Argentine Government Faces Controversy Over Appointing President-Supporting University Students to Key Positions

Appointed as Director-Level Head of National Identity Management Department
Lacks Relevant Experience, Repeats Previous Government's Practices

The Argentine government is facing controversy after appointing a 20-year-old university student with no relevant experience to a senior position in the department managing national identity.

On the 8th (local time), according to Argentine daily newspapers La Naci?n and ?mbito, the Javier Milei administration, now three months into its term, appointed Geraldine Calveya (23), who has not yet graduated from university, as the director-level head of the National Registry of Persons (Renaper) under the Ministry of the Interior.

Heraldine Calveya (right), appointed as director-level official of an Argentine national agency, and President Milei.
[Photo by Heraldine Galveya Instagram capture]

Renaper is a national agency responsible for verifying and registering the identities of those born or residing in Argentina. It can be seen as the department managing citizens' personal information such as issuing national ID cards and passports.

Local media reported that "Calveya is from Saladillo, Buenos Aires Province, studied medicine at Maimonides University (UMAI) from 2021 to 2023, and started studying law at Universidad Siglo 21 earlier this year."

?mbito reported, "Calveya's experience is almost limited to two months working in the Chamber of Deputies, and officially she has not yet completed her undergraduate studies."

According to local media, Calveya is a strong supporter of President Milei and had planned to act as an observer for the ruling party during the last presidential election.

Calveya’s Instagram social media account featured photos with President Milei. Her social media accounts are currently set to private.

Some media outlets described Calveya’s appointment as Renaper director-level head as a "scandal" and strongly condemned it.

It is unknown whether the president or Karina Milei, the president’s sister and chief of staff, influenced this appointment. However, criticism is expected to arise against President Milei, who previously condemned decades-long practices of patronage employment and the spoils system (a political practice where the ruling party distributes government positions as rewards for political support) in Argentina.

Earlier this year, President Milei justified large-scale layoffs of about 5,000 public sector contract workers and civil servants by stating that "people employed due to their political background as ruling party members are taking jobs away," thereby legitimizing the reduction of public officials.

Meanwhile, this is not the first controversy involving appointments from the Argentine ruling party. Previously, Federico Sharif Menem (23), a relative of Mart?n Menem, the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, was appointed to a key position in the Speaker’s office, sparking debates over fairness.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.