“If Macri weighs 100, the idea is that when he sits with Milei he weighs 10”. The phrase circulated among government operators and bullrichism sectors and illustrates the strategy that Freedom Advances (LLA) is applying in relation to the potential partnership with the PRO, the novel of the summer of Creole politics.
Luis Juez’s jump from PRO to LLA was just a sample. The man from Córdoba abandoned the leadership of the yellow block of the Senate with criticism of Mauricio Macri and is getting ready to be Milei’s candidate in his province. Leaders who walked alongside the former president had already made that decision, while others flirt to have the doors of the Forces of Heaven opened to them.
Meanwhile, the PRO He also pivoted in his tactics to negotiate an alliance that he might be forced to seal. Dabble in the mud of LLA logic: stress and throw darts. However, not all yellows seem to agree. For example, this Monday’s statement from the PRO in which it accuses the Milei Government of having “an authoritarian vision” and “lack of desire for dialogue” did not go down well with the PRO governors, Ignacio Torres from Chubut and Rogelio Frigerio from Entre Ríoswho seek to distance themselves from the fight between Macri and the President. The provincial leaders maintained autonomy in 2024 and did not blow up bridges with the libertarian armed group that they lead at the national level Karina Milei and Martín Menem.
From PRO to LLA
The first crossing from the PRO path to that of LLA was that of Patricia Bullrich, at the beginning of the administration. The Minister of Security maintains her own war with Macri, and without having abandoned the yellow ship, she works to seduce leaders, under the argument of the PRO’s agony after having lost its voters at the hands of Milei. It would thus be a question of survival.
The ones he first convinced to align seamlessly with the Government were the deputies from his wing. Damián Arabia, Sabrina Ajmechet, Silvana Giudici or Patricia Vázquez. The one who turns violet more and more quickly is, for his part, Fernando Iglesias.
In parallel, the bait is now looking for Buenos Aires mayors. In their landing in Mar del Plata this Tuesday to strengthen the Buenos Aires army, Karina and Menem (as well as Sebastián Pareja) got closer to Guillermo Montenegro, mayor of General Pueyrredónone of the communal leaders who is tempted to switch sides and shows in his networks an agenda close to that of Bullrich. In LLA they were also enthusiastic about having captured for their ranks Diego Valenzuela, from Tres Febrero. Santiago Passaglia (San Nicolás) or Ramón Lanús (San Isidro) They also gave signs that were also inclined to reach an agreement.
Other leaders balance. Diego Santilli He is committed to establishing himself as the unity candidate, and from the beginning he was complimentary of Milei’s policies. At LLA they highlight that Santilli is an atypical case: “He is perhaps the only leader who measures more than the PRO brand.”they pointed out in the purple party. The deputy, in turn, has ascendancy over some mayors, such as Javier Martínez (Pergamino), Lisandro Matzkin (Colonel Pringles), Sebastián Abella (Campana) and Diego Reyes (Puán).
Also Cristian Ritondo He builds ties with the libertarians of the province of Buenos Aires. The deputy also did not view the party’s statement favorably, despite the fact that he is one of the five names that Macri proposed for a negotiating table of the electoral alliance, along with Ana Clara Romero, Silvia Lospennato, Hernán Lacunza and Soledad Martínez.
Governors “surprised”
The search for leaders is a way to make up for the LLA’s lack of capillarity, especially in the face of elections, when it must form competitive lists in the twenty-four districts. Judge’s case is added, for example, to that of Alfredo Olmedo in Salta, who received a hug from Karina and Martín Menem when they visited the province. The businessman in the yellow jacket was in charge of the armed forces in the northern province.
Also in the NOA, there are expectations in Tucumán, where Governor Osvaldo Jaldo, the Peronist closest to Milei, tries to close ranks with the PJ in the face of the beloved list. There he carves Lisandro Catalán, deputy head of the national Cabinet and virtual Minister of the Interiorwhile deputy Mariano Campero, one of the “wig” radicals who are exploring agreements with LLA, joined, as did Pablo Cervi (Neuquén), Martín Alfredo Arjol (Misiones) and Luis Albino Picat (Córdoba). In Tucumán, Ricardo Bussi, a regular candidate with his Republican Force, seems to be leaving, who was not at the dinner in the province when Milei received the Juan Bautista Alberdi award.
Likewise, the two PRO governors, Torres and Frigeriothey kept their distance from the inmates, and did not hide their annoyance on Monday at the PRO’s statement, the content of which came to their eyes with the text already released on social networks. “Five days ago Macri proposed moving forward with an agreement. Saying that there is an ‘authoritarian vision’ due to the lack of a Budget in extraordinary cases is quite incoherent,” was the criticism that emerged from one of those provinces.
In this assessment, both believe that there is a long way to go before the lists close, and nothing is ruled out. The approach proposed by Torres is along the same lines as that of Montenegro from Mar del Plata. “There are differences in the tactics and strategy of how to move forward with Milei,” they said in the PRO dialogue wing, where they believe that the tensions “are natural.”
Unlike Torres and Frigerio, the Head of Buenos Aires Government Jorge Macri He distanced himself from Milei with the decision to split the elections in the City, a way to make libertarians uncomfortable after they voted against the Budget in the Legislature.
Source: Ambito
