MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Milei reaches out to Elon Musk and confirms Central Bank head

Milei replied to Musk's posting by saying: “We need to talk, Elon.”

Argentina's President-elect Javier Milei said Wednesday that he spoke “extensively” on the telephone with tycoon Elon Musk, who shall not be attending the Dec. 10 inauguration in Buenos Aires.

“Javier Milei has just talked to Elon Musk and invited him to Argentina. We are back to integrate ourselves into the world,” Milei's office wrote on X, a social media owned by Musk, who earlier this week posted a fragment of an interview between Milei and writer Jorge Asís.

During the interview, Milei quoted Libertarian economist Milton Friedman: “When you put equality above freedom, you don't end up getting either of them. When you put freedom above equality, you get a lot of both.”

“There is nothing more unjust than social justice. The great achievement of liberalism is to have achieved equality before the law.”

Milei replied to Musk's posting by saying: “We need to talk, Elon.”

Hoy mantuve una gran conversación con @elonmusk, donde le agradecí por defender las ideas de la libertad y apoyar nuestro trabajo, especialmente teniendo en cuenta todo lo que él representa como ícono de la libertad en el mundo.
Elon me deseo mucha suerte y éxitos en la tarea,…

— Javier Milei (@JMilei) December 6, 2023

Also Wednesday, Milei's office announced that Santiago Bausili would be appointed Central Bank (BCRA) president and Daniel Tillard will head the Banco de la Nación Argentina (BNA).

Bausili is a finances expert close to future Economy Minister Luis 'Toto' Caputo, under whom he served as Undersecretary of Financing in 2016 and Secretary of Financing in 2017.

Tillard the current president of Banco de Córdoba becomes another contribution from Governor Juan Schairetti -one of the non-Kirchnerite losers at the presidential elections- to the incoming administration.

Milei convened Wednesday with members of his future team to discuss “the main guidelines for the State reforms” to be undertaken by the new government.

“The main guidelines for the State reforms to be carried out by the new Government and the first objectives for each area were discussed,” stated a press release from Milei's office, which ratified the following names for the presidential cabinet: Guillermo Francos (Interior), Luis Caputo (Economy), Guillermo Ferraro (Infrastructure), Diana Mondino (Foreign Affairs), Nicolás Posse (Cabinet Chief), Mariano Cúneo Libarona (Justice), Patricia Bullrich (Security), Luis Petri (Defense), Manuel Adorni (Spokesperson), Belén Stettler (Secretary of Communications), Sandra Pettovello (Human Capital), and Santiago Bausili (Central Bank).

Also present at the gathering was Armando Guibert, a former Undersecretary of Reform and Modernization under President Carlos Menem, who is believed to have been a key player during the 1990s.