‘Las fuerzas del cielo’ – Who’s who in Milei’s new ‘praetorian guard’

“What happens is you’re everywhere,” says a leader of 'Las Fuerzas del Cielo’ (“The Forces of Heaven”), the new grouping aligned to Javier Milei, with a chuckle.  And he adds: “A moment after ‘Gordo Dan’ said that we were the ‘armed’ wing, he clarified that the weapons were mobile phones.”

And the fascist aesthetic of the march? “It was not fascist. It was Roman, the Roman Empire, the cradle of Western civilisation, which is what we defend,” clarified the leader.

In ‘Las Fuerzas del Cielo’ there is no concern at all about the repercussions of last weekend’s launch. On the contrary, it amused them. Although they repeat that it was not an intentional search for attention, they know that they achieved the desired impact. Not only did all of Argentina’s new portals talk about it, it also attracted the attention of foreign media outlets such as The Telegraph or Reuters. Mission accomplished.

There were no internal reproaches. The launching of the group, sources emphasise, was approved by the two people in charge of the government: presidential advisor Santiago Caputo and presidential chief-of-staff Karina Milei.

“Nobody takes a step without their approval,” clarified the leader, clearing up speculation about a possible internal conflict.

Beyond the indignation generated by the qualification of “armed wing” and the scenography, the presentation of the new La Libertad Avanza grouping opens up another line of discussion linked to the political construction in 2025. 

Up to now, in Buenos Aires Province, the “armed wing” seemed to be exclusively in the hands of Sebastián Pareja, the ruling party’s leader in the region. However, an X-ray of  the leaders behind Las Fuerzas del Cielo calls this monopoly into question.

Agustín Laje, one of the guest speakers at the launch, said that the three corners of Argentina’s right wing are working together: the liberals, the conservatives and the patriots (or nationalists). 

However, there are others to focus on too. The presence of ultra-Catholic conservatives and leaders who are taking their first steps in the big leagues, stand out in particular.

The launch event’s flyer listed  19 names, in addition to Laje. According to the members of the space, the “undisputed” reference points of Las Fuerzas del Cielo are Parisini, Agustín Romo, Lucas Luna, Nahuel Sotelo, Santiago Santurio and Alejandro Álvarez. The rest are second- or third-line.

Top leaders

When asked to whom this group responds, some answer that it is Daniel ‘El Gordo Dan’ Parisini, others that it is Santiago Caputo. The truth is that Parisini,  the Twitter star turned media entrepreneur (he is a minority partner of Carajo SA, a company in which there are also two partners of Blender SA) can be described as the executive branch of the presidential advisor’s orders.

Parisini has the visibility and the power to attract Milei’s target audience. From social networks and with his streaming programme ‘La Misa,’ he is an all-terrain entertainer in the libertarian universe. Although he does not have a formal position in the government, he frequently visits the Casa Rosada.

Accused of leading an army of trolls – see a recent report by Crisis magazine – Parisini’s role seems to be that of disciplining anyone who moves half a centimetre away from the Executive’s ideological line.

Agustín Romo is the president of the La Libertad Avanza caucus in the lower house of the Buenos Aires Province Legislature and one of Milei’s “historical” backers. For a long time he was in charge of the communications for the space, a task he still performs in a secondary role.

The launching of Las Fuerzas del Cielo took place in San Miguel, Romo’s hometown and where his father serves as a municipal councillor for La Libertad Avanza. The event was the confirmation of the alliance with the De La Torre brothers (Joaquín, the former mayor, and Pablo, former undersecretary of Childhood, Family and Adolescence who was fired in May).

Libertarianism grew around the time of the debate over the legalisation of abortion and San Miguel, one of the few districts fervently opposing the bill, was a political shelter of sorts. Romo recognises himself as a Catholic, but his thing is politics: he talks to everyone and has a direct line to the “iron triangle” (Javier, Karina and Santiago). 

Nahuel Sotelo entered the Buenos Aires Province lower house in 2021 with José Luis Espert, but he immediately became a Milei militant. His growth has been exponential: from provincial lawmaker to caucus leader to, today, Secretary of Worship and Civilization at the Foreign Ministry.

