He is the father of labor reform and, however, while his project was moving through Congress, he had to remain out of the public light. 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in Congress, his entourage assures that he was not the author of article 44 on medical licenses, which was later withdrawn from the reform.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.
Controversies. The first shock came with a complaint about a contract that the Foreign Ministry has with the institution directed by his wife, the Argentine Association of English Culture, for the delivery of English courses to diplomatic personnel. “Don’t explain anything, the Foreign Ministry will explain,” they told Sturzenegger. Pablo Quirno launched a series of tweets that did not convince: he assured that the contract that was renewed for 114 million pesos (an update that exceeded inflation) has been in force since 2018. And that due to the link between the deregulatory minister and María Josefina Rouillet, intervention had been given to the Anti-Corruption Office and Sigen, who endorsed the operation.
But the advance hit the waterline of Sturzenegger: a minister who advocates the chainsaw, but whose wife has business relations with the State that he fights to reduce.
It was not the only controversy of the summer. Then the offices rented by the ministry appeared: there are four floors and 24 garages on Diagonal Norte, 700 meters from Casa Rosada. The one-year contract is for $720 million. “They bring this issue to us from the offices, which are the same ones that the State was already renting before we arrived,” his team protests. The thing is that during the administration of Mauricio Macri there was Modernization and during the government of Alberto Fernández it was the Secretariat of Public Innovation. “In fact, if you compare it by inflation, we are paying less than before,” they add.
The issue, again, is appearances. While Milei promotes the “zero rent” program, especially within the Ministry of Human Capital, which reorganized its offices to reduce its expenses, the chainsaw minister continues with the same rental contract.
The controversies that arose crept into the legislative discussion. There were many opposition deputies and senators who accused Sturzenegger of having a double standard. The Union for the Homeland bloc requested a report on the hiring of the deregulatory minister’s wife.
Sturzenegger swears that what happened has to do with an orchestrated hit. “With the reforms we touch many power groups, like laboratories, for example,” they say close to the official.
The minister has a deregulation counter. These are provisions that according to him “hindered progress” and that were repealed or modified. Until the end of 2025, there were more than 1,300. And with the labor reform, the number will grow, although it has not yet been updated.
What’s coming The great asset of the “Colossus” is that it does not have major political aspirations. That saves you internal tensions. He does not intend to be a candidate, unless the President asks him to. He is where he wants.
In 2025 it was rung in Santa Fe, in the absence of renowned candidates. But Karina decided to bet on the brand more than on a person. And he won, even though the La Libertad Avanza list was a group of young militants unknown to the electorate.
He also does not intend to compete next year. He also knows that in his native province “El Jefe” has already chosen Romina Diez. And in her adopted place, Capital Federal, Patricia walks firmly in the search to succeed Jorge Macri.
He remains obsessed with the chainsaw and the reformist plan. There remains work to do: changes in the electoral system regarding party financing and the elimination of PASO; the Educational Freedom law; and modifications to the expropriation regime, among others.
Sturzenegger’s reform wave proved so successful this summer that other officials jumped on board. “I have about 50 bills on the table, many of them very relevant, or with greater media impact. And many others that we are analyzing,” said the Chief of Staff, Manuel Adorni. And he concluded: “When we finish designing the entire scheme of laws, the President will see what the priorities are.”
But the summer success of the labor reform was marred by the minister’s verbosity. “Sturze” left the scene and let Bullrich show off with his legislative agreements.
Of course, the failed response to the question about medical licenses did not remove him from his place as a protégé of the Milei. The brothers continue to consider him one of the valuable pieces of the Cabinet, especially from a communication standpoint. “Federico is one of the spokespersons most requested by the Government,” they confess in Casa Rosada. “They ask him to be the spokesperson, even for issues that are not his,” they add. They know that he has no problems jumping on top of the grenade. And it does not offend him when even his own people point him out as the author of some errors.
He is one of the crusaders of the “cultural battle” of Milei. Able to defend tooth and nail the opening of imports, to question industrialists and to account for alleged “economic growth” even when businessmen warn of dangerous situations. “The Colossus” goes. He is wrong, he is criticized a lot from outside and sometimes also from inside. But it goes.
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