A nickname for Manuel Adorni circulates in the corridors of the Government: “Alhorny”. The play on words runs among ministers in low voices and says everything about how they see the situation of the Chief of Staff. Adorni is cornered by legal cases linked to the purchase of an apartment in the Buenos Aires neighborhood of Caballito and a house in a country house in Exaltación de la Cruz, plus a series of flights that also fell under the scrutiny of Justice. The wear and tear is so visible that at the event in Luján for the anniversary of the death of Pope Francis, several ministers avoided appearing in the photo with him. “Bad people,” some laughed quietly. Within the Government, Adorni’s wear and tear is already a fait accompli.
Javier Milei, however, defends it to the letter. “If they take out the Chief of Staff, then they take me out,” the President repeated before three different people in the week before his trip to Israel. For Milei, those who ask for Adorni’s departure are the same ones who want to remove him. To substantiate this, he cites phrases from Peronist leaders such as Miguel Ángel Pichetto, who said: “We Peronists have to unite. Milei is falling.”
The most specific support, however, comes from Karina Milei. The Secretary General of the Presidency gave the Chief of Staff countless photos together, a sign inside and out: Adorni reaches the end of his term. The only exception would be for Justice to prosecute him. Meanwhile, Karina covers the functions that he can no longer perform. He relies on Diego Santilli to speak with governors of the PRO, radicalism and dialoguist Peronism, such as Raúl Jalil or Osvaldo Jaldo. And also in the Menem cousins—Martín and “Lule”—for the political assembly in Congress.
The case also opened the internal struggle of mileism in the City of Buenos Aires. Legislator Pilar Ramírez, Karina’s political delegate, does not stop criticizing Jorge Macri with the intention of creating her own Buenos Aires formula for succession. In the Buenos Aires PRO they prefer not to move too much: they are convinced that the ruling party is going to need them to maintain electoral agreements next year, and that it is best to sit and wait. Meanwhile, around the Hermanísima, names are already being heard to lead this formula, among them that of the minister Sandra Pettovello.
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