The government of Javier Miley He does not want to assume a new loss from his government due to the conflict with public universities, but everything indicates that it is a matter of time before Alejandro Alvarez stop being the undersecretary of University Policies. For now, from the Ministry of Human Capital that leads Sandra Pettovello they decided get rid of budget negotiations that they already declared in massive marches throughout the country, but without making official a separation from the position. The thing is that in the first quarter of his administration, he already earned the rejection of a good part of the university educational authorities.
Although the focus is on the discussion about the astronomical adjustment to public universities, Álvarez’s “ways” in trying to connect with the rectors left him in the first place and not his superior Carlos Torrendell, Secretary of Education, who must now replace him in that role. “It doesn’t make much sense for a secretary to do the job of his undersecretary. I don’t think that modality will last long,” he details. PROFILE one of the rectors of the affected universities.
Alejandro Álvarez’s intersections with public universities
Hay rectors who recognized this medium having received a phone call before the march on April 23 from the undersecretary, where he promised to solve the problem of funds if they declined their position to participate in the mobilization. Those rectors knew the “extortion” facetbut others were directly “jet” treaties.
Authoritarians don’t like this
The practice of professional and critical journalism is a fundamental pillar of democracy. That is why it bothers those who believe they are the owners of the truth.
Mass march in defense of the university: “We are not willing to give up our future”
Álvarez does not hide that his main mission is audit “every peso” which is intended for universities, but starts from a hypothesis in which he believes that “there are plenty of universities” and that he will ensure to close them. “They asked me to finish the jobs,” he responded to some rectors who worriedly asked for a budget and ended up threatened with receiving audits from previous years.
In line with that thought is the lawyer Maria Belen Casas, Chief of Staff of Universities and girlfriend of “Fat Dan”one of the government’s heads of digital communication but better known as a recalcitrant mileista tweeter and leader of the horde of libertarian trolls who downgrade the ideas of Santiago Caputo y Fernando Cerimedo to social networks. Houses repeats the “get shit done” motto the higher education.
María Belén Casas, Chief of Staff of Universities, with her boyfriend “El Gordo Dan”.
When Torrendell and Álvarez appeared before the rectors and authorities that make up the National Interuniversity Council (CIN), the “good cop, bad cop” model was born. First, the Secretary of Education referred to the importance of dialogue because he recognized his ignorance of the university system, but he described that his policy would be around “literacy” and made a good first impression on those present. When it was the undersecretary’s turn to speak, he contradicted his superior and began to question and point fingers at rectors and universities.
Emiliano Yacobitti: “I was excited that everyone knew why I was marching”
“You are not recording what is happening in the country. Let’s start by being honest. SThey are talking about budgetary abuses, these cases do not escape them. It wasn’t Disney beforeLet’s make things clear. Abuses have been committed,” he warned, and continued pointing out that “the subject of management is not you (principals), it is the students, and in the second instance the teachers. Unfortunately you are far behind, the university bureaucracy is not a priority. “Our students also observe you and see what happens in their universities, and they demonstrated it in the elections.”
The CIN plenary session. On the right, Alejandro Álvarez, who gave a strong speech against rectors.
Alvarez too denounced indoctrinationin line with the sayings of Javier Miley. The official has an academic writing from a few years ago in which he is very critical of the university system on how it had evolved, of the new universities, of the lack of corporate vision and with proposals to reduce the number of educational institutions.
In dialogue with PROFILEone of the rectors of the CIN recounted the successive and spicy meetings with Torrendell and Álvarez to complain about the lack of funds, and how the speech went from recognize the inflation gap with 280% registered in 2023 to promise 70% which would only be representative of operating expenses, which today is only 5% of the total (95% comes from salaries of teachers and non-teachers).
“We understand that we are not going to receive everything, but the government does not even have a desire for dialogue, they stopped responding to us. There is no Budget law, there is no plan to follow, it is not even that we only have to deal with the budgetary issue, we also have to deal with a lot of resolutions that were taken regarding the delimitation of some careers, credits, quality certifications . This clearly shows that there is no will but destruction“.
The fight between Jorge Rial and Rodrigo de Loredo over the university march: “Try taking the side of the people”
They also see the undersecretary as having a role outside the norm, because his only job in universities is as a professor at the UBA: “We are used to dealing with someone who was previously rector and even though he is on the other side of the counter, he understands. But He was neither rector, nor dean, nor career director. He has a lot of ignorance. At the beginning they asked us to negotiate the joint agreements with the unions, when that is decided based on the budget enabled by the Ministry itself.”
Who is “el galleguito” Álvarez: from Peronist militant to fights for the Milei model
The history of “Galleguito“, as those who shared militancy in the University Peronist Youthgives details of a university Peronist who spent almost his entire professional career as a legislative advisor, a position through which he became increasingly closer to Milei’s ideas that he staunchly defends today.
He currently maintains an open and constantly active profile on his social networks, where, for example, he called the blackout that was carried out in universities as a form of budget claim an act of “terrorism.”
But before getting to that, his Peronist origin “from the cradle” is notable: he is the son of Alejandro “Gallego” Álvarez, founder of Iron Guard, a mythical Justicialist group that gave way to personalities ranging from the Pope Francisco even the businessman José Luis Manzano or the former governor of Córdoba José Manuel De la Sota.
Harsh statement from universities against Torrendell: “It makes unfounded qualifications to justify the adjustment”
Far from facing his origins, he also studied Political Science at the UBA and even founded in 2000 Valais, a group that, according to its website, brings together three banners of Justicialism: “economic independence, political autonomy and social justice.” La Vallese joined the Peronist University Youth (JUP), where Álvarez became a member of the national board twice.
He also became involved in unionism in the Association of Teachers of the University of Buenos Aires (Aduba). But without a doubt his career was in Congress, as a plant employee, where he worked, for part of the management of Nestor Kirchner. His distancing from Kirchnerism began after Memorandum of Understanding with Iranand as he approached the ranks of the PRO he gave the turning point with the abortion debate in 2017. His position of “light blue scarf“It even became personal because he remembers in some areas how his daughter was a victim of bullying for being “pro-life.”
Today he joins the libertarian ranks and they even say that he is one of the most convinced of the project, despite not denying his Peronist past. One of his enemies from his university militancy is the same again: Emiliano Yacobittifrom the Purple Strip, today vice-rector of the UBA.
JD/CP