ESPERT OUT, SANTILLI IN?

Cornered by revelations of his links with suspected drug-trafficker Federico ‘Fred’ Machado, outgoing deputy José Luis Espert stepped down last Sunday as the top La Libertad Avanza candidate for Buenos Aires Province in the upcoming midterms a fortnight from tomorrow, insisting on his innocence but offering his withdrawal as a sacrifice for the libertarian cause and for Argentina. President Javier Milei continued to profess faith in Espert’s “honour,” also expressing his confidence in electoral triumph, but immediately proceeded to name Pro deputy Diego Santilli as Espert’s replacement – easier said than done with electoral court approval and the reprinting of 14-plus million ballots required beforehand. Milei further said that the “operation” against Espert was Kirchnerism’s revenge against him for being the president who sent former two-term president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner to jail, which he achieved by the simple expedient of allowing justice to take its course. There was early pushback against Santilli last Wednesday from federal judge Alejo Ramos Padilla, who rejected his promotion and insisted on Espert being replaced by the second name on the list, Karen Reichhardt (whose real name was revealed to be Karina Vázquez). Santilli also had to contend with fraudster Leonardo Cositorto of the Generación Zoe Ponzi pyramid scheme stating that he had contributed US$32,500 to Santilli’s 2021 campaign. On Monday Espert followed up his exit from the midterm race by resigning the chairmanship of the Congress Budget Committee,