They presented "The Monk" at the Fair, about Santiago Caputo and the shadow power of Milei's government.

More than fifty people watched the presentation of the book "The Monk. The True Story of Santiago Caputo " (Planeta) from the hallway tonight, by journalists Maia Jastreblansky and Manuel Jove, after the Ernesto Sábato Room at the 49th Buenos Aires International Book Fair was completely overwhelmed by the enormous expectation the title generated among readers. With their copies in hand, awaiting a dedication, fifty attendees remained standing during the discussion the authors held with analyst Carlos Pagni and psychologist and television host Diego Sehinkman.

Maia Jastreblansky and Manuel Jove noted that they had captured what they had to share in the book. "Of course, there's always more to reflect on," they stated, adding that the volume "aims to be another resource for understanding an era."

The first to take over was Carlos Pagni , who expressed his satisfaction "with the interest the book and the authors have generated, and which is reflected in the number of people currently participating in this meeting without being able to enter the room," he noted.

The La Nación journalist highlighted three merits of Jastreblansky and Jove's work, or "reasons why I think you should read The Monk ," he emphasized. First, he referred to the portrayal of a character. "Argentina has accustomed us to the acceleration of historical speed. In recent years, starting in 2023 , there has been an acceleration, a significant change , and this rapid change places unknown people at the center of the scene," he considered.

In this regard, he explained that "the main characteristic of this political group that governs today is that until very recently they were completely unknown, and they were voted in not despite being unknown, but because they were unknown."

Advisor Santiago Caputo is part of that group and, according to Pagni, "is a key figure in the power scene." Therefore, for journalists, capturing Caputo's portrait, knowing who he is, what his story is, what his quirks and behaviors are, understanding how his logic works, is very important today.

Pagni praised the authors for correctly identifying Caputo as " the type you have to cut out to understand, in a person, the synthesis of what's happening and what this ruling party is all about," he noted.

The second dimension of the book, for Pagni, is that this biography captures the essence of a power machine. "So, you're not just going to find the biography of a character, but you're going to find the machine within which that character operates and at the center of which they are," he described.

The journalist emphasized "a kind of asymmetry between Caputo's political influence and his specific institutional role " and praised the book as "not only a description of how that power apparatus works, but a very interesting account of how it all came to be."

This is how, Pagni said, "one realizes that things one knows are happening began long before one realized," and cited the example of the tension between former President Mauricio Macri and Security Minister Patricia Bullrich.

"And a third dimension, also very relevant in my opinion, is that through reading The Monk , one becomes aware of a new form of administration of power , of the relationships between representatives and those represented, a new form of managing democracy, so to speak," Pagni added.

The journalist explained that democracy as a method for public management and the administration of power has a central element: communication. " Communication is central to democracy , which is why journalism has been associated with democracy since its beginnings. Democracy is a political phenomenon that cannot be understood without these subjects or these bodies," he opined.

For Pagni, "what we're seeing today in Western democracies is the impact of social media ." The journalist considered this to be the first time a political group has lived within that system. "I'm not just saying 'use it,' like Cristina, Massa, or Macri did. La Libertad Avanza lives within the networks , and this is very well explained here," he reflected.

Pagni recalled that " we had consultants who helped the politician , David Rato in 1983, Raúl Alfonsín. We had consultants who guided the politician, they no longer helped him. And he had a protagonist as a guide: Jaime Durán Barba to Mauricio Macri. But what we see now is that the consultant was given the power and the management ."

For his part, Diego Sehinkman considered the first chapter "a marvel" and described it as "an almost cinematic sequence of how the different parties will meet in Acassuso for what could have been called the Pact of Acassuso, but which was the Acassuso adhesion contract," he played with words.

Sehinkman wondered , "Who is the real Santiago Caputo?" "What influence will he have, and how will he shape the identity that is being constructed by this government?" he asked. "What is a black monk?"

The authors recounted some aspects of the book's making , from Javier Milei's first weeks as president at the Libertador Hotel to the Libra scandal and the bidding war to appoint new Supreme Court justices. They also revealed some secrets about the relationship between Caputo and the Milei brothers.