Sandra Pettovello on war footing against Santiago Caputo

Human Capital Minister Sandra Pettovello is still in the eye of the storm in the government, now at loggerheads with Javier Milei’s preferred advisor, Santiago Caputo, and misunderstandings with presidential chief-of-staff Karina Milei. These conflicts promise some sparring and desperate attempts to lower tension.

Pettovello moves with complete freedom and since she feels the full support of the head of state, which even in her worst crisis ahead of the portfolio, she held it unconditionally, she now believes it is a good time for Santiago Caputo to step aside.

That was her main claim, according to libertarian sources, to Javier Milei. What is her argument? A lack of support and “operations” against her which were reflected in some media, which the minister attributes to the political consultant. What is more, they say she missed the last Cabinet meeting deliberately to avoid the advisor.

One official acknowledges that the situation “is complex”, with few ways to solve it, but exclusively given Pettovello’s personality, which they call “overwhelming” and “controlling”. This can be ascertained during her term, with case files checked more than once due to fear of error, which removes dynamism from simple formalities. And they underline that Javier Milei will have to make a decision he is putting off for now, though he is aware of the particulars of the conflict.

Pettovello has also got her eye on all those in her portfolio linked with Caputo, such as Education Administrative Undersecretary María Brogin, among other officials. On the other hand, she has downplayed Leila Gianni, the former Frente de Todos official turned into a libertarian figure from the ministry’s legal undersecretariat.

At the time, she talked about the food scandal, but she surprisingly left the limelight, albeit by the minister’s decision. In Pettovello’s universe, nobody is standing firm and there are more than enough fuses. A particular case was, after the exit of the Cabinet chief, Fernando Szeresesky, her picking Radical lawyer Leonardo Masseccesi, though he had not been officially appointed yet. The same happened with a man from PRO, Lucas Aparicio, who was first singled out as the minister’s number two man and later as an advisor.

“There are people whose voices are unknown,” a source from the portfolio told Perfil, in reference to Pablo de la Torre’s replacement at the Childhood Undersecretariat, Yanina Nano Lembo. She still has not said a word or done anything.

Another piece of information: Pettovello not only aims at Caputo, but also has internal criticism against Eduardo and Martín Menem, questioning Karina’s axis. Given this setting, from Casa Rosada they claim that the advisor has no “personal problems” and that there will be a summit with Karina Milei, in order to lower tensions around the transfer of the Culture secretariat.

– TIMES/PERFIL