Government says Guillermo Ferraro is leaving for 'personal reasons'; he would be responsible for disseminating management information
Argentine President Javier Milei officially announced this Saturday (January 27, 2024) the dismissal of the Minister of Infrastructure Guillermo Ferraro. In a statement, the government said Ferraro was leaving for “personal reasons.”
“In the coming days, Infrastructure Minister Guillermo Ferraro will submit his resignation for personal reasons,” the statement said. Here is the full text in Spanish (PDF 100 kB).
Milei made the decision to fire the minister on Thursday (January 25). According to the Argentine newspapers La Nación and Clarin, the reason was an alleged leak of information from interministerial meetings held twice a week at the Casa Rosada.
The statement also informed that the Ministry of Infrastructure will be dismantled and transformed into a Secretariat of the Ministry of Economy headed by Luis Caputo.
The change will reduce the number of ministries in the Argentine government to eight, as Milei promised during the election campaign.
“This measure will create greater coherence in the economic policy of the national government and allow the budget to continue to adapt to the current crisis context,” the statement said.
When the libertarian took over the government, he halved the number of ministries. Of the 18 in the Peronist Alberto Fernández government, 9 left.
Of the nine ministries, two were designated as “super ministries”, one of which was infrastructure, which included transport, public works, mining, energy and communications.
The other part, human capital, included social development, labor and education.
Guillermo Ferraro
In the 2023 elections, Ferraro coordinated the national inspection of Javier Milei's “La Libertad Avanza” coalition. Previously, in 2009, he served in the technical teams of the Ministry of Finance of the Government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires. His CV also includes managing Banco Bisel from 2003 to 2007.
In addition, he was Undersecretary of Industry for Industry from 2002 to 2003 during the presidency of Eduardo Duhalde and Vice President of the Nación Servicios from 2005 to 2007 under the leadership of Néstor Kirchner. Ferraro was also chief advisor to Peronist Antonio Cafiero in the Senate. In the 1990s, he participated in the Constituent Convention responsible for the 1994 constitutional reform that allowed Carlos Menem to be reelected.
The graduate in economics has spent the last 13 years as a director at KPMG Argentina, a global company specializing in the provision of auditing and consulting services.
In an interview with Argentine radio station Miter, Ferraro said his goal at the helm of the ministry would be to promote private sector participation and reduce government intervention in this area.
Meet Milei's other ministers in this report.