Concerned about territorial battles, in 2022 Sotelo created an organisation called La Julio Argentino, from where a good part of the new leaders of Las Fuerzas del Cielo come from. There are those who speculate that, from now on, this grouping will be dissolved.

As with Romo and Parisini, Sotelo’s agenda is that of the new ultra-right. Catholic and conservative, he rejects “gender ideology,” questions the “interference” of multilateral organisations in Argentina and speaks out against the UN’s 2030 Agenda.

Alejandro ‘El Profe’ Álvarez is undersecretary of university policies at the Human Capital Ministry. The ongoing higher education conflict, one of the most important flashpoints in the first stage of Milei’s government, put all eyes on him. The official never backed down – aligned to his political bosses, he is as “anti-zurdo” (“anti-leftist”) as the rest of the group.

His link dates back to the 2023 campaign. Álvarez reportedly met Parisini through Twitter (today X) and they forged a close relationship. When Education Secretary Carlos Torrendel summoned him to join his team, Álvarez consulted with Parisini and they have been working together ever since. The trust between them is such that Parisini’s girlfriend, María Belén Casas, was appointed to his department. She is now undersecretary of University Policies. She started taking care of his signature and now she is Álvarez’s chief-of-staff.

Pro-life national deputy Santiago Santurio is, together with Sotelo, the leading figure in ultra-Catholic activism. He entered politics during the abortion debate with the religious organisation Frente Joven (which subsequently managed to get several of its members into Milei’s government). The religious dimension always appears in his speeches, including at this week’s event, when he talked about the Maccabees being subjugated during the Greek empire. 

Santurio is not usually in the news for his parliamentary activity. In the lower house, the deputy is aligned with the positions of the national executive without much fuss. His main activity, it seems, is in the political construction of a right-wing, Catholic and conservative force. He has a very good relationship with Human Capital Minister Sandra Pettovello and his own organisation called Ciudadanos.

Lucas Luna, alias ‘Sagaz,’ is part of Milei’s ‘tuiteros’ gang on social media. He has been known to the group for years and his name was in the news in 2023 when his candidacy for a seat in the Mercosur Parliament was withdrawn after he declared “‘nobody wants to vote for a disabled person,” in reference to handicapped ex-PRO candidate Franco Rinaldi. 

The punishment, however, was mediatic – he never stopped working for La Libertad Avanza. His record includes a stint in the Chamber of Deputies of Buenos Aires Province and, following Milei’s triumph in the election, he was appointed director of the state company Intercargo. “There is nobody who works as hard as he does to be out of a job,” joked an acquaintance.

Throughout his first term in office, Luna was a frequent visitor to the Casa Rosada. In October, moreover, he was appointed as the coordinator of La Libertad Avanza in Tres de Febrero, a gesture interpreted as an affront against the mayor, PRO ally Diego Valenzuela.

Others listed in the launch event’s flyers include Mariano Pérez and Pablo Pazos, the latter better known as ‘Gordo Pablo.’ Without official positions in government or La Libertad Avanza, they could be defined as the government’s “loyal entertainers.”

Pérez is the owner of the YouTube channel BreakPoint, with a direct line to the government. He covered Milei’s campaign from the inside and worked in the offices of legislator Ramiro Marra. Pazos is the co-host of Parisini’s streaming programme on Blender.

Ezequiel Acuña, the co-founder of La Derecha Diario, Fernando Cerimedo’s media outlet, also has a profile. In December, 2023, he was called by the Executive to take charge of public media and while he bills the state as a self-employed consultant, his job is to “align the communication strategy” of the Presidency. He will be the key for Las Fuerzas del Cielo in the capital.

Juan José ‘Turco’ Esper, who answers to the De La Torre Brothers, served as security minister in San Miguel and was previously aligned to Juntos por el Cambio. At this week’s launch, he said Las Fuerzas del Cielo are “right-wing – we defend family, the homeland and God.”

Other names involved in the new group include Quilmes councillor Estefanía Albasetti, La Plata parliamentarian Soledad Pedernera, ANSES official Milena Suárez, Florencio Varela councillor Ezequiel Taborda, Frente Joven member Guadalupe Baulos, Córdoba-based advisor Jonathan Naselli, and Antonio Voloponi, Fernando Iantorno and Juan Scarpa – the so-called ‘Tanos’ from Lomas de Zamora.