In five months, Argentina’s Deregulation Ministry has shut down over 200 government offices and state entities. Federico Sturzenegger, its director, published a list on social media emphasizing that President Javier Milei’s administration is focused on reducing the size of the state.

“Come in and take a look. You’ll laugh and cry,” Sturzenegger wrote in his post, sharing a list of most of the closed areas. “Warning: it’s not for sensitive people.” 

Originally published by State and Public Service Transformation Secretary Maximiliano Fariña on X, the list includes government sectors that addressed climate change, gender and diversity policies, human rights, the informal economy, local and regional policies, tourism, and community development, among others.

He also thanked President Milei “for his conviction and leadership regarding the need to reduce the state structure.”

Fariña highlighted that the closure of 200 directorates and agencies, as well as almost 100 secretariats, is the main objective of the new ministry, which was created in July. He added that they were “unnecessary.”

“We found areas that had tasks that the private sector can do and others that had tasks that should fall on the provinces or municipalities, which goes against federalism,” the secretary explained.

The list shared by Fariña also named the Clothing Museum, which was dedicated to preserving and showcasing historical gowns, suits, and pieces of clothing from different time periods in Argentina and Latin America. The museum was unexpectedly shut down by a decree in October.

Besides the area shuttering carried out by the Deregulation Ministry, the government has also closed several ministries and entities over the past year. This includes the ministries of Social Development, Environment, and Women, Gender, and Diversity, among others; a team dedicated to analyzing military archives that may serve as evidence in crimes against humanity trials; the investigation unit from the National Identity Commission (CONADI) that aided in the search for appropriated children during the dictatorship; and the National Institute against Discrimination, Xenophobia and Racism (INADI). The latter one was closed by Milei using the exceptional powers the Ley Bases granted him to shut down public institutions.

On Friday, Presidential spokesman Manuel Adorni also celebrated the closure of the Women, Gender and Diversity Ministry, saying it was “a great memory” from the government’s first year. He shared an image claiming that the ministry led to an increase in femicide numbers despite the ministry spending “thousands of millions of pesos” and that “there is no room for superfluous expenditures.”

Femicide numbers in 2023 (250 victims) went up by 11% compared to 2022, according to data from the Argentine Supreme Court. However, prior to that, numbers had been decreasing after a spike of 260 victims registered in 2019 — 255 in 2020, 231 in 2021, and 226 in 2022.

Sturzenegger was appointed as head of the Ministry of Deregulation and Transformation of the State in July. He had been working closely with Milei since he took office, but until then, didn’t have an official role in the government.
In January, Sturzenegger was named head of the “Transitory Unit for Economic Deregulation” in a government communiqué, but that entity was never officially created. He was one of the key architects of Milei’s flagship reform bill, known as the Ley Bases, which Congress approved in July.