José Luis Espert

Espert was born in Pergamino to a Catalan father and an Argentine mother. His father, who died in 2018, was a prominent businessman linked to the rural sector. Espert studied economics at the University of Buenos Aires (UBA),^[1] later earning a master's degree in economics at the University of CEMA (UCEMA), and a master's in Statistics at the National University of Tucumán.

He started working at the Miguel Ángel Broda firm where he was a monetary policy analyst, later to become a chief economist at the same institution. He also worked as an econometrist at Estudio Arriazu firm and was a partner at Econométrica S.A.^[4] In 2000, he founded his own firm, Estudio Espert,^[5] which offers macroeconomic consultancy and Asset Management.

He is a member of the Argentine Association of Political Economy (Asociación Argentina de Economía Política). He was Econometrics professor at UBA and Public Finances professor at UCEMA.

He was a columnist in different newspapers, such as La Nación and El País from Uruguay.^[6] In 2015, he was interviewed by José del Río at a La Nación program, which became the second-most viewed interview of the year.^[7]

He is very critical of the economic policies of the second presidency of Carlos Menem and the governments of Fernando de la Rúa, Eduardo Duhalde, Néstor Kirchner, Cristina Fernández and Mauricio Macri.

In December 2018 he officially launched his presidential campaign for the 2019 Argentine general election.^[8]

Espert's proposals consist of lowering public spending, forming an agency similar to the US Drug Control Administration to combat drug trafficking, lowering taxes, decriminalizing personal marijuana use, decriminalizing abortion and reforming the education system through school vouchers.

He opposes industrial promotion regimes and believes that the right to strike has gone too far, harmed even the worker himself. Therefore, he seeks a labor, tax and state reform in general. He also showed himself in favor of privatizing inefficient state companies and the retirement system, to turn it into an individual capitalization system such as in Chile.

Espert signed the Madrid Charter, a document drafted by the conservative Spanish political party Vox that describes left-wing groups as enemies of Ibero-America involved in a "criminal project" that are "under the umbrella of the Cuban regime".^[9]

In the 2021 legislative elections, the Frente Despertar alliance was renamed Avanza Libertad and nominated Espert and Carolina Píparo as candidates for the Chamber of Deputies representing Buenos Aires Province.^[10] Initially, Javier Milei was expected to run for Buenos Aires City under the same banner. Espert sought an agreement with the opposition coalition Juntos por el Cambio to form what he described as "a broad front to defeat Kirchnerism," but, according to him, the Civic Coalition and the Radical Civic Union rejected the proposal.^[10] The list obtained 669,865 votes, representing 7.5 percent of the total, and both Espert and Píparo were elected to Congress.^[11]

In January 2024, Espert was appointed chair of the Budget and Finance Committee in the Chamber of Deputies.^[12] After meeting with President Javier Milei at the Casa Rosada, Milei welcomed him to the "forces of heaven," referring to his incorporation into the ruling bloc.^[13]

A year later, in September 2025, following the release of an international investigation linking him to businessman Federico Machado, lawmakers from Union for the Homeland, the Left Front, provincial blocs, and the Civic Coalition called for his removal as chair of the Budget and Finance Committee.^[14] On 6 October 2025, Espert resigned from both the chairmanship and the committee itself to avoid being formally ousted during the session scheduled for Wednesday, 8 October.^[15] He communicated his decision through a letter addressed to the president of the Chamber, Martín Menem.^[15]

On 14 August 2025, Sebastián Pareja, president of La Libertad Avanza in Buenos Aires Province, confirmed that Espert would lead the party's list for the national congressional elections, describing him as "the visible face" of the campaign.^[16] In late September, media outlets reported that court documents from Texas linked Espert to a 2020 bank transfer of US$200,000 from a trust associated with businessman Federico Machado, who was charged in the United States with drug trafficking and money laundering.^[17][18]

Espert denied any wrongdoing, claiming the payment was part of a legitimate consulting contract with a Guatemalan firm.^[19] President Javier Milei publicly defended him,^[20] while other government officials called for further clarification.^[20][21][22] Following the controversy,^[23] La Libertad Avanza suspended several campaign events.^[24][25]

On 5 October, Espert announced his resignation as a candidate for deputy in Buenos Aires Province, stating on Twitter that he was the target of "a politically orchestrated operation" and would prove his innocence "before the courts, without privileges."^[26] President Milei accepted his resignation the same day, saying that "Argentina stands above individuals."^[27]