Argentina's national social security administration, known as ANSES, has a new director. On Tuesday March 17, 2026, the Ministry of Human Capital confirmed that Fernando Bearzi had resigned as executive director and announced Guillermo Arancibia as his replacement. The move adds another name to the growing list of officials who have departed under President Javier Milei's administration — political analyst Pablo Salinas, who tracks these exits, puts the total at close to 240 since December 2023.
Bearzi had taken over ANSES in February 2025, barely a year before his exit. He is the third director to leave the post under the libertarian administration, following Osvaldo Giordano — who resigned in February 2024 — and Mariano de los Heros, who also left abruptly in February 2025. Arancibia is now the fourth.
Why Bearzi left — and the politics behind it
The official explanation from the government was brief: the change is part of a push toward digitalization and modernization of the agency. But sources quoted by national media paint a more layered picture. Bearzi's removal had been under consideration for some time and was accelerated by an internal conflict within the Milei administration between presidential secretary Karina Milei and strategist Santiago Caputo — a dispute that intensified during March.
Bearzi was closely aligned with Economy Minister Luis Caputo and arrived at ANSES in 2025 with that political backing. His departure, according to official sources, was negotiated with Human Capital Minister Sandra Pettovello, who is pushing for a different management profile focused on digital transformation and staff reduction.
Who is Guillermo Arancibia
Arancibia is 52 years old, holds a degree in Economics from the Universidad Nacional de Córdoba and a postgraduate specialization in finance from the Universidad de Belgrano. He has over 30 years of experience across the public sector, academic research and consulting.
His public sector track record includes serving as Director General of Studies and Information Technology for the City of Buenos Aires from 2007 to 2015, then as General Manager of the Superintendency of Labor Risks during the Macri administration. Most recently he served as deputy executive director of Benefits at ANSES itself. According to official sources, Arancibia had been sidelined from the agency's core decision-making by Bearzi when the latter arrived with his own team. Pettovello's appointment puts him back at the center.
The snack scandal that followed him in
Arancibia's appointment did not arrive without baggage. In August 2024 — while serving as deputy director of Benefits — he signed an internal directive authorizing the use of petty cash to cover personal consumables including yogurt, crackers and soft drinks. At the time he was earning a gross monthly salary of several million pesos — equivalent to many times the minimum pension — and justified the expenses as institutional needs.
The reaction inside the building was immediate: the following morning, ANSES offices were covered in handmade posters caricaturing Arancibia as a cartoon mouse. The episode generated significant pushback from staff and unions at a time when the government was implementing sweeping austerity measures across the public sector.
What comes next: digital overhaul, voluntary exits and welfare cuts
The official announcement focused on three priorities for the new leadership: digitizing processes, streamlining administrative procedures, and modernizing the agency's structure. That agenda already has a concrete first step: on Monday March 16 — one day before the leadership change was announced — the government published Resolution 68/2026 in the Official Gazette, enabling a voluntary retirement plan for ANSES staff as part of the broader push to reduce the public payroll.
On a larger scale, Capital Humano has announced plans to eliminate close to 900,000 social welfare plans under the Potenciar Trabajo scheme starting in April, at a monthly cost to the state of roughly 80 billion pesos. They will be replaced with a vocational training voucher system, shifting the model from direct cash assistance toward workforce integration.
The numbers behind the agency
While the leadership transition unfolds, ANSES continues paying benefits on schedule. In March 2026, the minimum pension sits at just over $369,000, supplemented by an extraordinary bonus of $70,000 under Decree 109/2026, bringing the total to nearly $440,000. The maximum pension in the system exceeds $2,480,000.
The Universal Child Allowance (AUH) stands at around $132,000 per child, with 20% withheld monthly and released annually upon submission of required documentation. The Universal Pension for Older Adults (PUAM) is approximately $365,000 including the bonus. All figures reflect the month's adjustment in line with January's consumer price index from INDEC.
The $70,000 extraordinary bonus has not been adjusted for inflation since its last update, meaning its real value continues to erode for minimum-pension retirees — a detail that sits uncomfortably alongside the government's stated goal of protecting the purchasing power of the most vulnerable beneficiaries.
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