The National Government announced this Sunday that Diego Santilli will be the new Chief of Staff, replacing Manuel Adorni, who resigned last Saturday amid corruption allegations. The news was communicated by Javier Milei himself on his X account: «Here with the new Chief of Cabinet of Ministers Diego Santilli and the Secretary General of the Presidency Karina Milei outlining the foundations for an orderly transition of the position. The swearing-in will be on Tuesday at 4:00 p.m.,» wrote the president after a meeting between the three at the Quinta de Olivos.
Shortly after, the new spokesperson Adrián Ravier confirmed that the transition between the two work teams will take place this Monday. «Tomorrow, the teams of outgoing Chief of Staff Manuel Adorni and his replacement Diego Santilli will work on an orderly transition of the portfolio. (…) My congratulations to the new Chief of Staff Diego Santilli. Excited to work together in this new stage!» he wrote on his social media.
Finally, in a clearly coordinated move, the new Chief of Staff thanked for the appointment. «I take on the most important challenge of my life with the commitment to continue working so that this Government keeps making history. I believe in collective projects, not individual ones. That’s why I will work as a team, alongside a great Cabinet led by President Javier Milei, with a clear vision and the necessary determination to definitively pull Argentina out of the hole they left it in. I will give my all so that this Government continues advancing the structural reforms that Argentina has needed for decades. Thank you to the President and the Secretary General for their trust,» Santilli wrote on his social media.
Adorni resigned last Saturday amid corruption allegations. For months, he was supported by President Javier Milei and his sister, the Secretary General of the Presidency, Karina Milei. However, the scandals that began with the trip to New York with his wife, Bettina Angeletti, on the presidential plane continued to grow, including the purchase of several properties and the accumulation of lavish purchases and current expenses that did not match Adorni’s assets and income.
The first to react to Adorni’s resignation was Karina. She thanked him for his work as an official and dedicated a tweet to him: «Dear Manuel, thank you for your tireless work all this time and for defending the ideas of freedom with a passion and commitment rarely seen. You are an upright, valuable person, very dear to all of us.» And she added: «We know about the difficult – and undeserved – moment you and your family have been going through for months, and we respect your decision, regretting that circumstances turned out this way. Your contribution to this political and country project has left a huge mark.»
One who did not bid Adorni a pleasant farewell was La Libertad Avanza senator Patricia Bullrich, who had publicly questioned him for his delay in presenting his sworn declaration. «Trust and ethics are two fundamental elements to deepen the change that the President, the people, and the entire country are building,» Bullrich tweeted.
On the contrary, the head of the Senate caucus did give a warm welcome to Santilli as Chief of Staff: «Much success in this new challenge, Colo. We will support you from Congress to be up to the change that Argentines chose. If we truly want to change the country, we had to set aside distractions and discuss the important laws that the President is promoting.»
The now former Chief of Staff announced his departure from the government with a public letter shared on his social media. «I am a simple citizen who one day wanted to collaborate with a project that is putting Argentina at the top of the world, an ordinary citizen, with a life that is neither more nor less than what I always had,» Adorni said in the letter.
In another passage of the writing, the former official complained about having received alleged «endless media attacks» and continued: «They have led me to have to ask that this time they accompany me, to be able to close this cycle in order to protect myself and my family. The media operations have gone to the extreme, not only against me, but against my wife, my young children, my friends, my family, and even my neighbors and acquaintances.»
«The lies that have been told were of the most varied: trips that never existed, astronomical and lavish expenses, non-existent and false contracts of my wife with the State or with public companies, mansions and luxury cars, ‘crypto farms’ operated in complicity with the Presidential Guard, nepotism, personal expenses paid with public funds, the existence of a supposed pendrive ‘full of dollars’ (yes, Mr. President, a pendrive ‘full of dollars’), companies in Uruguay, thousands of dollars in cosmetic surgeries, and dozens more falsehoods,» Adorni added.
para mi se fueron los chorros y meten a otro igual santilli el mismo que nos afano en la provincia estos giles creen que cambiando la cara arreglan algo la unica solucion es la revolucion abajo el ajuste y los politicos corruptos viva la lucha de clases 🚩
al fin sacaron a ese vendepatria de adorno para mi santilli es el unico q puede poner orden en esta joda los zurdos de mierda lloran pero no importa la casta chorra temblando vamos con todo no mas cuentos firmado el gaucho del rio