A resignation announced on streaming, with no successor
Daniel González resigned on Thursday from his position as secretary of coordination for energy and mining, a role he had held for more than two years. He made the announcement on the streaming program Las Tres Anclas, broadcast by Carajo, and official sources confirmed to Infobae that the post will not be filled by anyone else. González had joined the government in August 2024 after Economy Minister Luis Caputo personally called on him to oversee the two areas.[S1][S2][S3]
Caputo reacted on his official X account, thanking González for what he described as extraordinary work as coordinating secretary and praising his dedication and effort. The outgoing official responded with gratitude of his own, saying he was the thankful one toward the president for allowing him to take part in what he called a deep transformation, and toward Caputo, from whom he said he had received only trust, respect, affection and warmth.[S1][S2][S4]
Why he decided to leave now
González described his exit as the close of a cycle, explaining that he lacks a political vocation and is uncomfortable with public exposure, having no social media accounts and considering himself an odd fit for the role. He said he had raised the possibility with Caputo months earlier, but the minister judged the timing wrong because several legislative initiatives were still pending, including the Zona Fría law, the fuels law and the Super RIGI bill, along with the budget presentation and Argentina Week in Paris.[S1][S3][S4]
He also spoke about how hard it is for someone arriving from the private sector to enter public service and, paradoxically, how hard it is to leave, since being part of a project generates adrenaline and the work of the state never ends. According to his account, he and Caputo had been discussing the move for some months without it leaking, and both eventually agreed that this was the right moment.[S1][S2][S4]
A balance sheet of the energy and mining agenda
Reviewing his tenure, González said the energy sector inherited from the previous administration was a disaster and argued that the Ley Bases ended intervention and restored confidence in the industry. He maintained that his team did not discover Vaca Muerta but changed its pace, since projects were not moving forward, and he called a RIGI investment of USD 3.500 million remarkable even though it now seems routine.[S1]
His arrival at the Palacio de Hacienda followed a career in the private sector: he was finance director and later interim chief executive at YPF, which he joined in 2012, and he led the Instituto para el Desarrollo Empresarial de la Argentina (IDEA) until he entered public office. Before YPF he worked for Merrill Lynch and Bank of America in Buenos Aires and New York. Although his formal appointment was not published in the Boletín Oficial when he began working, the Casa Rosada presented him as secretary of natural resources, and from that position he coordinated the energy and mining secretariats.[S1][S2][S4]
María Tettamanti will remain at the head of the energy secretariat and Lucero will continue as mining secretary, according to Infobae. In his last public appearance weeks earlier, during Argentina Week in Paris, González visited the International Energy Agency alongside the nuclear affairs secretary Federico Ramos Nápoli, Tettamanti and more than ten governors.[S1]
