Public trust in the government dropped by almost 14% in August compared to July, according to a recent report by Torcuato Di Tella University. This is the lowest it has been since President Milei took office.

The Government Trust Index survey was carried out in the first 14 days of August, and its release comes a week after an alleged bribery scandal began rocking the administration. Milei’s sister and Presidency Secretary Karina Milei and other public officials are being accused of taking kickbacks from drug companies in exchange for contracts with the national disability agency.

The report also comes as the local legislative elections in Buenos Aires province (September 7) and the national legislative race (October 26) near.

The survey

The Di Tella University index on public trust in the government is based on a nationwide monthly survey that has been done since 2001. The scale, which goes from 0 to 5, plummeted to 2.12 points in August. This is the lowest the marker has been since Milei became president in December 2023. 

According to the report, the drop breaks the “relative stability seen in the previous four months.” The previous low point happened almost a year ago, when it fell to 2.16. 

On average, the trust index for Milei’s government during his first 20 months as president currently sits at 2.4 points. This is slightly below ex-President Mauricio Macri (2.5) and higher than Alberto Fernández’s ratings (2.1) during that same period of time.

The Di Tella survey also showed that the public’s trust in the government suffered a considerable drop in all the aspects they measure, the most notable being the administration’s level of concern regarding the population’s well-being (-18%).

It was followed by a drop in the Argentines’ belief in the government’s capability to solve the country’s problems (-14%), efficiency in public spending (13%), overall opinion of the government (-12%), and public officials’ honesty (10%).

The scandal

Meanwhile, the bribery accusations scandal continues to develop. New recordings allegedly belonging to disability agency former head Spagnuolo surfaced on Monday on the streaming show Data Clave, which had originally released the first set of audios. In them, a voice — which is supposed to be Spagnuolo — said he “does not understand” how the bribery operations could have started “in such a short time,” seemingly referring to how long Milei has been in power.

In other audios, which appear to be recorded phone conversations, he also made comments unrelated to the bribery probe, mentioning several members of the government, such as Vice President Victoria Villarruel. He says “she is fed up” with the government. 

“I don’t understand how they are not considering what would happen if she goes in the opposite direction.”

One of the owners of drug company Suizo Argentina, which is suspected of coordinating the bribery scheme between the government and other firms, surrendered to the judiciary. Jonathan Kovaliker, who was wanted by police since Thursday, handed over his phone at the Comodoro Py court on Monday, but was not arrested.