Milei chooses ‘corrupt TikTok candidate’ Santilli to replace Espert

“There’s nobody who doesn’t say he is corrupt” – That was President Javier Milei’s earlier assessment of the man he has now agreed will head La Libertad Avanza’s main ticket in next month’s election.

But Diego Santilli’s promotion to the top of the La Libertad Avanza (LLA) list for Congress in the key battleground region of Buenos Aires Province – replacing José Luis Espert, who stepped down amid questions over his link to a suspected drug trafficker – is not a discretionary decision, but the direct result of applying the Electoral Law.

The key lies in the rule governing candidate replacements, designed to ensure gender parity.

President Milei has ratified the new LLA ticket, but it’s fair to say he has not always been a fan of Santilli – the influential PRO deputy turned libertarian who served as deputy mayor of Buenos Aires City from 2015 to 2021.

As often happens with Argentina’s head of state, he has a history of making scathing remarks online about the man who is now his top candidate.

In 2023, a thread of libertarian tweets targeting “the caste” singled out several politicians – including Santilli. Milei famously branded him “the TikTok candidate screwing around in a province ruled by crime and narcos.”

“The guy openly says he’s living off his ‘business’ and is greeted with smiles, not questions. There’s nobody who doesn’t say that he is corrupt,” the President wrote on social media.

“He’s one of those who pays for birthday parties with your money – one of those the media want to sell to us as an alternative for Buenos Aires Province,” Milei added on X.

On another occasion, referring to Santilli’s alignment with former Buenos Aires City mayor Horacio Rodríguez Larreta, Milei described both as “managers of public affairs who, given the level of state intervention they recite and display in their administration, represent a real danger.”

Santilli is now awaiting approval from the Electoral Court for the change in the list, but the PRO deputy has already made his position clear.

“It’s my turn to take responsibility,” he told Radio Rivadavia on Monday.

He is set to appear alongside the President in Mar del Plata on Tuesday, where they will tour a factory owned by US firm Lamb Weston and walk down Güemes Street, a key tourist and shopping district.

Legal representatives from La Libertad Avanza, coordinated by Buenos Aires organiser Sebastián Pareja, have petitioned the Electoral Court to reprint the alliance’s ballot papers with Santilli’s photo replacing Espert’s image.

– TIMES/NA/PERFIL