Those who know the President know that he is quite disenchanted by the latest episodes that featured the Argentine Football Association, the AFA. Javier Milei perceives these actions as a kind of reflection of what he and his team called the State Party.a discursive resource that the Government uses to oppose all those who profess ideas or practices contrary to those of “freedom.”
This situation re-emerged after a slight truce with the football entity’s senior staff. The détente occurred a year ago, when the Secretary General of the Presidency, Karina Mileiand the presidential spokesperson, Manuel Adornithey took a photo with the head of the AFA, Claudio “Chiqui” Tapiawithin the framework of the announcement of the 2030 World Cup, which will have some matches to be played in Argentina.
“Do you think that because of a disagreement that I have with Mr. Tapia, my sister has to dynamite everything and we miss out on hosting a World Cup? People have no idea of the impact that this tournament has,” Milei outlined at that time. A few months earlier, the libertarian had received Andrés Fassi in his office, the president of Talleres de Córdoba and one of the main promoters of the Sports Joint Stock Companies (SAD) that Milei had promoted through two articles of decree 70/23.
The trophy that was unexpectedly awarded to Rosario Central overwhelmed the patience of more than one libertarian. For case, Milei reposted a publication that supported the president of Estudiantes, Juan Sebastián Verónafter having given the directive to communicate and confront the AFA leadership by saying that there had been no vote during this week’s Executive Committee meeting.
By chance of fate, It is very likely that Milei and Tapia will meet in the same venue in two weeks. The President will travel to Washington to witness the draw prior to next year’s World Cup. So far, the AFA plans for “Chiqui” to travel.
It will be decisive to see what position the Government will begin to take regarding the governing body of Argentine football between now and the World Cup: the popularity of “Chiqui” seems to be on the decline among fans. The Government rules out intervention and knows that they will not be able to force the AFA to adopt the SAD due to the judicialization of the deregulatory decree of two years ago. “We are not going to do anything, but the hate remains the same”said an unobjectionable source.
In this context, the Minister of the Interior, Diego Santilli, must decide who will be the new Secretary of Sports. That area was transferred to him a few days ago and he is already considering some names that could be determined later.
On the other hand, Milei decided to reveal yesterday the new composition of the Cabinet by announcing that Alejandra Monteoliva will be promoted from secretary to Minister of National Security, and that Lieutenant General Carlos Presti will go from being head of the Army to Minister of Defensebeing the first time since 1983 that a military officer assumes a position of ministerial rank.
The decision to place Patricia Bullrich’s right-hand man in charge of Security was known for quite some time. Not so Presti’s, who was one of the two most talked about people in the hallways of the Libertador Building along with Luis Petri’s Chief of Staff, Luciana Carrasco. “It was an exclusive decision of the President. It was a possibilitybut we did not know that it was going to be announced this Saturday,” explained a member of the Ministry of Defense.
“I was quite surprised. More than that he is a minister. Some of us thought he was going to be head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Those are the rules of the game,” he told Infobae an important source in the military field. In the coming days it will be announced that the highest military authority of the Armed Forces, Xavier Isaac, will retire once Presti takes office.. This occurs because the minister has fewer years of career seniority and, however, will be higher in the hierarchical scheme.
For his part, Presti should resign from his military position to begin his role as a minister in a civilian capacity. It is not yet known what decision will be made with the chiefs Carlos Alievi (Navy), Gustavo Valverde (Air Force) and the new head of the Army. “If he decides to move them, perhaps Valverde is the one with the best chance of staying because he is very young.”explains an authorized source. Less known is what will happen to Carrasco and the secretaries that Petri currently has.
“It would be the last straw if a Peronist came to criticize this decision,” said a member of the Casa Rosada about the first repercussions made by former ministers Jorge Taiana and Agustín Rossi. Without pretensions to do so and only as a provocation, more than one usually jokes that it should be called the Ministry of War again “like in the time of Pocho.”
Presti’s appointment is not just another one. In the last two decades, the logic of placing ministers without credentials or experience in the military sphere prevailed, only for the purpose of fulfilling the political lottery of positions. Milei justified his decision through the President’s Office: “We hope that the demonization of our officers, non-commissioned officers and soldiers ends”.
This is a symbolic gesture that does not have the complete support of the military bases, which are more concerned about two central issues:
- The situation that IOSFA is going through (the social work of the Armed Forces), probably the most sensitive point that all Defense management has today.
- And that of sustaining the morale of the military in the face of the pressing salary situation they are going through. Authorities from the three Armed Forces recognize that the most serious problem occurs among the most professional personnel. “A loss of theirs is much more serious because of the training they have. And it is happening more than we would like,” one of them noted. Infobae.
At the level of strategy and guidelines, one of the priorities that will be taught from the Casa Rosada will be maintain joint work with the geopolitical allies that Milei chose. More than anything with USA.
Presti was the person for whom the presidential advisor had been bidding for a long time Santiago Caputo. A sign that the announcement was coming was a repost made by the consultant to a Presti activity with the commander of the United States Army South. Even so, those who validated the play were Xavier and Karina Mileiwho had a very good view of him based on his responsibility for the Horse Grenadiers, a unit to which the presidential brothers have given special importance in these two years.
Regarding strategic decisions, there are more than one official who admitted that there would be no problems with the idea of installing a joint naval base in Tierra del Fuego. “It is a budget that we clearly do not have at present, but if the United States is willing…”, acknowledged weeks ago an authoritative voice, who estimated the construction in 350 million dollars. Another figure indicates: “There has to be some type of strategic vision to have a base in conditions to reach Petrel (one of the bases located on the Antarctic continent). We can be an input for many other bases and a transit point for supplies.”
Even so, high sources were emphatic when saying that At the moment nothing related to this matter is being planned..
With the F-16s preparing to be presented in Córdoba, it is still unknown when progress could be made with the purchase of submarines and ships to France, an idea that Milei himself expressed in public a few weeks ago. In the military sphere they see the acquisition of drones: there is talk that They could be Turks.
For now, no Monteoliva and Presti activities with Milei are planned at Casa Rosada. It is not ruled out either. Strictly speaking, the President already knows them both and has confidence in them.
Meanwhile, Balcarce 50 already has an activity scheduled for this Wednesday at 11:30. It will be a meeting of the May Councilthe multisectoral body that the Government created to address the reforms established in the May Pact that Milei and 18 governors signed.
Adorni had said that he could not do so on November 27 (the original date) due to a personal matter. For this reason, several government officials came out to announce that the Council was not going to meet until December. The new date was then confirmed.
Even so, it is true that the Mayo Council has been plagued in recent days by different accusations within the Government. This arises from the anger that exists in the presidential leadership due to the revelations that there were about the reforms that are discussed there. Privately, in the two most important sectors of the Casa Rosada, they accuse first-line secretaries of the Ministry led by Sandra Pettovellowhich will not issue comments to respond. “Let them say what they want. It’s hairdresser gossip,” said an unobjectionable Human Capital source.
Yes, it is expected that the tripartite meetings between technicians from the Government, the business community and the unions linked to the labor reform will diminish. Despite the closure that the ruling party wanted to make, Information continues to flow through different channels. The labor reform project that introduces changes to vacations, compensation and sick leave, according to a document accessed by Infobae.
