“OK, I’ll step aside but I’m taking others down with me.” Such was Santiago Caputo’s threatening leitmotiv in recent days as part of the unprecedented tussle with Karina Milei’s main operators, the cousins Martín and Eduardo “Lule” Menem.
The closure of the national government’s Buenos Aires Province lists probably weighed in the vindictive mood of the star spin doctor whose minions were wallflowers when it came time for Karina’s provincial delegate Sebastián Pareja to define the candidates
This dispute has been a long time coming, as highlighted by this space on various occasions, most recently early this month. While supersister and the Menems propose a more “purist,” Caputo believes that alliances must be established with and concessions made to other parties and even provincial governors to guarantee Javier Milei governance through to 2027.
Caputo (who turned 40 this month) pointed to the defeat in the Santa Fe constituent assembly elections (where he urged La Libertad Avanza to team up with Amalia Granata) and the victory in Chaco, where the libertarians tagged onto the list of Radical Governor Leandro Zdero.
Another district showing the contradictions of Karina Milei’s electoral tactics was Corrientes where she tore up the web previously woven by Caputo with Governor Gustavo Valdés and Senator Carlos Mauricio “Camau” Espíndola to install her own candidate, the deputy Lisandro Almirón. The three Corrientes senators voted for all the anti-government bills in the notorious session of July 10.
The unanimous rebellion of the governors to force the national government to submit both ATN Treasury remittances and fuel taxation to federal revenue-sharing was also taken by Caputo as a result of the inflexibility of the presidential sister.
Yet what most ignited the star spin doctor is what he considers to be an operation against him. This was the broadcasting of images showing the irregular passage of suitcases through Customs off a private flight coming from the United States with a single passenger who works for the owner of the airline, Leonardo Scatturice. A man with a background in the intelligence services, Scatturice has a direct link to Caputo via Manuel Vidal, an ex-PRO who advises the advisor. Things which happen.
Forewarned, Caputo avoided direct confrontation with presidential chief-of-staff Karina Milei to blame the Menems for broadcasting the case within internal circles, especially when word of multiple contracts of Scatturice firms with the state suddenly began to spread.
Aware as never before that the famous Iron Triangle of which Milei used to speak is increasingly isosceles (two equal sides, the siblings, and one short), Caputo intensified his fire against Lule and Martín Menem, whom he stopped seeing in the regular meetings of the political kitchen cabinet headed by Karina – the star spin doctor no longer participates in them.
After a succession of denunciations of numerous irregular appointments in Anses social security administration and PAMI pension healthcare scheme (decided by the Menems as part of “purist” recruitment), the leak of a multi-million Banco Nación contract with a firm linked to the Congress Speaker was attributed to Caputo within the government.
Tech Security has been servicing the Banco Nación since the Mauricio Macri presidency (2015-19) and Martín Menem ceded his shares to his brothers when elected to Congress. Various curiosities in that respect. One is that this is the first time an annual contract has been renewed for two years with option of a third. The second, that the bank’s tender avoided mentioning any conflict of interests, about which it had already been informed by the Anti-Corruption Office (does that still exist?).
On July 18 the ineffable spokesman Manuel Adorni (who is supposed to leave his post to move to the City Legislature and be replaced by Javier Lanari, another Karina loyalist) state that the adjudication was normal, that the press was at it again and that it was even old news.
Adorni had to get it right some time, in part, at least. It is true that the profuse commercial links between Tech Security and Banco Nación last January when my colleague Ivy Cángaro pointed from her Data Clave website to the multiple public and private contracts of firms belonging to the Menems or strangely linked to them. The magic of recycled news.
What the spokesman has not explained until now, nor anybody else, is the role in these renewed links with Menem family firms which Banco Nación vice-president Darío Wasserman might have had. A vigorous real estate developer in this metropolis, Wasserman was active in assembling the City libertarian lists, thanks to his excellent ties to supersister Karina via his wife, María del Pilar Ramírez, head of the City Milei caucus. New names, classic practices.
In the Casa Rosada offices of intrigue the recent propagation of another firm owned by a Martín Menem partner securing a contract with a healthcare scheme under government trusteeship is also attributed to Caputo.
According to La Nación newspaper, Htech Innovation obtained from the libertarian trustees of Osprera (the healthcare scheme of rural workers, the second-largest in the country) the contract for software solutions. The owner of Htech is Sergio Andrés Aguirre, Menem’s partner in TR Nutrition, dietary supplements. Aguirre created Htech in April, 2024 and that same year was already collecting money from the Milei trustees in Osprera, recommended by Lule Menem. People with eyes to see.
On July 14 Caputo received Security Minister Patricia Bullrich, who the previous day had been photographed in Olivos presidential residence in a highly promoted breakfast with the President. Those close to the minister leaked that Milei had asked her to convince the star spin doctor to lower the tone of his battle with the Menems, who are the same as Karina. Would they also have spoken of the PSA airport police videos of the new valijagate suitcase scandal?
After the two-hour meeting, rumour had it that from the Club World Cup, Mauricio Macri had rung Caputo due to the presumed interest of Italian companies in energy investment. An issue dear to the eyes and ears of the super spin doctor and raising political question-marks, obviously. Is my enemy’s enemy my friend? More payback for the Menems? Or a sign from Caputo of what he is capable in this infighting?
At the helm of the power of the Mileis, they continue playing with fire. They should take care – they could get burnt.
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by Javier Calvo
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