When Diego Santilli was sworn in as Chief of Staff on June 30, Javier Milei placed the most important position in his government – second only to the President – in the hands of a PRO veteran. It was not an isolated gesture: it was the final link in a process that began the day La Libertad Avanza entered the Casa Rosada and, over the months, gradually dyed the libertarian government yellow.
The paradox is that this consolidation of the PRO within the state comes at the worst moment in the relationship between Milei and Mauricio Macri, founder of that party. The President and former president have not spoken for months: at the end of April they avoided greeting each other at the Fundación Libertad dinner, and since then, Milei has accumulated public criticisms toward the man who was his key ally in the 2023 runoff. Never has the yellow seal weighed so heavily on the administration; never have its two top leaders been so distant.
Today, six of the nine ministerial-level positions are held by officials with origins or experience in the PRO and the administrations of Mauricio Macri. In Economy, Luis Caputo remains, Macri’s Finance Minister; in Deregulation, Federico Sturzenegger, former president of the Central Bank from that era; in Security, Alejandra Monteoliva, who served under Bullrich and Jorge Macri; in Justice, Juan Bautista Mahiques, who represented the Executive on the Council of the Judiciary during Macri’s government; and in Foreign Affairs, Pablo Quirno, a close associate of Caputo. Added to them, in a key agency, is Santiago Bausili, president of the BCRA and former Secretary of Finance under Macri.
The process was built in layers since December 2023. From the start, there was yellow DNA in the economic core, with Caputo, Bausili, and Bullrich herself in Security. In 2024, Sturzenegger arrived with a tailor-made ministry. During 2025, the drip accelerated: Quirno took over the Foreign Ministry, Monteoliva replaced Bullrich, and Diego Santilli landed at Interior. The final leap came in 2026, when Santilli moved to the Chief of Staff position after Manuel Adorni’s departure.
Santilli’s career summarizes the ruling party’s mix: he started in Buenos Aires Peronism, became a PRO leader under Macri, and ended up coordinating the cabinet of a libertarian. And the yellow did not stop at the ministries: Gustavo Coria is Deputy Chief of Staff for Interior, and Fabián Fernández, a former PRO official from Lanús, manages communications at the Casa Rosada, along with numerous second- and third-tier officials with a Macrista past.
The absorption is not limited to those currently in office. Several who left the cabinet did not cross over to the opposition but instead fully integrated into La Libertad Avanza: Patricia Bullrich, a historic PRO leader, led Security for two years and in December 2025 moved to the Senate, where she chairs the ruling party bloc; Luis Petri, who came to Defense as Bullrich’s running mate, became a deputy after leaving radicalism and joining the libertarian space.
The underlying paradox is hard to disguise: Milei arrived shouting «they all must go» and today sustains much of his administration on the same political class he promised to sweep away.
The PRO’s weight was not limited to positions: in Congress, it was the crutch that allowed Milei to govern without a majority of his own. La Libertad Avanza started in December 2023 with barely 39 deputies and 7 senators, far from a quorum. The yellow support was evident in 2024, when the opposition tried to overturn the vetoes on the pension formula and university funding: the group of «87 heroes» included 34 PRO deputies. Cristian Ritondo’s bloc, along with the UCR, was also key for the Bases Law and the 2026 Budget.
That support is no longer automatic. In 2026, the PRO began to assert itself: it set its own agenda, resisted eliminating the PASO primaries, and even pushed for the interpellation of Manuel Adorni. The shift is visible within the bloc itself: from about 37 deputies at its peak, it has been reduced to 12, largely due to the trickle of legislators toward the ruling party.
The relationship between Milei and Mauricio Macri was born from a risky move. In October 2023, before the runoff, the former president broke with the Juntos por el Cambio leadership and secretly met with the libertarian to support him against Sergio Massa, in the so-called Pact of Acassuso. It worked: after the victory, the two embraced alongside Patricia Bullrich.
The honeymoon did not last long. Macri was upset when Milei chose Martín Menem – and not his candidate – to preside over the Chamber of Deputies, and the first major cooling came in mid-2024, with the President’s mockery of PRO leaders at a Fundación Libertad dinner. Tensions escalated with the Pact of May in Tucumán, where Macri traveled from Europe and felt exposed. The definitive break came at the end of 2025: at an October dinner, he could not digest the departure of Guillermo Francos – who served as a bridge – and the award of the Chief of Staff position to Adorni, and that same night he issued a devastating statement against the decision.
Since then, the relationship has been in free fall. In April 2026, the two avoided greeting each other at the Fundación Libertad dinner, and Milei added increasingly sharp criticisms: he even accused Macri’s government of having «scammed Argentines» with the debt reprofiling. A libertarian collaborator summed it up bluntly: «That relationship has no return.» On the other side, the diagnosis is similar: Macri’s associates have counted the «907 days» between the runoff embrace and the current coldness.
The ice, however, is exclusive to Mauricio. With his cousin Jorge Macri, head of the Buenos Aires city government, Milei has a different dynamic: at the Te Deum on July 9, 2026, he again approached to greet him, in contrast to the snub a year earlier and his famous «Rome does not pay traitors.» The difference is also political: with Mauricio, the dispute is over leadership of the center-right heading into 2027; with Jorge, a competitive coexistence prevails, sustained by negotiation between the City and the Casa Rosada.
The entire plot leads to 2027. Macri is considering building a centrist alternative with his own candidate – which could even be himself – to challenge Milei for power. But every territorial agreement that La Libertad Avanza closes with PRO leaders narrows his margin: while he resists, much of his troop pushes for understandings with the ruling party out of pure survival.
The case of Diego Santilli encapsulates the paradox: his name is being floated to head the Buenos Aires province ticket in 2027 with a unity list of libertarians and Macristas, with the approval of the Mileis. The man who today coordinates the cabinet could tomorrow be the face of the definitive absorption of the PRO. Milei arrived promising to blow up the old politics; he ends up governing – and projecting himself – with a good part of it inside. The yellow seal has never weighed so heavily in power. Its founder has never been so far from it.
para mi esto ya lo sabiamos no? el pro se adueño de milei y macri afuera jajaj estos libertarios de mentira son la misma mugre de siempre casta que se va casta que vuelve pero disfrazada de amarillo se pasaron de vivos los oligarcas estos no cambian nunca firmado el loco del subte
Para mí esto huele a opereta de los mismos de siempre. Aguante Milei que le está dando con un caño a la casta, estos amarillos al menos laburan, no como Macri que es un tibio. Yo creo que los zurdos lloran porque se les acaba el curro. Viva la libertad carajo!