Finally, Javier Milei shared a barbecue at the Olivos estate with his ministers after the cabinet meeting held this Sunday morning. According to the President's entourage, the original idea was that the cost of the lunch would be borne by each of the diners and, in principle, each official would have to pay a figure that would range between $10,000 and $15,000.
According to Clarín, the head of state and his team of collaborators ate a relatively austere menu: roast and salad, and for dessert they tasted a fruit salad. Did the price stay the same? In the debut, finally, there was no distribution of expenses, although Milei made it clear that he wants to implement it from now on.
Starting at 11:30 a.m., the President met in one of the rooms of the presidential estate with Patricia Bullrich, Luis Caputo, Luis Petri, Federico Sturzenegger, Mario Russo, Karina Milei, Manuel Adorni, Santiago Caputo, Eduardo Serenellini, José Rolandi, Diana Mondino, Guillermo Ferraro, Guillermo Francos, Martín Menem, Mariano Cúneo Libarona, Nicolás Posse, Victoria Villaruel and María Carman (advisor to the chief of staff).
"A la romana"
The LLA leader had anticipated that as a sign of austerity the cost of the barbecues at the Quinta de Olivos would be divided by the number of diners. In the morning, the loquacious economist had told Radio Mitre that the lunch was going to be "'a la romana', they are going to have to pay for the barbecue each, and that's it."
"At first I take care of putting the house up, then I give the order and there are people who take care of the rest, like making the barbecue for everyone," he said.
Sources close to the president said that the cover at noon in Olivos would have cost between "10 and 15 thousand pesos per head." However, one of the diners told this newspaper that "I don't think (that figure) was very austere" and said that "later they will send the bill" to each of the diners.
Another official source consulted, meanwhile, minimized the fact and remarked that Milei's statements "are symbolic" so he doubted that it would finally end up materializing.
Another participant in the meal, meanwhile, told this newspaper that at the end of the meal, the President himself was asked "how much" the cost of the meal is, but that at that time there was no answer. "I don't know if they're going to charge us. But I don't rule out that they will send us the bill," he resigned.