The British newspaper Financial Times reacted this Saturday to the resignation of Manuel Adorni as Chief of Staff, in the midst of the investigation for illicit enrichment. In a note published on its official site, the newspaper said that the resignation occurred while Javier Milei tries to “quell a corruption scandal that damaged his free market reformist government” and referred to the support of the Secretary of the Presidency, Karina Milei.
“Chief of staff Manuel Adorni, who faces a federal investigation for recent property purchases and luxury trips, resigned in a letter sent to X on Saturday night, hours before the Argentines watched their third match of the 2026 World Cup against Jordan,” he said. financial times, which also defined the official as the “main advisor” by Milei.
The newspaper then noted that the Adorni case scandal was uncovered in March and explained: “It undermined the popularity and political capital of a government trying to advance the country’s biggest reform agenda in decades.“His attempt to justify his expenses in a television interview earlier this month, alleging that he used legitimate savings, including cryptocurrency investments and cash ‘found’ in his late father’s apartment, sparked widespread ridicule in Argentina and intensified calls for his resignation.”
He also spoke about the message shared by Karina Milei – whom he described as Adorni’s “closest ally in the Government” – after the resignation and stated that he issued a “unusual statement“The President’s sister had expressed her respect for the Chief of Staff’s decision and added: “We regret that the circumstances have developed in this way.”
Financial Times He also analyzed the President’s reaction and stressed that the head of state “resisted for months the pressure from his center-right allies and members of his own libertarian party to remove Adorni” and clarified that Milei insisted this Friday, during his trip to Spain, that he would not dismiss the official without a court ruling. “If they find him guilty, I will remove him myself. I trust his honesty,” he had declared.
On the other hand, the British newspaper noted that Adorni presented contradictions during his statements in the midst of the scandal. He mentioned that the Chief of Staff admitted, in a interview with José Del Rio for LN+who hid from the tax authorities about 500 thousand dollars that he obtained from savings, and who, at the beginning of the year, had declared before Congress that he had not committed any crime and had nothing to hide.
In closing, the newspaper emphasized that one of the Government’s flagship policies is ethics and anti-corruption, but, nevertheless, the Adorni scandal affected that image. The newspaper quoted Marcelo García, director for the Americas of the risk consultancy Horizon Engage, who warned: “It will be difficult to regain that credibilityespecially since all of these cases are likely to continue their course in court. Milei will have to fulfill the main priority for which he was elected: the economy. “Argentines will forget about Adorni if they keep their jobs and their income exceeds inflation.”
weeks ago, Financial Times had made another publication on the subject, in which he said that The Adorni scandal “hit” Milei and caused a drop in popularity. “The issue dominated five hours of heated questioning by lawmakers on Wednesday. The meeting — nominally a routine report on government progress that Argentine presidents rarely attend — became a dramatic political spectacle after two months of scandals and economic difficulties hit the right-wing reformist government hard,” he said.
