in the Education area of Pettovello’s portfolio. But also from other areas. The ministry, as it turns out, is paralyzed. Crossed by dismissals and cross complaints.
The most emblematic case is that of De la Torre, the former Secretary of Children, Adolescents and Family who was never able to find a footing with the minister. Neither he nor his brother Joaquín, the provincial senator and former mayor of San Miguel, despite his connection with Milei, with whom he met a few weeks ago at Casa Rosada, in the midst of the president’s diplomatic conflict with the Kingdom from Spain.
What about the De la Torre family is striking because neither of the two brothers raised their voices after the minister herself denounced the former secretary in the Comodoro Py courts for alleged irregularities. That is, due to eventual corruption. Pablo and Joaquín De la Torre believe that silence is the lesser evil. That a media advance against Pettovello could unleash a hunt on networks. But in recent days a version of alleged conversations between the brothers and the president’s entourage has circulated, to try to calm the foam. And to rehearse, when time passes, a kind of reconciliation between the parties.
With the exception of “iron triangle”as Milei defined the central decision-making system that she integrates with her sister Karina and the strategist Santiago Caputo, the rest of the government is undergoing a permanent reconfiguration that increases expectations around the libertarian experiment. Inwards, but also outwards. This week, after the half-sanction of the Lower House for the recomposition of retirement benefits, a good number of legislators once again sowed a cloud of doubts about the project led by the president. “They don’t see it,” they will say in Casa Rosada.
The truth is that, behind closed doors, tempers are running high.
Guillermo Francos, the new Chief of Staff, tries to inject a new imprint into the management after Posse’s failed experience. Until last night, the coordinating minister was still outlining the new organizational chart.
According to official sources, the possibility of his predecessor reintegrating into public service seemed to disappear. Not due to the intention of Francos who, according to sources, tried to relocate Posse to some destination, due to the link between the two: the chief of ministers shared an event last week with the former official at the Italian embassy, he tried to force his relocation. and he even invited him, a few weeks ago, to his birthday at his house in the northern area of Greater Buenos Aires. The problem is not Francos, it is the “iron triangle” that, according to what was circulated, does not foresee, for the moment, any decent exit for the former Chief of Staff.
On the contrary, Armando Guibertdirector of Banco Nación, former official of the Chief of Staff, who arrived there at the invitation of Posse, could return to Casa Rosada. “It is on the rise”, they told this medium in the last hours. Guibert had been ejected by Posse -unfairly, as they highlighted- when the salary increase for the president and public administration officials was signed and Milei ordered to back down only when the issue escalated until it became a public commotion. At that time, versions indicated that the controversy had an impact on the enmity between the president and Posse, although much more sensitive information was later corroborated regarding the breakdown in the bond between the two.
Yesterday it was also known the departure of Alejandro Cosentino, the Secretary of Science and Technology who reported to the Chief of Staff who played a leading role in the financing of the LLA campaign last year. In parallel, it was learned that Diego Chahercontroller of public media, will be in charge of the redesign, dissolution and privatization of public companies to replace Mauricio González Botto.
This is a series of modifications that Francos is working on, the new Chief of Staff who is waiting for the treatment of the Bases Law next week and who, according to official sources, has no intention of disputing leadership with the “triangle of iron”. Francos, for example, has already notified the president that he will continue his work from the ground floor of the Casa Rosada, in the office that he first occupied as Minister of the Interior. In the main office of the Chief of Staff, adjacent to that of the president, there is speculation that the influential Secretary General of the Presidency will settle. Quite a sign.
