The Chief of Staff Manuel Adorni was at the center of a political and media storm, which did not appear out of nowhere: it is the result of a mixture of sloppiness, feeling of impunity and a chain of explanations that got worse as the details became known.
The presence of his wife, Bettina Angeletti, on the presidential plane that took Javier Milei’s delegation to the United States ended up unleashing revelations, increasingly forced justifications and even criticism from the media ecosystem itself which usually functions as a shield for the “libertarian” government.
The controversy is simple: the official who for two years turned “there is no money” and “not with ours” into a political mantra decided that his partner could accompany him on an official flight to New York. According to his own explanation, because “he wanted me to accompany him” and because “she is his life partner.” Sentimental reason that, curiously, now seems to count as an administrative argument.
The problem is not just the trip. It is the contradiction with the discourse. For months, Adorni himself was in charge of announcing austerity measures, denouncing the privileges of politics and repeat that State aircraft should not be used to “transport family members”. Until, apparently, the definition of family changed.
As if that were not enough, another even more bizarre chapter was added to the discussion about the official trip: a private flight to Punta del Este during the long carnival weekend.
The most emphatic defense came from the hand of Marcelo Grandiojournalist, personal friend of the official for more than fifteen years and, as he himself explained, something like his “older brother.” Grandio revealed that the two traveled together to Uruguay on a private air taxi-type plane. According to his story, Adorni paid $3,600 for his family’s four tickets and he paid another $800 for his seat..
The detail is not minor: according to the last known affidavitthe assets of the chief of staff is far from reflecting the lifestyle that describe these trips. With a civil servant’s salary and few declared savings, the naturalness with which private flights, getaways to Punta del Este and expenses in dollars appear seems suspicious, to say the least. Inevitably another question arises: how are those numbers held up?
But the explanation was even more picturesque: it was, he said, the “cheapest private plane there is”. A system where someone pays for the round trip and another for the return trip, as if it were an Uber in the air. The attempt at clarification, far from calming the waters, ended up adding more questions than answers. Not only because of the cost of the trip but also because of the level of naturalness with which the official’s circle describes private flights, houses in Punta del Este and friendships with owners of aviation companies.
All while the official discourse continues to repeat that the country is going through a historic crisis and that austerity is a moral obligation.
In the midst of the scandal something even more striking happened: some of the journalists who for years functioned as allies of the Government came out to distance themselves. Jonathan Avenue It was one of the most direct. “If you are fighting caste, why the hell are you doing caste things?”he asked on air, remembering that the presidential plane “is not a taxi or an Uber” and that putting family members on an official flight is exactly the type of practices that the ruling party itself criticized in the past.
The journalist even went further and spoke of a worrying trend within the government itself. “What is the problem with this government? That it commits too many unforced errors, too many goals against”he launched. And he listed several recent episodes that, according to him, show a worrying drive for political self-destruction.
Baby Etchecopar He also joined the questions with his usual style: He called the Chief of Staff “cheeky” and summarized the episode with a phrase that mixes resignation and irony: “This is Argentina.”
Luis Novaresiofor his part, remembered something quite basic: When someone occupies a public office, decisions that involve State resources cease to be a private matter. Although the underlying point is even more brutal than that debate: while the Government applies a fierce adjustment that hits retirees, lays off workers and leaves entire industries on the brink of closure, its main spokespersons appear explaining private flights, luxury hotels and international getaways.
The episode, in short, exposes a discomfort that is difficult for the “libertarian” government to hide. Not because of a technical discussion about a trip or a protocol, but because Those who built their political power by denouncing the privileges of the “caste” begin to look too similar to what they supposedly swore to combat.
And when even part of media chorus that for months applauded every gesture begins to raise its voice -even if it is with discomfort- The scene becomes even more uncomfortable. Because what was revealed in these days was not only a political contradiction. It was also something much more mundane: behind the libertarian epic, the ontological coaching and the moral lessons about austerity, there appears a group of officials who move with the same logic of privileges that they “denounced” so much.
“Cheap” planes, friends who come out to act as improvised spokespersons on the radio and pro-government journalists who suddenly find themselves having to explain the inexplicable. A new breed, let’s say. But much less epic… and much more ordinary.
Source: www.laizquierdadiario.com
