He is the father of labor reform and, however, while his project was moving through Congress, he had to remain out of the public eye. Federico Sturzenegger was at the center of the controversy when he gave explanations about article 44 that shook the law and kept the Government in suspense. The Minister of Deregulation emerged victorious this summer but, at least until now, he could not celebrate.
As the days passed and the law was passed through Congress, from which Sturzenegger remained absent, those around him began to analyze what had happened. Their own unforced errors and a storm of information that they attribute to an “operation outside the Government” had him in their sights.
The minister entered the labyrinth alone. Despite what was discussed in Congress, his entourage assures that he was not the author of article 44 on medical licenses, which was later withdrawn from the reform. They attach evidence: in the conclusions made in the May Council, where the bill came from, the issue is not present. “Someone added it later,” they say, taking responsibility.
Still, Sturzenegger wanted to explain it. In a radio interview he was asked about article 44, which sought to reduce salary to 75% in the event of an accident and 50% during non-work sick leave. And the official said: “If you, for example, got hurt playing soccer, you took active action (sic) and the truth is that the employer had nothing to do with it. In other words, you became disabled for work for a while. So that’s 50 percent,” he explained. And he added: “This points to the reduction of those eternal licenses that had no cost.” The argument became the axis of the discussion and emboldened part of the opposition who were excited not only to overthrow the article but also to bring down the law.
There were reproaches in the Cabinet. They criticized him for doing “one too many.” “Patricia (Bullrich) was asked the same question and she got away without saying anything,” they protested at Casa Rosada. In Sturzenegger’s team they justify it: “He is like that, very academic. He feels obliged to explain and he doesn’t like to evade answers.”
It was just the beginning of a couple of weeks of terror. Because while locals and strangers criticized him for the foundations of the law, a series of accusations of alleged acts of corruption appeared. “They shelved it,” they say next to him. But they do not distrust the Government, but rather some external group, whose interest has been affected by the reforms: “The attacks came from outside,” they insist.
For the minister it was the world upside down. The weeks when Sturzenegger should have shined the most, he was hiding until the law was passed.
In the shadow
Despite the reproaches that came from Casa Rosada officials and pro-government legislators, the deregulatory minister had zero recriminations from the President. In fact, the day after the controversial statement he had an extensive telephone conversation with Javier Milei and, according to what the ministry said, they did not even refer to the issue.
“With Javier they share a lot about the academy,” they say about the relationship with the President. “They have a kind of mutual admiration,” they complete. Milei calls him “the Colossus.” Thus, for example, he greeted him on Twitter, in the middle of the gale.
The “question of academia” to which they refer is translated into texts that they write together. For example, in January they published a column in the specialized media The Economist that had little local significance and was titled “Regulators must be controlled, not large companies.”
But the most ambitious project they have together is a book they write together. An introductory economics manual that explains the “chainsaw” phenomenon that characterizes Milei management. For Sturzenegger, the work they do with the President goes beyond political management. He explains it in his meetings: he assures that the State means an “administrative via crucis” for entrepreneurs. He came to raid that. He considers his work to be a historical work: “We are causing a cultural change. It is very arduous,” he often says.
With the trust that Milei places in him to move, he developed an important international agenda. At the beginning of February, he met in Saudi Arabia with the director of the International Monetary Fund, Kristalina Georgieva, to work on the 2026 agenda of the Advisory Committee on Economic Growth. Then he posted grandiosely on his networks: “The advances in deregulation of Javier Milei’s government are an example for other countries.”
Now he works alongside the President for his next international challenge. He will be the protagonist of a series of presentations before CEOs and bankers from New York at Argentina Week, which the Government will hold between March 9 and 12 in the search to attract investments to the country. He will be in charge of two talks.
In addition to Milei and Sturzenegger, ministers Luis Caputo, Pablo Quirno and José Luis Daza will participate, plus a series of allied governors who were invited.
Sturzenegger is one of the President’s untouchables. That is why no one in the ruling party fiercely criticizes him, even when his flowery arguments sometimes put the Government in trouble. It is not the first time that he has gone too far with a comment: many in Casa Rosada remember the anger he caused during the contaminated Fentanyl crisis, when, very loose in his body, he blamed the lack of controls on Anmat and opened an internal dispute with the Minister of Health, Mario Lugones.
Still, he is convinced that he has no disputes, at least with the main players in the Cabinet. “There are no internal noises,” they say very close to the minister, despite the controversies.
However, after coming across his unfortunate statement, to which were added the complaints of alleged corruption, he had to lower his profile. He had not been doing interviews, but his labor reform was a good time to reappear. However, once the controversy began, his communications team advised him not to continue appearing. During those days, the deregulatory minister appeared at Casa Rosada dressed in a suit and with a cap, trying to go unnoticed.
