Mariano Cúneo Libarona will step down as Argentina's justice minister next week following Sunday’s midterm elections.
Cúneo Libarona, 64, intends to tender his resignation formally on Monday, once the results of the legislative elections are known, but the official confirmed his imminent exit in an exchange with the Infobae website.
"I'm leaving very happy. I gave my life to public service. More than for health reasons, it's because I need to reconnect with my loved ones. From now on, I'll help the government with whatever it needs, free of charge," Cúneo Libarona told Infobae.
“He’s leaving on Monday. He’s tired and wants time with his loved ones and family,” added a senior government source in comments reported by the Noticias Argentinas news agency.
Cúneo Libarona's departure follows the exit of Foreign Minister Gerardo Werthein, who submitted his resignation on Monday night to President Javier Milei.
Argentina’s head of state intends to reshuffle his Cabinet after Sunday’s midterm elections, which will define the make-up of Congress for the rest of his term in office and the future of his reform agenda.
Two top officials, National Security Minister Patricia Bullrich and Defence Minister Luis Petri, will be leaving their posts in order to take up legislative positions.
According to reports, Milei’s inner circle may merge the Justice Ministry and Security Ministry to compensate for Bullrich’s departure.
Cúneo Libarona, a veteran criminal lawyer who won fame in the 1990s defending high-profile clients, was appointed justice minister in December 2023.
His future has been the subject of speculation for several weeks. Justice Secretary Sebastián Amerio, who answers to Milei’s top presidential adviser Santiago Caputo, is seen as the frontrunner to succeed the departing minister.
Several figures from ex-president Mauricio Macri’s PRO party have also been rumoured, including the mayor of General Pueyrredón (Mar del Plata), Guillermo Montenegro.
Cúneo Libarona leaves office after twenty months in charge, without any major achievement to his name.
His record includes criticism from lawmakers for the more than 330 judicial vacancies across the system.
One of his first actions upon taking office was to promote the candidacies of Judge Ariel Lijo and academic Manuel García Mansilla for Argentina's Supreme Court.
Although their nominations were discussed by the Senate Agreements Committee in mid-2024, they foundered for most of Cúneo Libarona's tenure and eventually boiled over in April this year with their Senate rejection, after both had been appointed to the tribunal by decree by President Milei.
úneo Libarona also found himself at the centre of controversy after making public statements against sexual diversity and in defence of “the family.”
“We reject the diversity of sexual identities that do not align with biology … the gender issue is over; our value is the family, which is the heart of society and the Nation,” he said previously, drawing sharp criticism from civil-society groups.
– TIMES/NA/PERFIL
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