Santiago Cafiero was born on August 30, 1979, in San Isidro, in the province of Buenos Aires. He is the son of Juan Pablo Cafiero, who served as Minister of Social Development during the presidency of Fernando de la Rúa in 2001, and María Luisa Bianchi. His grandfather, Antonio Cafiero, held numerous important political positions, including Governor of Buenos Aires, and briefly served as Chief of the Cabinet of Ministers under Eduardo Camaño.
He began his political activism in the Peronist Youth in San Isidro. Cafiero studied Political Science at the University of Buenos Aires and later earned a Master’s degree in Public Policy from the Torcuato Di Tella University.
Political career
Cafiero was elected President of the local Justicialist Party in his hometown of San Isidro in 2008 and ran for Mayor of the district in 2011 and 2015. From 2009 to 2017, he served as a City Councilor in San Isidro’s municipal council.
During Daniel Scioli’s governorship of Buenos Aires Province, Cafiero worked as a Consultant at the Undersecretariat of Municipal Affairs (2007–2008), and later served as Provincial Director of Industry from 2008 to 2010, Undersecretary of Industry, Trade and Mining from 2010 to 2011, Deputy Minister of Social Development and Undersecretary of Social Policies from 2011 to 2014, and Undersecretary of Modernization from 2014 to 2015.
Cafiero was the Campaign Manager for Florencio Randazzo in Randazzo’s 2017 Senate run.
Ahead of the 2019 general elections, Alberto Fernández, the Justicialist Party’s presidential candidate, appointed Cafiero as his Campaign Chief. Together, they formed the think tank Grupo Callao.
On October 29, 2019, Fernández won the presidential election in the first round with 48.2% of the vote. On December 6, 2019, during the official announcement of his incoming cabinet, President-elect Fernández named Cafiero as his Chief of the Cabinet of Ministers—a position he assumed on December 10, 2019.