MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Milei picks Santilli as new Interior Minister

Santilli's choice came hours after a strained dinner between Milei and former President Mauricio Macri

Argentine President Javier Milei announced Sunday that he would be appointing newly elected Congressman Diego Santilli as his administration's new Interior Minister following the resignation of Lisandro Catalán.

The former PRO Deputy, who has just converted to La Libertad Avanza (LLA), and was to have been sworn in on Dec. 10, will now be in charge of liaising between Casa Rosada and the provincial governors during Milei's second half in office.

”We have an Interior Minister: welcome Colo (redhead) Santilli,“ Milei wrote on X. ”Diego will be the one to carry out the conversations with governors and legislators in order to articulate with the National Congress each of the necessary consensuses for the reforms that lie ahead,“ he added.

Just hours before his appointment, Santilli criticized Buenos Aires Governor Axel Kicillof for what he called a ”double discourse“ in politics, accusing him of opposing the administration's key legislative initiatives despite calling for dialogue.

Santilli's choice came hours after a strained dinner between Milei and former President Mauricio Macri, founder of the PRO party. Macri publicly confirmed after the meeting that the two leaders ”failed to agree“ and strongly criticized the recent appointments of former presidential spokesperson Manuel Adorni to replace Guillermo Francos as Cabinet Chief, citing Adorni’s ”lack of experience.“

On the other hand, Adorni praised Milei's pick: ”A great choice for this stage, where the priority is to move forward with the reforms that Argentina needs,” he said on social media.