Buenos Aires, November 8, 2025 – Total News Agency – TNA – The recent salary increase for Hospital Garrahan staff, announced by the national government, sparked a fierce political crossfire after Elisa Carrió revealed that Guillermo Francos, then Chief of Staff, had called her two days before the elections to anticipate the measure and ask her to keep it under wraps. The leader of the Civic Coalition stated that the decision was not Health Minister Mario Lugones's, but Francos's, whom she attributed with the final push for the budget reallocation. Carrió and her lawmakers pointed out that the increase was the result of months of medical demands, judicial complaints, and parliamentary pressure, and accused Lugones of trying to capitalize on an achievement that was not his own. The opposition interprets this continuity as a political signal of support from Javier Milei for the questioned official, despite the complaints about his management and the criticisms of the Civic Coalition. "It was the silent struggle of the doctors and the work of Elisa Carrió that made it possible to obtain the funding, not the will of Minister Lugones," reiterated Reyes. "Mario Lugones is an opportunist who never did anything for the hospital and is responsible for attacking the doctors and an institution that is a source of pride for the country," declared Buenos Aires City lawmaker Hernán Reyes, spokesperson for Carrió. The leader maintained that the government lied by taking credit for the fund reallocation and said she has documentation that demonstrates how the salary increase was carried out. According to the timeline released by the Civic Coalition, the congresswoman had formally served Francos with a notice on October 6, demanding the implementation of the Pediatric Emergency Law that Javier Milei had vetoed weeks earlier. After that notice, Francos reportedly decided to proceed with the redetermination of allocations destined for Garrahan and disability programs. A few days after the announcement, both Francos and the Deputy Minister of Health were removed from their positions, while Lugones remained at the head of the ministry. Workers had carried out multiple strikes and mobilizations demanding improvements, while denouncing the state's abandonment of the hospital. For the opposition space, the Garrahan case exposes the political use of health management in a context of economic crisis, and reveals the infighting within the government over resource allocation and public communication management. Sources consulted: La Nación, Infobae, Clarín, Página/12, Perfil. In the conversation with Carrió, the official reportedly informed her that the budgetary reinforcement would be about 35,382 million pesos and asked her to keep the matter "under wraps" until after the elections. The Civic Coalition maintains that the political will to resolve the salary conflict never came from Lugones, but from the pressure exerted by the medical body and by Carrió herself. Finally, on October 31, the administrative decision that enabled the budgetary modifications and the salary increase, which reaches 61% retroactive to October, was published in the Official Gazette. The revelation of the conversation between Francos and Carrió adds tension to the presidential cabinet.
