It is already known that Santiago Caputo, Milei’s star advisor, has one foot outside the Government due to his internal relationship with the implacable Karina, the presidential sister. He even announces, in a low voice, that he will slam the door after the October 26 elections, whatever the result, perhaps to leave alone before the general secretary cuts off his head. As a final contribution to the libertarian cause, “Santi” takes note of the rescue of the United States, which occurred – it is true – thanks to the good offices of lobbyist Leonardo Scatturice and his North American partner Barry Bennett. The first is close to Caputo and the second, to Donald Trump.
But before he leaves, you have to ask yourself what he really brought to Milei as an advisor or consultant. What did he add to his Government. If it is an electoral strategy, it was effective in 2023, when public opinion had not yet discovered Milei’s less friendly side, but it failed from then on, once the candidate became President and showed himself as he is. And in this display of Milei’s most brutal side, the advisor also has a lot to do with it: he was the one who led the so-called cultural battle against everything politically correct, feminism, woke or progressive culture and the LGBTQ+ collective, something that could be profitable for the libertarian hard core of the networks, but that sooner or later would have consequences in the center electorate. When the polls reflected that this cultural battle was being lost – not only the polls, but also the blow of the Buenos Aires election -, Caputo wanted to deactivate the Frankensein that he had created and advised the President to soften his speech on that remembered national network in which he promised money for the disabled, retirees and universities. But it was too late: the twist did not sound credible because the real Milei that the advisor had previously encouraged had already gone too far.
Another controversial point of this cultural battle was the methods used, in addition to the substance of the issue. Feeding with public money the army of trolls commanded on the networks by a certain “Fat Dan” did not bring any benefit to the Government, except for the momentary fear of its rivals of being smeared. But once the fear passed, and the polls punished those excesses, even Karina Milei herself reproached the “digital fatties” for being piantavotos and that “they scare the people of Buenos Aires,” which is why neither “Dan” nor any of his henchmen appeared on the lists of La Libertad Avanza.
Then there is another important question. A political advisor is someone who is in the shadows, who is not seen or noticed. Caputo, however, left no scandal behind during these long months in power, from the beating of Congressman Facundo Manes to his threat to a photographer, not to mention that he has Russian mafia tattoos, collects daggers and weapons and also practices shooting, a video that was also leaked! Although when I was younger I dreamed of being an Intelligence agent, it is clear that it is not good for spying or going unnoticed. He was eaten by the violent character of his truncated cultural battle.
It’s not that Karina trusts him much either: she placed an employee of the Military House at the entrance to the office she occupies in the Casa Rosada to monitor him closely and see who he receives. An experienced advisor must ensure the common good of the Government, not bring grist to his mill and constantly set off internal adversaries, and even less so if it is the President’s sister, as if she liked to play with the lion’s whiskers. Although sometimes, it is true, his capacity for intrigue is overrated. When the audio crisis occurred in which someone recorded Milei’s sister without her consent, some eyes, those of the most conspiracy-minded, immediately landed on Caputo, who, as is known, manages SIDE. They believed that he had ordered that material to be leaked to harm Karina. Those who know the story, on the other hand, spoke of a hopeless boy who was overcome by circumstances and was unable to control anything.
The question, then, arises: is Caputo the worst advisor in recent history? You probably have to go back to Anonito de la Rúa to find someone so incompetent. Yes, the son of that former president who advised him to surround himself with the military on a national network while the pots and pans filled the streets and the repression in Plaza de Mayo left five dead in the middle of the state of siege.
Caputo hardly surpasses that. But he keeps accumulating error after error.
