Report: Milei fires presidential residence staff over security

Argentine President Javier Milei fired around 12 members of the domestic staff at his official residence outside Buenos Aires due to a series of alleged leaks, newspaper La Nación reported citing officials it did not name. 

Milei’s press office confirmed that military officials would take over day-to-day management of the residence known as the Quinta de Olivos, while eliminating the government body that oversees the property. The administration said the measures were necessary amid global conflicts and ahead of Pope Leon XIV’s visit to Argentina in November. 

The measures “will make it possible to reduce the formal structure and the number of personnel,” the government said in the statement sent via text message. 

La Nación said that some employees were reassigned, citing the government sources who alleged employees who worked in the president’s private living space were leaking information. The article didn’t detail the nature of the supposed leaks. 

Fired staff included gardening and kitchen workers, the newspaper reported, citing public employees union leader Daniel Catalano.

While Milei has fired more than 70,000 state workers as part of his austerity measures since taking office at the end of 2023, he hasn’t significantly reduced staff in his direct orbit. 

Although Milei works out of the presidential palace in downtown Buenos Aires, he has been spending more workdays at the sprawling residence in the wealthy suburb of Olivos just outside the capital.

Under Milei, little has been made public about how he spends his time at the residence where he lives with his Mastiff dogs, which he doesn’t allow to be photographed.