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“It is not my thing to travel, but I do it because I believe that With each trip I have put Argentina at the top.” Javier Milei It perceives itself as a global phenomenon capable of offering a showcase to the country. In this way he justifies that in the six months of his administration he did nine missions abroad to receive awards, meet with entrepreneurs and participate in summits with other leaders. He will continue in the same way: he is now in Europe and has already announced that he will return to participate in the opening of the Olympic Games in Paris, at the end of July.
Karina Milei He thinks the same as his brother. But she has a much more ambitious plan, according to which she was able to rebuild THE NATION from various sources aware of their projects. The general secretary of the Presidency not only wants to grow Milei’s international image. She now decided to empower the “Country Brand” and have under his orbit everything related to the attracting investments, promoting exports and advertising Argentina in the world.
The president’s sister took the first step when, ten days ago, she stripped the Foreign Ministry of its Argentine Investment and International Trade Agency (former Export Foundation) to place it under its orbit in the General Secretariat of the Presidency. It is a strategic organization, because it brings together in its board of directors the 18 main business chambers in the country with officials linked to foreign trade. According to the 2022 budget, it has a box of 3,000 million pesos. You have all the “hardware” to participate in international fairs and business rounds.
“Javier receives calls every day from businessmen who want to invest. He is a brand in himself and attracts. It is logical that he wants to give it institutional status and put everything related to international promotion under one umbrella.”said a leader very close to the General Secretary of the Presidency.
The transfer of the former Export Foundation, in a first reading, was interpreted as a slap on the wrist to Diana Mondino. The fact is that, just that same week, the chancellor was not included in the mission to G7 and there was an alleged dispute with Milei over the inclusion of representatives of Palestine in a meeting with diplomats from Arab countries. The President was going to participate in that meeting and, at the last minute, he got off.
The transfer of the Argentine Investment and International Trade Agency, however, has been in the works for two months and is part of a much broader plan by Karina Milei. “It had nothing to do with Diana,” they said near the Secretary of the Presidency.
Milei’s sister wants to concentrate at the top of the Government everything related to the promotion of Argentina in the world and, on that train, it is expected that In the coming days, the transfer to the General Secretariat of the organization known as Marca País will be made official., which today hangs from the undersecretary of Tourism, in charge of Daniel Scioli.
The national director of Country Brand is Diego Sucalesca, a journalist, television host and former official who starred with the President and Karina in 2018 in a play called “Milei’s office”, directed by Nito Artaza. Since then it has kept a friendly relationship with brothers, who decided to incorporate him into the Government. These days, according to official social networks, he is dedicated to carrying out actions linked to the America Cup.
Although there is nothing official yet, those who know Karina do not rule out that he himself Sucalesca, Due to the level of trust with her, whoever is in charge of both the Argentine Investment and International Trade Agency and the Country Brand, all in the same unit. Weeks ago, as an “ambassador” of the Country Brand, she was awarded Bettina Bulgheroni, wife of the president of Pan American Energy (PAE) and close friend of Karina Milei. Both met on television sets before the libertarian’s foray into politics. It is assumed that she will also collaborate with the General Secretary of the Presidency in this process. In fact, he has already accompanied her on trips in recent months.
“In the Government there are different agencies dedicated to the promotion of Argentina and a lot of bureaucracy. It has been very difficult to unlock actions and also obtain funds to take trips. Karina’s idea is to organize all this and also place it at the highest level of the Government, that is, in the Casa Rosada“said a witness to the process. An idea that flew over was the incorporation of National Parks as well.
As far as he could know THE NATION, Last Thursday Karina led a meeting where she participated Julian Cohen, who until now was the director of the Argentine Investment and International Trade Agency within the Foreign Ministry. His continuity in the libertarian administration is still unknown, but an officialization of this entire process next week cannot be ruled out.
The Country Brand was created in 2004 to promote the tourist attractions of Argentina, sports and national companies. Milei’s management maintained the logo that he inherited from Alberto Fernández’s management -a light blue, white and yellow cockade- to reinforce the brand identity.
Although that is the branding institutional of Argentina, today this process is constantly intertwined with Milei’s travels. “For Javier and Karina the international showcase is of utmost importance, it is logical that the actions around travel are coordinated,” she told THE NATION a leader who spoke about this issue with the general secretary. The fusion of agendas could be seen at the opening of the Olympic Games on July 26after Milei was invited by Emmanuel Macron to participate.
In recent days, Karina Milei not only gained power and resources to promote the marketing internationally, but also began to have control over public media and the official guideline, through spokesperson Manuel Adorni, that depends on it and responds to it politically. As published by LA NACION, the head of the Undersecretary of Government Spokesperson and Communication will control the Télam agency, Public TV and National Radio (RTA).
Although the Government promised to “close” Télam, for now there was no legal instrument to support the cessation of the company. According to what was revealed in the Casa Rosada, the idea is that the leg of the advertising agency, under another name. That is to say, under the orbit of Karina Milei, the entire official agenda would be channeled.
About 400 workers Telam (approximately half of the plant) until now accepted a voluntary retirement. One of the plans circulating in the Government is that of “merge the public media ecosystem”. That is, integrate the remaining personnel and assets of RTA, Télam, Public Contents, Incaa, Arsat and Bacua to form a single company that produces content.
