Sandra Pettovello shares with Javier Milei and other officials a distinctive characteristic of this government: most of them made their debut in public service a little over two months ago. But, unlike ministers like Patricia Bullrich or Luis “Toto” Caputo, Pettovello is an unconditional friend of the President, to the point that he himself said it on different occasions: “My friends are Sandra Pettovello and Gladis Humenuk.” The latter was a candidate for senator for the province of Buenos Aires and today is a member of the General Secretariat of the Presidency under the orders of Karina Milei.
Those who know Pettovello highlight two things: 1) he has a similar personality to Milei and similar ways, especially when it comes to making it clear that part of his job is to try to expose a corrupt system in which social leaders do business with the poorest; and 2) he maintains strong differences with the Chief of Staff Nicolás Posse. In recent weeks, it emerged from interlocutors and friends of Pettovello that she feels “spied on” by the Chief of Staff through the AFI controller, Silvestre Sívori, which would once again open the eternal plot of illegal espionage in politics. Argentina.
The intern with Posse responds neither more nor less than to the dispute for the leader’s approval. She is the President’s friend and he is the most powerful and trusted official. In terms of power, Posse has much more volume than her, but the truth is that Petovello is closer to the leader of the Argentine libertarians, to the point that he has a chalet in Olivos available in case he works late and wants to stay. to sleep. No other official has that possibility.
Another detractor he has is Oscar Zago, the head of the pro-government bench in Deputies, who in the halls of Congress has said that “the ministry is too big” for the former partner of actor Pablo Rago. Although Zago’s word does not have much value for Pettovello since one of the few tasks that the deputy had for this year was to obtain the approval of the omnibus law, and he could not fulfill it.
Pettovello has the equivalent of four ministries under its orbit: Social Development, Labor, Education and Culture. They also added Anses, which is also an organization with territorial deployment throughout the country. Those who question her assume that she does not have enough political experience to handle so many portfolios together, and of such magnitude. As a counterpart, the Minister of Human Capital has in front of the Social Organizations, the CGT, the teaching unions and the retirees.
After the trip to Rome, in which he accompanied the President, it emerged that Pettovello had burst into tears in his office due to the pressure he receives to deliver food to the canteens. In the ministry they minimize that rumor. He would have even threatened to resign, a resource that he had already used when at the genesis of the Government the possibility of Patricia Bullrich staying with the area of Social Development instead of Security was considered. At that time Petovello also said that if they took out Development he would resign. Milei preferred to maintain their friendship.
Reasons for the shortages. The fact that there is no food for the canteens, according to NOTICIAS sources, would respond to the fact that there would be a shortage of food in the warehouses of the Ministry of Human Capital. In the last months of Alberto Fernández’s administration, they stopped buying dry food and the current government realized too late that the little that was left in the warehouses was no longer enough. To justify the delays in the delivery of food, the Ministry said that they proposed to end intermediation and strengthen the Alimentar Card so that beneficiaries can self-manage their purchases in supermarkets. An excuse to cover up clumsiness.
Pettovello’s first public appearance was in an announcement he made on December 18, two days before the first march against Milei’s government. There he reaffirmed that “he who cuts does not get paid”, in line with the President’s position on those who interrupt traffic while demonstrating. The second time Pettovello’s voice was heard was at the beginning of February when, in the middle of a march, he left the Ministry to tell the protesters that he was going to “attend to those who are hungry one by one, not to the referents.” ”. Four days later, a twenty-block long line of people formed to sign up. Pettovello is resisted by people and others, but, for now, she has the only support he needs, that of Milei. With that she reaches.
