Who is Milagros Maylin?

It was Horacio Rodríguez Larreta’s ex-wife, Bárbara Diez herself, who outed her. In a series of messages on Instagram, without naming her but giving up enough clues, she pointed out that 36-year-old City Hall official, Milagros Maylin, was the new beau of the Buenos Aires City mayor.

Those close to Rodríguez Larreta were initially careful to deny the rumours, but eventually the opposition leader decided to confirm the veracity of the reports in an interview with journalist Luis Novaresio on the LN+ television channel.

Maylin, better known to her friends as ‘Mili,’ was probably part of the decision to open up: she has a degree in Communication Sciences from the Austral University (she graduated with honours), a Master’s degree in Business Administration from the IAE Business School and two postgraduate degrees, one from the University of San Andrés and the other from ESADE.

After working for eight years in a well-known telecommunications company, she entered public administration as Director General of Technology for the Elderly, working under the Human Development Ministry in the City government after working in the private sector. She worked there until 2015.

PROVINCIAL MANAGEMENT

A year later, Maylin joined the team of then-buenos Aires Province governor María Eugenia Vidal in the nation’s most populous region, initially as director of Management Control and later as Social and Urban Integration undersecretary.

In November 2017, Vidal told the official that she was going to be in charge of a new body named OPISU, which would be dedicated exclusively to the slums of the Conurbano and the attempt to urbanise and develop poor neighbourhoods. Maylin decided to take the issue personally: she spent several nights sleeping in Puerta de Hierro, a settlement in La Matanza, and in Villa Itatí, in Quilmes. The governor adopted her politically soon after. The work also allowed the official to develop links with several key figures in government, including Hernán Lacunza (Economy) and Cristian Ritondo (Security), with whom she worked almost on a daily basis.

In 2019, and following the opposition’s electoral defeat in Buenos Aires Province, she returned to City Hall, opting to leave aside plans to become an executive director of the Fundación Pensar think-tank linked to PRO.

PANDEMIC AND PRIVACY

During the coronavirus pandemic, Maylin took on a key role, helping to lead the management of the Covid-19 crisis in the capital and oversee the Detectar operation that went into vulnerable neighbourhoods. She formally joined the ‘Mesa Covid’ roundtable in April 2021, which was overseen by City Health Fernán Quirós. In late 2021, she took over as Integral Wellbeing secretary, an area falling under the remit of Quirós’ portfolio.

Currently, she is in charge of “promoting the integral wellbeing of neighbours, through policies and programmes that facilitate social integration, promote healthy habits and guarantee equality.”

According to reports from Perfil, the couple first began meeting up outside of work in the middle of this year. Their first outing as a public couple was a double date with Vidal and her partner, Quique Sacco.

In addition to sharing a public role, Maylin also shares another passion with her partner: both are avid fans of Racing Club. Perhaps a visit to the stadium together will be the next step.