Juan Décima 
Patricia Bullrich will be Javier Milei’s security minister, the president-elect’s press team announced in a release posted Friday morning on the website X. This will be Bullrich’s second stint on the job, as she held the same position during former President Mauricio Macri’s government (2015–2019).
“I thank President-elect Javier Milei for the chance to serve the homeland again as Security Minister,” Bullrich posted on X. She added that she was “committed to a deep change” and that Argentina “needs order.”
Bullrich, who is currently PRO party president, had been in negotiations to join the incoming administration in some capacity for a few days now. On Thursday, she met with Milei at his Hotel Libertador headquarters and left after a little over an hour without speaking to the media. Members of her press team told the Herald they had discussed the possibility of Bullrich joining Milei’s government but did not confirm in what role.
“They’re still negotiating,” one spokesperson said.
In a sign that things were on the verge of coming together, Bullrich announced on Thursday evening that she would call for PRO authority elections in 2024 and would not seek a new term as party president.
“I will call for party elections in early 2024 in order to renew national authorities for PRO Argentina. I will not be running for a new term,” Bullrich posted on X, adding that her current goal was to devote her “effort, energy, and time to building a prosperous and safe Argentina.”
Bullrich’s actions have been a source of party tension ever since the general elections.
On October 25, just three days after the elections, she and running mate Luis Petri decided to back Milei in the run-off against Sergio Massa without reaching an agreement with the party. This caused a divide with other PRO members such as Horacio Rodríguez Larreta and María Eugenia Vidal, who flatly refused to back the libertarian economist and said they would cast a blank vote.
Negotiations for her to join the incoming administration have only deepened the uncertainty over what will be PRO’s role during Milei’s presidency. Governor-elect of Entre Ríos and PRO member Rogelio Frigerio alluded to this in an interview with Radio con Vos last Saturday, saying that if Bullrich joined Milei’s government, “she couldn’t be party president anymore.”
In the statement announcing Bullrich’s naming as minister, Milei’s team also said that Rodolfo Barra would head the National Treasury Attorney’s Office, a division of the executive branch that represents the state in judiciary proceedings. Barra is a former Supreme Court Justice (1989–1993) who later became judiciary minister (1993–1996) during former President Carlos Menem’s administration.
Barra was forced to resign as minister in 1996 after it came to light that, in his youth, he had been part of groups that expressed admiration for Nazism.
Additional reporting by Martina Jaureguy
