Argentina: Juan Grabois visits Peter Thiel

Juan Grabois, a referent of Patria Grande -allegedly, the left wing sector of Peronism-, has met with the businessman Peter Thiel, who has been in Argentina since April. Although the founder of Palantir is one of the main referents of the far-right, he is evidently betting on having a wide influence in the Argentine political scenario. According to press reports, he has already met with national government officials such as Santiago Caputo (presidential advisor), Luis Caputo (Minister of Economy), Federico Struzzeneger (Minister of Deregulation and Transformation of the State), Pablo Quirno (Secretary of Finance) and the President himself, Javier Milei. But what is striking is that this time the one visiting him is someone who is presented as the most progressive wing of Peronism.

Grabois’ orientation of dialogue with the most reactionary sectors of the system is not new. Although his political career began with the social movements that emerged from the 2001 uprising, he maintains close ties with the Catholic Church. He previously met with Steve Bannon in Washington assuring that the far-right-winger was at heart a humanist (more precisely a Catholic humanist). Some time before, he had another meeting with Marc Stanley, ambassador of the United States, who held meetings with all the presidential candidates of all the spaces except for the Left Front Unity (FIT-U).

Although until now Grabois did not make any statements regarding the meeting, it is difficult to say that the promoter of the technological advances used by ICE to persecute immigrants in the United States and by Israel to perpetuate the genocide against the Palestinian people is a humanist. Perhaps this time the Bible will not be enough for him to argue a justification and he will have to appeal to some fantasy of Tolkien, a writer admired by both of them.

Thiel’s steps in Argentina

As we explained in another article, the arrival of the businessman to the country took place at a time of tension for the government of Javier Milei and of global complications for the far-right. In order to guarantee confidentiality in his activity, he acquired the most expensive property in the City of Buenos Aires, which Grabois visited for their meeting.

Thiel’s stay a few kilometers away from the Casa Rosada has already been noticed, mainly in the program announced by the Ministry of Human Capital called “Social Digital Twin”. The project seeks to develop a virtual representation of the population based on the databases in the hands of the national government (2). Although it is not clear what participation private companies may have, it is already evident that they are inspired by the cyber-control models promoted by Peter Thiel.

Another direct gesture to the interests of the mega-businessman was the article published this month in the Financial Times entitled “Argentina invites Artificial Intelligence to break free” with Milei’s signature. Milei expressed his willingness to turn the country into a tax haven for AI companies, with full state backing to guarantee corporate profits. Low-cost labor would not only be guaranteed by the labor reform approved in February, but, as proposed by the president in the article, “non-human corporations” managed by algorithms could be developed. But not everything floats in the cloud of digitality, the resources consumed by data centers and the whole infrastructure required by the systems are already available in the territories granted to companies under the Large Investment Incentive Regime (RIGI), approved in 2024.

Artificial intelligence, humanized capitalism?

The tendencies towards the reification of the human and the humanization of the thing warned by Marx are personified with total clarity in the two protagonists of the case in question. On the one hand, Thiel’s ambitions for systems of governance where the participation of populations is replaced by algorithmic calculations, and on the other hand, Grabois’ illusion of a capitalist class blinded by profit but with ears to hear the pleas of those below. Successively, history and the most recent events have shown that there is no room for conciliation between the interests of both classes. Even more so in a world where the ultra-right is stepping on the accelerator, dialogue with those who do business with the lives of millions is of little use.

To stop the advance of surveillance that reinforces the repressive power of the State and the surrender of territories to the big techs, the only way is mobilization in the streets. It is necessary to raise a program of complete rupture with capitalism so that technology is at the service of the majorities. In perspective, through independent organization, we have to carry the fight to the end so that the working class finally governs.

By Manuel Velasco

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