Santiago Caputo, the star advisor of the Government, once again got his way: at this time it was confirmed that one of his biggest rivals in the Cabinet, Chancellor Gerardo Werthein, presented his resignation to Javier Milei and will be replaced after the elections on Sunday the 26th. Werthein, in private, had warned the President: if Caputo entered the Government with a formal position, empowered and whitewashed, he would leave to his house. And he complied. Coexistence had become impossible.
How did they get to this point? The issue is that the chancellor, who is referred to in Karina Milei and who on paper, due to his position, is responsible for the relationship with the United States and its president Donald Trump, in reality he felt displaced. The thing is that Caputo, through one of his trusted men, Leonardo Scatturice -yes, the businessman of the plane that was not inspected at Aeroparque-, had established his own channels parallel to those of the Foreign Ministry to communicate with the North. Scatturice, hired by the Caputist SIDE to carry out this informal lobby in Washington, is an associate of the American Barry Bennett, Trump’s advisor in the 2016 presidential campaign and also his friend. It was through that route, and not that of Chancellor Werthein, that the two meetings between Milei and the president of the United States were achieved, and also, of course, the bailout of 40 billion dollars promised by the North American Treasury. That was what gave Milei some breathing room in the midst of the dollar’s turmoil and allowed him to get to the elections alive. Caputo, thanks to the Bennett-Scatturice duo, became the President’s savior. He did it. And Werthein saw the scene with the cream against the glass. That is why the advisor now sounds strong to occupy a position in the Casa Rosada, as a well-deserved reward.
There is another detail that triggered the chancellor’s patience and that accelerated his slamming of the door, and that is the criticism that the star advisor dedicated to him on his networks via the army of trolls he manages, with “Fat Dan” at the head. It was “Dan”, precisely, who threw the first stone after Trump, in the second meeting in Washington, warned his Argentine visitors that he would only open the dollar tap if they won Sunday’s election, which caused waves of uncertainty in the market. According to Caputo’s troll, Trump said that because he thought that these were national elections and that, if Milei lost, Peronism would return. Who was it that did not correctly inform the American that the elections are legislative? According to Caputo and “El Gordo Dan”, Werthein is to blame.
Now that the advisor and perhaps imminent official has claimed his first victim, there are others who look askance at his growing influence. For example, the Chief of Staff, Guillermo Francos, who often criticizes Caputo for the informality of his power and could now hand over his position to him. Or the cousins Menem, Martín and “Lule”, confronted with the advisor because sister Karina privileged them as territorial shipowners and discriminated against “Santi”. But with Caputo empowered, that equation may vary: Milei was about to part with “Lule” Menem after the Andis bribery scandal and it was Karina who came out in defense of the Riojan. The one who had advised the President to fire him is Caputo. Will it be given now?
