After a little over a year in office, President Javier Milei has shed a lot of staff. According to political scientist Pablo Salinas, more than 110 officials have left the administration since December 2023 – a rate of one every 86 hours, or two a week.
In addition, a number of key figures in the Milei movement – from former advisor Carlos Maslatón to Cabinet Chief Nicolás Posse – have fallen from favour. Many are historic allies – they accompanied the now-president on his incredible rise to the top, from his initial steps on the campaign trail to his historic run-off victory over Peronist candidate Sergio Massa on November 19, 2023.
The most recent to depart was Buenos Aires City City legislator Ramiro Marra, a leader directly expelled from La Libertad Avanza (LLA), a party which the stockbroker co-founded, along with other lesser-known (and also ousted) faces.
Marra’s ejection, however, did not surprise anybody. The financial analyst was rapidly sidelined from chairing the libertarian caucus at the start of the Milei presidency at the request of the head of state’s sister, Presidential Chief-of-Staff Karina Milei.
She replaced Marra with an empowered Pilar Ramírez, a controversial choice due to her past as a Kirchnerite official. After starting her career under two-term Buenos Aires Province Peronist Governor Daniel Scioli, Ramírez worked at state airline Aerolíneas Argentinas (which Milei wants to shutter) when it was headed by La Campóra leader Mariano Recalde.
Karina saddled Marra, according to the party’s official communiqué, with disregarding Milei’s premises when voting for a Budget proposal submitted by Buenos Aires City Mayor Jorge Macri.
The libertarian lawmaker defended himself, expressed surprise and warned that he would not remain silent. A reaction not was not long in coming, with Marra booted to the curb and expelled from La Libertad Avanza.
Big name departures
Perhaps the most eyebrow-raising government exit preceding Marra was financial expert Diana Mondino, who was appointed Foreign Minister by Milei but failed to assert herself.
The economist’s power was also undermined by one of Karina Milei’s pawns, Úrsula Basset, and Mondino never settled down in government. She committed serious errors during almost a year in office, although her fate was sealed by a United Nations vote running counter to Israel and the United States.
Other Cabinet departures include former Energy secretary Eduardo Rodríguez Chirillo, ex-Treasury attorney-general Rodolfo Barra and former Labour secretary Omar Yasín.
Over at Congress, deputy Oscar Zago was also ejected from chairing the national La Libertad Avanza caucus after the first edition of the sweeping ‘Ley de Bases’ reform package fell in a second reading after a marathon session following approval in the first.
Zago was replaced by Gabriel Bornoroni, a taciturn Córdoba deputy who is known to have Karina Milei’s backing. He has even been granted a role in drawing up the libertarian electoral lists in Córdoba.
To the list of national deputies should be added Marcela Pagano, who continues in the libertarian caucus but who sought to chair the Impeachment Committee, whose formation was suspended at the behest of Congress Speaker Martín Menem.
Everything pointed to an order from Karina with the committee ending up in limbo and Pagano in hospital after confronting Milei’s sister. Despite this, the journalist lowered her profile and toed the libertarian line.
Carolina Píparo was a central figure in the Milei campaign as the Buenos Aires Province gubernatorial candidate, no less, with good feedback for a party lacking structure in that key district. Yet the first divergences in Congress voting saw Píparo blackballed by the entire libertarian spectrum and the online trolls backed by the government.
Despite this, Píparo maintained a disciplined adhesion to the government line, permitting her to rejoin the caucus towards the end of 2024 following the exit of Lourdes Arrieta, the young deputy known for wearing a plastic duckling on her head and for joining the controversial visit to see jailed prisoners convicted of crimes against humanity dating back to the 1976-1983 military dictatorship.
Inner circle
The departures from Milei’s inner circle have been swift, given he has been in office for just 13 months. The list of those left in the cold after the 2023 electoral triumph includes Vice-President Victoria Villarruel, former journalist and Milei political operator Carlos Kikuchi and ex-Cabinet chief Nicolás Posse.
Villarruel fell into disfavour with the Casa Rosada even before taking office. Her famous statement as to Milei being the ‘jamoncito’ (ham in the sandwich) within the iron triangle with his sister and spin doctor Santiago Caputo made for a tortuous relationship within the presidential ticket throughout 2024.
Government sources leaked months ago that she no longer forms part of any decision-making, with her only protagonism being her institutional role heading the Senate.
Kikuchi was already almost completely out of La Libertad Avanza following the primary triumph in August 2023. The precarious assembly of electoral lists and the alleged sale of candidacies and slots on slates were held against Kikuchi, denunciations which persisted throughout the final stages of the campaign.
Posse’s power, meanwhile, was undermined by the sheer concentration thereof, something which irritated Karina Milei. Despite his role as a key liaison for diplomats, he departed after just six months.
Beyond these names, other cadres have also fallen by the wayside. They include the aforementioned Maslatón, economists Emilio Ocampo and Carlos Rodríguez and influencers Iñaki Gutiérrez and Eugenio Rolón, who only lasted a few weeks in the Casa Rosada.
Within the corridors of the Casa Rosada, the exits are viewed as Karina Milei continuing to exert her authority. With Peronism in disarray and without a clear leader, with PRO desperate to avoid losing people to the libertarian ranks, she is asserting control ahead of the upcoming midterms.
The casting aside of Marra is the latest public example to ensure the troops remain in line.
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