(Bloomberg) — Argentina President Alberto Fernandez named three new ministers on Monday as political infighting within his ruling coalition reignites.
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Fernandez named Victoria Tolosa Paz, a close ally, to head the Social Development Ministry while Kelly Olmos will become labor minister in charge of key negotiations with unions, the Argentine government said in a statement. The new officials will replace Juan Zabaleta and Claudio Moroni respectively.
Ayelen Mazzina will lead the Women and Gender Ministry after the resignation of Elizabeth Gomez Alcorta on Friday.
The cabinet shakeup, with the three ministers departing in as many days, is the latest episode of Argentina’s ongoing political crisis, with open disagreements between Fernandez and his powerful Vice President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner over how to manage the crisis-prone economy amid growing social demands.
The government saw Economy Minister Martin Guzman resign in July before being replaced by Sergio Massa, who took office in August as Argentina’s fifth economy minister in four years and opened a period of political truce.
Yet annual inflation accelerating toward 100% and Fernandez’s falling popularity continue generating divisions within the ruling Peronist coalition a year before general elections. After an initial recovery on Massa’s appointment, Argentina’s sovereign bonds have fallen for four consecutive weeks, lingering around 20 cents on the dollar.
Read More: Economists See Argentina Inflation Surpassing 100% by December
Disagreements over how to comply with a $44 billion lending program with the International Monetary Fund have also helped to fuel the political crisis.
The departure of Labor Minister Moroni leaves Fernandez without a close ally and one of the last members of his original cabinet named in December 2019.
Separately, Gomez Alcorta’s exit followed her questioning of indigenous and women’s rights decisions by the government, according to state-owned news agency Telam.
(Recast the story with name of new ministers. An earlier version corrected time span of bond fall in sixth paragraph.)
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