The chief of staff, Juan Manzur, highlighted this Monday that “It is unanimous” within the ruling coalition the acceptance of Silvina Batakis to take over as head of the Ministry of Economy to replace Martín Guzmán, and assured that it is a “an economist of excellence and great experience, who has had enormous responsibilities throughout his professional life”.
In statements made to the press this morning upon entering Government House, Manzur stated that Batakis would take office “probably in the course of the afternoon,” once the procedures to make the appointment official are completed.
Meanwhile, when asked on whether there will be other changes in the cabinet, the official replied: “For now the President has not made that decisioneach one of the ministers continues in his area of work”.
In this context, he affirmed that the president of the Chamber of Deputies, Sergio Massa, whom he defined as a leader “with a long history and a personal friend”, today fulfills “a very important task in charge of the Presidency of the Chamber of Deputies” and will continue “collaborating as it has been doing until now” from that position.
“I spoke with all the governors and many referents of our space, and the acceptance of Silvina Batakis is unanimous”
Regarding Batakis, Manzur pointed out that she is a leader whom “he has known for a long time, an economist of excellence, with great experience and who has had enormous responsibilities throughout his professional life.”
Along the same lines, the head of the Federal Intelligence Agency (AFI), Agustín Rossi, highlighted on Monday “the high levels of consensus” generated by the appointment of the new minister: “it generated a level of consensus that had not been in place for a long time it was seen in the Front of All (FdT), “he said in dialogue with Radio con Vos.
He also said that Martín Guzmán’s resignation left him “a bittersweet taste.”
“At least for me (Guzḿan’s resignation) was unexpected and I think somewhere it was also unexpected for the President. No one can escape the fact that the President has used a large part of his political capital to keep Guzmán as minister of Economy”, indicated Rossi.
Guzmán “should have understood the impact that this generated within the FdT, being a minister that the government had always supported,” he continued.
In any case, Rossi took the opportunity to highlight what Guzmán did at the head of the economic portfolio by stressing that “he was able to negotiate the debt with the IMF, he was able to reverse the most important exchange rate run that the Government had, he restructured the debt with creditors under foreign legislation and local and was able to lower unemployment”.
He also celebrated the dialogue between the president and the vice president: “When it seems that tensions reach a point of no return, a window of opportunity appears, and Guzmán’s resignation generated this possibility that there will be a dialogue between Alberto and Cristina again” .
Meanwhile, the Security Minister, Aníbal Fernández, described Batakis as an “excellent economist” and maintained that “the program carried out up to now will be ratified.”
“I know Batakis professionally and she is an excellent economist. The work she did in the province of Buenos Aires was brilliant, especially at a difficult time, and the results are visible,” Fernández said in statements made to the press at the Headquarters of the Ministry of Security.
On the other hand, he said he did not know the reasons why Martín Guzmán left office and recalled that the last time they spoke was on Friday, during the act at the General Confederation of Labor (CGT) that was headed by President Alberto Fernández.
“I know Batakis professionally and she is an excellent economist. The work she did in the province of Buenos Aires was brilliant, especially at a difficult time, and the results are visible”Hannibal Fernandez
“I was with Martín at the CGT talking about issues that concern us and there was nothing that made me think that he was going to resign. His resignation means that the President has to make this decision. In this case, he chose Batakis, who is an excellent professional, so it makes me very happy,” he added.
He also criticized the way in which the minister carried out his resignation. “These gestures are not made, sometimes they have to do with those who do not come from politics and who do not specify things by talking face to face. These things are resolved in another way,” he stressed.
Along the same lines, the Minister of Public Works, Gabriel Katopodis, highlighted “the commitment to public management” of the new Minister of Economy, whom he defined as an “excellent professional.”
“I congratulate our colleague Silvina Batakis, our new Minister of Economy,” the official remarked on his Twitter account, and maintained that the new head of the Palacio de Hacienda is “an excellent professional of great human warmth, respected and committed to the management public, which works tirelessly in the construction of a fair and supportive Argentina”.
I congratulate the colleague @sbatakisour new minister of @Economia_Ar.
An excellent professional with great human warmth, respected and committed to public management who works tirelessly to build a fair and supportive Argentina.
Management successes!
— Gabriel Katopodis (@gkatopodis) July 4, 2022
The governor of Tierra del Fuego, Gustavo Melella, also celebrated Batakis’ appointment and considered that “it will give Argentina that peace of mind it needs.”
Given that until today Batakis worked as Secretary of Provinces of the Ministry of the Interior, her arrival at Economy is “a joy” for all the provincial leaders since the official has “a very close relationship with each one,” Melella continued.
“For us it is a joy that someone who has her capacity, the commitment, the heart, the militancy that she has, assumes this difficult and complex moment,” the governor synthesized in dialogue with Radio 10.
He said that the official “has contact with all the governors” because “she is in the Secretariat responsible for accompanying the provinces by the Ministry of the Interior”, where she has worked since 2019 together with the head of that portfolio, Eduardo “Wado” de Pedro, and for this reason “he has a very close relationship with each of the governors.”
“We are reassured that he is going to put a lot of himself, and he is going to put the good of our people first, especially those who have the least, over any other interest,” said the Fuegian president.
Along the same lines, he spoke of the governors’ opinion on the new minister: “It is a designation that we fully support, support and gives us a lot of peace of mind and a lot of hope,” he assured.
He especially valued that Batakis “knows each province, the reality of each one”, that is why “for Argentina it is very good news” his designation.
He also said that he has “a great character and great strength.”
“It is valued by pro-government supporters and opponents alike, and that is a great sign at this time,” he concluded.
