Javier Milei’s inner circle is limited, there are women in key positions, some men and of course a dog, the late Conan, who communicates from beyond the grave with the new President of Argentina and has generated four clones, whose new homes will become kennels in the Olivos Presidential Farm, the official residence of the head of state.
Karina Milei, Javier’s sister, is, according to the elected official herself, the key figure of ‘mileism’. Discreet to the extreme, the 51-year-old public relations and visual artist, two and a half years younger than her brother, spoke in public only once: on Sunday, when she made the announcement from the pulpit in the Libertador Hotel: bunker ” of the campaign of the coalition La Libertad Avanza, the arrival of the “new President of Argentina”.
The surprise of Javier’s supporters was so great that instead of properly applauding the elected official, they were distracted by chanting “jefe, jefe, jefe“, the name by which the older brother calls his sister. “She is the boss, she is the one who managed to move this monster forward. I’m just the great promoter,” said the economist, who does nothing without first getting the approval of his sister, who accompanies him every step of his life. However, according to those close to the family, Karina’s greatest achievement was that she her brother was able to reconcile with her parents, after years of estrangement.
Fátima Florez has been sharing Milei’s time and space with Karina, but only since the open, simultaneous and mandatory primaries, better known as PASO, in August, when the then-candidate officially introduced her as his girlfriend. As an actress, Florez ironically stood out as an impersonator of former President and former Vice President Cristina Kirchner, perhaps still the main face of the opposition to Milei and the highest exponent of Peronism (or Kirchnerism).
The daughter of an architect and geography teacher, she grew up in Olivos, on the outskirts of Buenos Aires, where she watched the Presidents of the Republic arrive and depart by helicopter from the official residence, right next to the house, in the Quinta Presidencial de Olivos . At the age of 42, she will be a tenant of the palace, in the role of first lady, like Cristina, widow of Nestor Kirchner, and of course Eva Perón, wife of Juan Domingo Perón, an artist like her.
Only later was María Eugenia Florez baptized, at the suggestion of her Peruvian ex-husband, Norberto Marcos, a devotee of Our Lady of Fátima, and she adopted the artistic name by which she is known. Marital problem in perspective: Prefers cats over dogs.
If Milei is controversial, the vice candidate, who met the new president on social media when they were both campaigning against legal abortion, is no less so. Victoria Villarruel, a denier of the military dictatorship, states that there was a war going on at that time, with excesses on one side, the generals, and on the other, the activists, and called the leaders of the Madres and Abuelas of Plaza de Mayo on “sinister characters” and wants to convert the memorial museum for the dictatorship into a military school.
It was Ramiro Marra, Libertarian Party candidate for mayor of Buenos Aires, financial broker by profession and heavyweight of ‘mileism’, who pushed for the political ‘marriage’ between Milei and Villarruel.
Meanwhile, another woman from Milei’s inner circle is Lilia Lemoine, the image consultant who invented Milei’s Elvis Presley (or is it Wolverine?) sideburns, the brand image of the chosen candidate, who is an influencer, cosplayer, makeup artist and beautician by profession. . Oh, and also a national alternate for the Libertarian Party.
The brain and the gurus
The Argentine newspapers attribute the role of the mastermind of ‘Mileism’ to the anonymous Santiago Caputo – only he and his sister were addressed by Milei in his victory speech. However, Caputo rejects the government’s positions and prefers to remain in the shadows.
Alberto Benegas Lynch, a liberal intellectual, is seen as Milei’s political guru. He radically suggested that Argentina cut ties with the Vatican while Pope Francis was there, accused by the winner of the election of being stupid, communist and evil.
And Rabbi Axel Nishikawa is considered a spiritual guru. Milei, who vowed to make his first international trip as president to Israel and study Torah after ending his political career, talks with Rabbi Nishikawa every other week.
First a television phenomenon, and online, then the winner of the elections is also advised by digital advisor Fernando Cerimedo, director of the newspaper La Derecha diary and personal friend of Jair Bolsonaro’s children, Santiago Oria, a filmmaker, and Iñaki Gutiérrez, 22, responsible for the new president’s Tik Tok account, together with a team of teenagers.
In the government, about half of the eight ministries are being defined: the chief of staff will be Nicolás Posse, an old friend of Milei, and in the Human Capital portfolio (Public Health, Education, Social Development and Labor) it will be Sandra Pettovello, unknown to the press, except that she was married to a famous actor, and whose personal website lists a variety of curriculum topics from “neuropsychoeducation” to fundraising for reiki organizations.
At the Ministry of the Interior, the “political ambulance,” in the words of Milei, Guillermo Francos, is so political that he held a public position as appointed by Alberto Fernández, the outgoing president.
Diana Mondinos becomes head of Foreign Affairs despite the campaign blunder: she said the people of the Falklands should have the same rights as Argentines – as if they were second-class Argentines. He will have the difficult task of softening Milei’s relations with Brazil, China and the Vatican.
Source: DN
