Five public officials leave the government in a day

Five public officials with high-ranking roles in government departments and state-owned companies related to fuel gas, finance, and transportation announced they were leaving their posts between Wednesday and Thursday, leading to an impromptu reshuffle of key areas. In 24 hours, the departures of Carlos Casares as head of fuel gas regulator Enargas, Paul Starc from the Financial Information Unit (UIF, by its Spanish initials), and Luis Pierrini as transportation secretary were announced. In addition to them, Gerardo Boschín and Leonardo Comperatore, leaders of public train companies Trenes Argentinos Operaciones and Trenes Argentinos Infraestructura, respectively, also resigned after Pierrini announced he was leaving the government. All the changes were announced as resignations, although it remains unclear whether some of them were asked to leave by the government. Casares’ decision comes days after he was left out of the board of directors of a new entity that will join the fuel gas and electricity regulators in one. In a letter formalizing his resignation, he highlighted his role designing the government’s energetic policy since before Javier Milei was elected president, and said that his will was to continue as part of that new regulator. However, he expressed surprise with the decision to leave him out of the new board. Carlos Casares, former head of Enargas. Photo: Enargas “I understand that I have not fulfilled your expectations and/or no longer have your trust to continue collaborating with you,” Casares said. “Under these circumstances, there is no other possible decision than to file my unwavering resignation.” Starc’s decision to quit his role at the UIF was announced by the justice ministry, saying it was due to “personal reasons.” The ministry’s statement highlighted Starc’s work over the year he was in charge of the area, and said he would continue to collaborate with the government. He was replaced by Ernesto Gaspari. Outgoing UIF head Paul Starc. Photo: UIF/Justice Ministry Starc left the UIF as the entity, as well as tax collector ARCA, were expected to adapt existing anti-money laundering norms to align with a recently approved bill known as “fiscal innocence,” which applies the concept of “innocent until proven guilty” to large funds movements, rising the threshold in which authorities have to start controlling where the money came from. The law was formally enacted on January 2, but cannot be put into effect until the UIF and ARCA make those modifications. The goal is for people to put their unregistered cash savings back into the bank system without fearing punishment, in order to increase dollar reserves. A new corruption scandal? The transport area was the one that suffered most changes. On Wednesday, the economy ministry announced Pierrini was leaving after less than a year as head of the transport secretariat, also due to “personal reasons.” He was replaced by Fernando Herrmann. The ministry’s statement was brief, and did not make any comments about Pierrini’s work. Pierrini’s departure, as well as the resignation of those in charge of public companies dedicated to the operation and infrastructure of trains, comes after a new corruption scandal was reported by La Nación newspaper in the transport sector. According to the report, several bus companies denounced that the firm La Nueva Metropol was allegedly receiving subsidies for longer routes than they actually made, allowing them to double the amount of money they received from the state. Those companies reportedly told Pierrini about this in mid-December, but he did not take any measures to stop the fraud. According to La Nación, Economy Minister Luis Caputo found out about this while attending the World Economic Forum in Davos this week, and asked him to resign. The case could have led to yet another corruption scandal in the government. Last year, several high-ranking officials were involved in accusations that stated Karina Milei — presidency secretary and the president’s sister — managed a scheme in which medical and pharma companies paid bribes in order to get state contracts with the now extinct national disability agency. Cover image features outgoing Transport Secretary Luis Pierrini