The former attorney general of the City of Buenos Aires, Juan Bautista Mahiques, took office this Thursday as the new Minister of Justice of the Nation, replacing Mariano Cúneo Libarona. The ceremony had an overcrowding of officials and limited judicial presence: despite coming from a family linked to the Judiciary, the personalities attending the swearing-in could be counted on the fingers of one hand.
Mahiques took the oath before President Javier Milei, in a brief ceremony in the White Room of the Casa Rosada and before the senior staff of the Libertarian Government. The former judicial official will be seconded in the portfolio by Santiago Violaa place that corresponded to Sebastián Amerio.
The person displaced from the vice position in the Ministry of Justice is an official of the presidential advisor’s kidney Santiago Caputobut found out on Tuesday about his departure from office while he was live. Near Mahiques they told Agencia Noticias Argentinas that the true link between the libertarian administration and the now former prosecutor was Martin Menemthe head of the Chamber of Deputies.
Yesterday, Milei received Cúneo Libarona in the morning with the aim of resolving the internal dispute over the leadership of the portfolio after several attempts by the lawyer to resign from the position, which led to the appointment of Mahiques.
President Javier Milei swears in the new Minister of Justice, Dr. Juan Bautista Mahiques. pic.twitter.com/idRAzf5ESR
— Office of the President (@OPRArgentina) March 5, 2026
In your count ofMahiques thanked Milei “for the trust in assuming” the position and added: “His leadership has been clear in leading the way: without justice there is no possible future.”
“This course requires institutions that operate in accordance with the rule of law and a legal system with clear and stable rules, which rebuilds public trust, provides real security and a predictable framework for those who comply with the law,” the judicial official wrote.
For the designated official, “this course requires institutions that operate in accordance with the rule of law and a legal system with clear and stable rules, which rebuilds public trust, provides real security and a predictable framework for those who comply with the law.”
I thank President Javier Milei for the trust in assuming this responsibility. His leadership has been clear in leading the way: without justice there is no possible future. This direction requires institutions that operate in accordance with the rule of law and a legal system with… https://t.co/8K0qeG4WsF
— Juan Bautista Mahiques (@juanbmahiques) March 4, 2026
Limited judicial presence.
Despite coming from a family linked to the Judiciary, the personalities attending the swearing-in could be counted on the fingers of one hand. On the left side of the White Room, his father Carlos “Coco” Mahiques, judge of Chamber I of the Federal Chamber of Criminal Cassation, was seen. Also present were his wife and children, his brothers Esteban, a Foreign Ministry official and member of the AFA Disciplinary Court, and the youngest of the clan, Ignacio, deputy in the Roads case against former president Cristina Kirchner.
The guest list was reduced and was attended by the member of the Superior Court of Justice of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires (TSJ), Santiago Otamendias published by Agencia Noticias Argentinas. Also shown were the deputy attorney general of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, Pablo Garcilazoand Mahiques’ replacement as Buenos Aires attorney general, Javier Martín López Zavaletamen who respond politically to the radical Daniel Angeliciabsent from the ceremony.
As a counterpoint, there was a strong participation of officials from the Executive Branch, with the general secretary of the Presidency, Karina Mileias the main protagonist. They were even photographed together. Upon entering, the youngest of the Milei greeted Santiago Caputo, who followed the brief ceremony standing from one of the sides of the room.
Distributed in the room were the Chief of Staff, Manuel Adorniand the ministers Pablo Quirno (Foreign Relations); Alejandra Monteoliva (Security); Mario Lugones (Health); Federico Sturzenegger (Deregulation and Transformation of the State); Sandra Pettovello (Human Capital). Also, the protrusion Mariano Cúneo Libarona. The only ones absent were Luis Caputo (Economy), Diego Santilli (Inside) and Carlos Presti (Defense).
Likewise, the Secretary of Legal and Technical, Maria Ibarzabal Murphy; the head of the block of La Libertad Avanza (LLA), Patricia Bullrich; the head of the Central Bank, Santiago Bausili; the Secretary of Environment and Tourism, Daniel Scioliand the new vice minister of Justice, Santiago Viola.
The entire Menem clan, made up of the Undersecretary of Institutional Management of the Presidency of the Nation, Eduardo “Lule” Menem; the head of the Chamber of Deputies, Martín Menem; and the general director of the Private Secretariat of the Presidency of the Chamber of Deputies, Sharif Menem, also followed the oath.
