For months, Santiago Caputo was the figure of libertarian myths: the invisible man, the non-speaking advisor, the one without a post or signature, but still the one everyone called before making a major decision. The inscrutable strategist who preferred corridors to flashes.
Yet that script seems to be changing. Over the last few weeks, Caputo "came out of the political closet," as one voice put it. He opened an official account on X (yes, a real one, without any intermediary trolls), started to make appearances at meetings with opposition leaders and even revealed the nature of his trip to the United States: to procure meetings with US government officials. All that, and in the meantime, President Javier Milei himself feeds the rumour mill, acknowledging that his star advisor could become a member of his Cabinet.
The twist also took on a symbolic element. Caputo answered back with a friendly tone on social networks to ex-president Mauricio Macri, a gesture which in the libertarian ecosystem was read a sign of easing relations with PRO. Nobody takes such steps without the presidential say-so.
Milei himself, when being consulted about whether Caputo could join the Cabinet, was unequivocal about it: "Absolutely." It was the first time the President acknowledged that possibility publicly. The rumours have not stopped ever since: Guillmero Francos could move on to a different function, the Cabinet will be reshuffled after the elections, Caputo might take on a formal post to consolidate his political weight.
In parallel, Francos made sure to set limits: "I'm the Cabinet chief, and Caputo has no executive signature," he said, with a more curt than formal tone. Yet everyone at Casa Rosada knows that real power does not always follow the chain of hierarchy.
Within the presidential inner circle, the relationship between Santiago Caputo and Karina Milei remains the subject of speculation. For months, libertarians talked about the "iron triangle" formed by the two Milei siblings and Caputo – but the growing autonomy of the strategist triggered some alarms.
The ruling party's switchboard moves swiftly. At Casa Rosada, the rumour that Milei is planning to reshuffle his Cabinet after the elections. The idea would be to formalise functions which so far had been informal: Caputo could take on an executive role and re-oxygenate the Cabinet in this respect.
Yet the readjustment would not be confined to the Cabinet chiefdom. Official dispatches mentioned possible shuffles at the Security, Justice and Defence portfolios, three sensitive areas for governability. The names being mulled over for a while now are Guillermo Montenegro, Diego Valenzuela and Sebastián Amerio – Santiago Caputo's trusted man at the Justice Ministry.
The Macri factor is always at play, and now is no exception. What conditions the former president will impose to support a weakened government – and how far Milei will be willing to give in– remains to be seen. The government is clear that the President's room for manoeuvre will also be limited to what happens on October 26.
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