Quintela announced a restructuring of the state

The governor of La Rioja, Ricardo Quintela, announced a series of measures to restructure the provincial state, with the aim of reducing spending, organizing public administration and giving a sign of austerity in a difficult economic environment. As the President explained, this is not a change in political course or a review of management priorities, but rather a process of institutional adjustment aimed at making the functioning of the state more efficient.

Within this framework, Quintela expects progress to be made in reducing the number of ministries and secretariats and in introducing new administrative restrictions. “There will be changes. There will be a restructuring of the state,” said the provincial leader, clarifying: “We will take a series of measures to limit spending.”

Among the planned decisions, the governor noted that foreign trips and the granting of travel expenses to officials require express authorization from the executive branch and must be duly justified. The measure, he explained, would apply at least for the remainder of his term in office.

In a preview of an interview with the media Deuda Prometida, Quintela was more explicit about the scope of the restrictions. “In addition to a series of spending restraint measures, there will be a reduction in the number of ministries and secretariats,” he reiterated. In this sense, he emphasized that the departure of civil servants abroad “may only take place with the approval of the executive branch and for justified reasons”. And he noted: “I don’t want any official to leave the country. And if anyone doesn’t like it, they should submit their resignation and leave.”

At the same time, the provincial president announced restrictions on the use of commercial flights by public administration. As explained, only ministers and secretaries are allowed to travel by plane if the official agenda requires a return trip on the same day. In the remaining cases, officials will have to travel by land as part of the policy to reduce operational costs.

Another measure that Quintela highlighted concerns the use of company vehicles. “No official, from the undersecretary upwards, will be allowed to drive in official cars. They will drive in their own car,” he explained. The Governor considered that this decision represents “a strong signal to society” in a context that requires greater efforts and commitment from the public sector.

Regarding the conflict between the province and the national government over the co-participation point, which La Rioja no longer received after Javier Milei took office, Quintela admitted that he had no hope of a favorable solution in the short term. “I don’t think we in this government can recover the money that Milei owes to the people of Rioja,” he said. This is an amount of more than a billion dollars that was submitted to the Supreme Court after repeated requests from the provincial government.

The governor sharply questioned the president’s attitude towards the provinces and La Rioja in particular. “Milei has a pretty cruel attitude towards the provinces, but especially towards La Rioja,” he said.

Finally, Quintela referred to the situation of precarious workers and the current difficulties in promoting their legalization. He recalled that the greatest process of incorporation into a permanent work took place during the period of greatest national investment, under the presidency of Alberto Fernández and Cristina Fernández de Kirchner. However, he warned that the current economic situation and lack of resources prevent the implementation of this policy in the present.

PR