The businessman who bought Flybondi has a consulting firm that lobbies for the SIDE in the United States.

On Wednesday, June 11, at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, Donald Trump attended the premiere of the musical Les Misérables, accompanied by his wife Melania and a top-ranking U.S. government official.

Before the event, there was a cocktail reception hosted by Special Envoy Ric Grennell, attended by Trump, former Vice President Mike Pence, Attorney General Pam Bondi, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, among others.

Among the 80 guests at the exclusive meeting was also an Argentine: the rising businessman Leonardo Scatturice , close to the government due to his ties to the SIDE (Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs) and his personal connection to Javier Milei's influential advisor, Santiago Caputo.

Scatturice, 49, born in Lanús, has just become the main shareholder of the low-cost airline Flybondi , a company that has been in crisis for some time, with fragile finances and suspended services. He bought it through COC Global Enterprise , a US investment fund that acquired the majority stake.

But that acquisition wasn't the only news. Scatturice also owns Tactic, one of the fifty companies under his purview . Last Monday, June 16, he signed a lobbying agreement with the Argentine government to assist it "in coordinating meetings between Argentine and U.S. officials on issues related to trade and investment."

The 16-page document, uploaded by the U.S. Department of Justice to the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) system , details the formation of Tactic COC LLC and the agreement signed with Argentina's SIDE (Institutional Intelligence Service), for a monthly sum of $10,000 . Scatturice, in fact, is identified by various sources as a former local intelligence agent.

While the businessman's name isn't listed as the owner in that report, but his partner Soledad Cedro's is, his name appears on the Florida Department of State's website , under the Division of Corporations section. There, Scatturice appears as an authorized employee of the company, along with Pamela Poveda and Laura Arrieta.

Arrieta had traveled on the plane that was identified a few months ago as Scatturice's property and that spent a week "in transit" in an Aeroparque hangar before flying to Paris, with a stopover in the Canary Islands, without being inspected by Argentine Customs.

In light of the new controversy surrounding the businessman, Clarín consulted two different sources on the matter. One is related to Scatturice; the other is related to Javier Milei's government.

In both cases, they acknowledged the ties between the Argentine government and the businessman, to the point of naturalizing them. "Tactic is one of Leo's 50 companies, and yes, it signed an agreement with Argentina . But it's too much to say that Leo is the country's lobbyist for that reason," say sources close to the businessman.

Those who know Scatturice describe him as "a man very connected" to the Trump administration, although they say that "he is not involved in the daily operations of the company, which is run by four other people ."

They are Soledad Cedro , an Argentine naturalized American, Barry Bennett, Ryan Coyn, and Caroline Wren , Trump's main fundraiser in the last election campaign. They are all part of Milei's usual universe: the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) , which she attended several times.

Regarding the amount paid for the contract, they argue that it is practically "symbolic" because it is the "minimum that can be charged to a government," since all lobbying operations carried out in the US, where the market is legal and regulated, must be reported. "Everything charged is shown to avoid cronyism," they say.

In this regard, they explain that they have other contracts signed with other countries, such as Vietnam and Indonesia. "Vietnam, for example, is charged a fee of $250,000 per month," they maintain, implying that the amount paid by SIDE is paltry. "Imagine that there are very few lawyers who are good at lobbying. Here, a specialist charges $999 an hour," they exemplify.

Meanwhile, the Casa Rosada (Pink House) maintains that this type of agreement between governments and lobbying agencies is common and exists in all countries.

Regarding the contracting mechanism, those familiar with the matter say it was done through the SIDE (National Secretariat of the Interior) because it was the shortest route in terms of bureaucracy. The other options were to do it through the Ministry of Economy or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but that would have taken longer.

Within the Mileismo, they recognize the connection between Scatturice and Santiago Caputo . Privately, they speak of a relationship of "friendship" and advice on certain intelligence matters in which he specializes. "He's a man of consultation," they admit about Scatturice. They also value the businessman for having opened doors for the government in its relationship with the United States.

Regarding his entry as a majority shareholder in Flybondi , executive sources are clear. "We joined forces because they were looking for investors, especially in response to a claim from companies that were owed money," they state.

And they close with another reflection. "The government doesn't want a company like a low-cost company that represents 'the Argentina we want to go' to collapse," executive sources summarize.