MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Rossi sworn in as Argentina's new Cabinet Chief

Rossi “will work together with me” to keep the ruling party together ahead of this year's elections, Alberto Fernández said

Former Defense Minister and Federal Intelligence Agency (AFI) head Agustín Rossi were sworn in Wednesday as Argentina's new Cabinet Chief following the resignation of Juan Manzur, who returned to Tucumán provincial politics.

 “I would like to welcome once again to the Cabinet, now as Chief of Ministers, our dear Agustín,” President Alberto Fernández said during the ceremony at Casa Rosada's Bicentennial Museum.

President Fernández also highlighted Rossi's values and political commitment. “I know that he is someone who, like me, values very much the unity of our space and will work together with me to preserve it,” Fernández said with his reelection bid for this year visibly in mind.

The head of state also thanked Manzur for stepping in “at a very difficult time [when] he put his chest to the bullets and helped us as few others did. I want to publicly thank this great leader, a great person, and an unforgettable friend.”

Rossi chaired the ruling party's bloc of deputies during the governments of Néstor Kirchner and Cristina Fernández de Kirchner -CFK- (2003-2015) and served as Defense Minister between May 2013 and Dec. 2015 and again between Dec. 2019 and Aug. 2021. Since June last year, he became Interventor at AFI.

Rossi had left the federal government in 2021 to run for the Senate on behalf of his native Santa Fe but eventually lost to Marcelo Lewandowski, a candidate proposed by Governor Omar Perotti. Rossi returned to the ranks of those aligned with President Fernández in June to head the AFI, where he has been replaced by Ana Clara Alberdi, a close aide who has served under Rossi for 15 years in various posts. Alberdi holds a degree in Political Science from the University of Buenos Aires.