MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentina: Strategic Secretary resigns from Fernández's administration

Rumors of additional changes linger at Alberto Fernández's Casa Rosada

Gustavo Béliz Thursday turned in his resignation as Secretary of Strategic Affairs to President Alberto Fernández amid a political crisis at Casa Rosada, where an imminent cabinet reshuffle has already started, including the appointment of Lower House Speaker Sergio Massa as Economy Minister despite him denying the possibility Wednesday.

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Fernández was in his office Thursday afternoon and further announcements were expected before the end of the day.

Salta Governor Gustavo Sáenz insisted “Massa would provide the consensus that the country needs.”

“There are no saviors, but there are leaders with the capacity and experience to change reality. Undoubtedly Sergio Massa is one of them,” said Sáenz on Twitter.

Béliz, 60, a former Interior Minister under then-President Carlos Menem at the age of 29 in the 1990s, is a lawyer and a seasoned politician, who also served as Justice Minister under Néstor Kirchner in 2003. He was living in the United States when he was summoned by Fernández for this job.

It remains to be seen whether Fernández will seek to fill Béliz's vacancy or if he would rather suppress such an office, for which someone of the head of state's utmost confidence is needed.

Among Béliz's tasks was the management of credit arrangements with multilateral banks, such as the CAF-Development Bank of Latin America, the World Bank, and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

Economy Minister Silvina Batakis has held meetings with the World Bank in this regard during her trip to the United States this week, while the IDB refuses to disburse the loans already granted to Argentina. In other words, a newly-appointed official was stepping on Béliz's toes on one side while his endeavors were almost useless on another front.

Read also: IDB keeps approving loans for Argentina amid frozen disbursements