The now ex-chancellor not only displeased President Milei, but also failed to cut expenses. Mondino's lack of budget cuts means that the chainsaw of La Libertad Avanza will now fall on the San Martín Palace.
President Javier Milei has made it clear on several occasions on his social networks and various officials have also reflected his thoughts: it is time for the chainsaw to go through the Foreign Ministry.
Until this week, and after her dismissal, the portfolio managed by Diana Mondino had managed to avoid the chainsaw. In fact, according to government data collected by Perfil, the now ex-chancellor did not make any adjustments.
Furthermore, Mondino began his administration with an initial budget of 188,314.80 million pesos and ended his term with more than double that amount: 511,662 million pesos, equivalent to 455 million dollars.
Of this amount, the portfolio has executed to date a total of 358,011 million pesos (388 million dollars), with a budget execution of 75 percent.
In terms of resource execution, Mondino's former foreign minister has numbers in line with other key portfolios such as the Ministry of Human Capital (average of 74 percent), the Ministry of Economy (72 percent), the Ministry of Justice (73 percent) and the Ministry of Security (73 percent).
The question of where this expenditure is located can also be addressed. The highest item is staff salaries, with 108.258 billion pesos. It is precisely this aspect that President Milei has questioned since the dismissal of Mondino, criticizing the “diplomatic caste” and its privileges.
Undersecretary of Press Javier Lanari described it as “scandalous” that ambassadors earn 20 thousand dollars in a country where 50 percent of the population is poor.
“It is even more outrageous that they say they cannot afford to maintain a good standard of living abroad, chainsaw,” the official said in a post on social media X, a message later shared by Milei.
Mondino not only had a larger budget, but in real terms, considering the year-on-year inflation, his department had a positive balance of 0.3 percent. No other ministry has similar figures as of September: Guillermo Francos' Cabinet Office made a cut of 28.03 percent, Human Capital 26.97 percent, Justice 28.70 percent, Defense 15 percent, Security 22.3 percent and Interior 63.2 percent.
Even the Presidency, following the guidelines of La Libertad Avanza, made severe cuts, boasting of a 57.15 percent adjustment. But Mondino, the economist who was expelled from her post and now replaced by businessman Gerardo Werthein, did not set an example.
Despite this, Mondino traveled on commercial planes and with a minimal entourage, but since taking office on December 10, according to the Foreign Ministry website, he has appointed 12 people to the Ministry's organizational chart, ranging from positions in cabinet units to advisers to various secretaries and undersecretaries.
Some of them passed quickly through the San Martín Palace, like Francisco Sánchez, who was in charge of the religious sector but was responsible for controversial acts and statements in various forums. Reason enough for Nahuel Sotelo, a libertarian figure, to arrive at the Foreign Ministry without the endorsement of the Foreign Minister and with the approval of the iron triangle of La Libertad Avanza made up of Milei, Sister Karina Milei and presidential advisor Santiago Caputo.
Fountain:
