Espert submitted his resignation to Milei in Olivos and the President told him not to withdraw his candidacy.

Patricia Bullrich, Guillermo Francos, and Santiago Caputo . Three of the four members of the government's newly formed political committee were convinced that their desire and pressure to force José Luis Espert to resign from the candidacy had worked and would materialize on Friday night, with the deputy's visit to the President. " He arrived in Olivos with the intention of withdrawing, and Javier convinced him otherwise . They fed on each other," some leaders of the government's top leadership claim.

Espert denied these reports in an interview this Saturday. " I never thought about resigning. That's a lie (...) Espert is not a vote-stealer and he's not with the president's party. I'm absolutely innocent ," he said on Radio Mitre before once again targeting Juan Grabois and Kirchnerism. He announced that he will voluntarily appear in court.

The Minister of Security and senatorial candidate, the first to demand explanations from Espert, already knew that Milei didn't want to remove the congressman and that the President still believes it isn't the best solution. Karina Milei never wanted the economist back in the libertarian fold, but she doesn't oppose her brother's wishes.

" Espert doesn't have the morale to back down . It's going to be a national catastrophe ," lamented a member of the political panel privately, who doesn't see the ruling party wooing the "Republican nerds" who didn't vote in September.

The President's difficulty in managing in districts like Santa Fe that are friendly to his government is eloquent.

Some of the government's key figures in the political fray believe that Espert's explanations won't be enough and that the opposition could muster the necessary votes to remove him from office , as happened with Julio De Vido. This initiative could even be supported by dialogue-minded opponents who are willing to help Milei again after October 26, as they did in 2024 with the Constitutional Law.

Those close to Bullrich, who campaigned in the capital this Saturday with Alejandro Fargosi , are scathing about Espert. They remember him for the failed approaches in 2023, when the now minister proposed that he join her lists and the deputy preferred Horacio Rodríguez Larreta.

Other leaders of the ruling party insist that no one insulted the President and his sister more than the current candidate .

The ruling party remains trapped , unable to campaign . With that prospect and Milei's new endorsement of Espert , some have proposed to the head of state a way out of the maze .

" You have to announce dollarization," the President heard from a senior advisor.

"I think it's too bold," was the response of the head of state, who, according to his interlocutors, did not completely rule out the proposal.

They quietly suggest announcing a plebiscite on the matter now or after the October results. Two weeks ago, Milei told his friend Gabriel Anello on Mitre that the process would be long and would last four years. Last Wednesday, on the same station and again with Anello, he wasn't so categorical. " That (dollarization) depends on whether the Argentine people want it ," declared the President, who asserted that the public hadn't embraced endogenous dollarization and preferred not to use the dollars they had in their mattresses. "It could be (a plebiscite), it could be done, but there's still (a long way to go) (...) The icing on the cake (dollarization) could be that, only if the people want it," replied the President, in response to his friend's insistence.

The President embraces the idea that the negotiations between the economic team in Washington and the U.S. Treasury will give him a boost, and his photo with Trump at the White House will reset the agenda.

Leaders with experience in elections are less certain about this. They are convinced that the Espert scandal is a similar anvil to what the Diego Spagnuolo audio recordings were for LLA in the Buenos Aires elections .

Nervousness is causing the internal commotion between the territorial leaders who answer to Karina Milei and the Forces of Heaven, who are based on Santiago Caputo and were marginalized from the lists, to re-emerge with more force than ever just before the President heads his main campaign event in the City this Monday: the presentation of his book The Construction of the Miracle .

Milei told the leader of the Buenos Aires legislature bloc, Agustín Romo, that she wanted to join the event with militants from the Fuerzas del Cielo ( Forces of Heaven). The provincial deputy took it upon himself to spread the word. " Who's going to fill the Movistar? The Fuerzas del Cielo ?" joked leaders who answer to Sebastián Pareja , the candidate for deputy and president of the LLA in the Province. Romo will once again provide buses to bring militants from various points in the suburbs .

Caputo's group spread the rumor that the Buenos Aires legislator and coordinator of the first Buenos Aires section, Ramón "Nene" Vera , had been removed from the organization.

Vera, who has a history in Kirchnerism and has now managed to get his daughter on the national candidate list, will be present in Villa Crespo on Monday. The Buenos Aires LLA committee is pointing out that the heated tensions could escalate into physical attacks . "They've told our own members everything: that they're black, that they're thieves. I don't control them, and I don't know what could happen," Pareja told his team.

It's the same warning Caputo had made about Fat Dan (Daniel Parisini), at the launch of the Government's political roundtable after the beating in Buenos Aires and after the streamer insulted Luis Juez and his daughter . According to the Letra P portal's official at the Casa Rosada, Parisini visited Caputo again at Balcarce 50 this Friday. Manuel Adorni had been categorical in stating that the streamer was not part of the Government.

In May, during the Buenos Aires blockade in Recoleta, there was some shoving between the two sides, but nothing serious came of it . There was no shortage of enthusiasm. Karina Milei's party maintains that Romo, who spends more time in the Rosada (Presidential Palace) than in the provincial legislature, will have to step down as president of the bloc after December 10.

Leaders close to Karina Milei continue to blame Caputo for the release of Spagnuolo's audio recordings. By action or inaction. As this newspaper reported , Lule Menem has lowered his profile, but remains active in the national campaign. This week, he even participated in national committee meetings at the Rosada (Presidential Palace). Caputo seated Romo next to him .

The internal conflict within the ruling party is blocking the administration . This is the same point Mauricio Macri makes to his own troops , who, despite promising Milei the support of the PRO (Nationalist Party of Venezuela) in Congress beyond October 26, are not fully convinced that the President is willing to resolve the unrest within the cabinet, which he described as "compact."

The former president, who this Saturday described his second meeting with Milei in five days as "very good," hasn't asked for anything for now. He's privately betting that Francos's empowerment will be successful. It would mean Caputo's capitulation in terms of management in favor of the PRO.