The two Caputos of the libertarian power are uncle and nephew. The uncle’s name is Luis, alias “Toto”, and he is Minister of Economy. His nephew is Santiago, or “Santi”, the Government’s star advisor. With yesterday’s election, which ended in an unexpected victory, both saw their shares rise. Javier Milei trusted them in the middle of the storm and the play, against all previous predictions, turned out well.
Let’s see. The first of the Caputos, “Toto”, insisted on his theory of a cheap dollar floating between bands, assisted first by a million-dollar loan from the Monetary Fund and then by a bailout from the United States Treasury. It seemed that the model would not withstand the exchange tensions that generated run after run, but here it is still standing, after burning its own and other reserves, those of the Central Bank and those of Scott Bessent and Donald Trump. Allowing the greenback to escape before the D-day of the elections would have ended in a price stampede and the fall of the main flag of milleism, that of the fight against inflation. Heaven and earth had to be moved to avoid that, although the future is unknown. Hours before the elections, the minister came out to say that he feels “comfortable” with a dollar at 1,500 pesos, but will he be able to keep it ironed for much longer?
The other Caputo, “Santi”, was also key in this electoral feat. It was he who, through his friends Leonardo Scatturice and Barry Bennett – the lobbyist for the plane not inspected at Aeroparque and his North American partner, a friend of Trump -, managed to arrange the meetings between Milei and the Republican leader and the financial rescue of 40 billion dollars that allowed him to reach the elections alive when it seemed that everything was falling apart. That underground role of the star advisor in the relationship with the North was what made the formal chancellor, Gerardo Werthein, end up slamming the door because he felt pushed: “Santi” achieved what he should have achieved.
In the victory bunker, a “caputized” Milei congratulated his two heroes. The star advisor, who today sounds like a possible Chief of Staff, was defined as one of the “architects” of the project, along with his sister Karina. He thanked the Minister of Economy for having brought the ship to safe port, and in this way he ratified it even when hours before the elections everything was uncertain. The markets reacted well today and celebrated the triumph of the libertarians. The Caputos did it.
