He head of the El Libro Foundation, Alejandro Vaccaro, flatly dismissed the accusations of alleged “sabotage” that President Javier Milei used as an excuse to withdraw from his presence at the Book Fair, and made a revelation that gives an account of the background of that decision: The Government asked for “5 thousand free tickets” and the organization of that event denied them.
The affirmation puts conspiratorial arguments in check that the head of state aired in the last hours to end the controversy that began when his government decided not to sponsor, as was traditionally done, the fair that takes place year after year on the property of the Rural Society.
This measure earned the management of La Libertad Avanza (LLA) harsh questions from the El Libro Foundation, when on the opening day of the fair it reported this and the defunding of culture in general.
Despite the criticism of that day, “there were negotiations” between the Foundation and the Government so that the head of state could be there. Vaccaro said that last Tuesday “more than 20 people went to the property to see the issues related to the President’s security” ahead of the presentation that he would make of his book on May 12. Capitalism, socialism and the neoclassical trap.
“People came from the General Secretariat of the Presidency (led by Karina Milei), from the Military House and from the President’s Security”said the editorialist during an interview on Gustavo Sylvestre’s program. His statements confirm part of the statements Milei made last night, when she said that “My sister is carrying out that negotiation”.
Vaccaro highlighted that the meeting “was very enjoyable” and acknowledged that “We agreed on everything” regarding the presidential visit, except for one question: “They asked us for 5 thousand free tickets”.
He specified that The request was made by “the people of the General Secretariat of the Presidency” and he said that what they told him was that “They would need 5 thousand free tickets, after having agreed that the capacity of the space (in which the event would take place) was going to be 5 thousand people”. That is to say, they asked for the entire place to be filled for free.
The answer was “no” and the explanations were clear. “I told them that I, as a premonition, do not have the power to give that which, furthermore, It is a very important number Under the economical point of view”. It amounts to “25 million pesos at the value of the entry on Sunday,” he indicated.
“We are a non-profit organization but we must take great care in the administration of third-party funds” and that is why “We said we couldn’t give him 5 thousand tickets.”he stressed.
Protocol inputs
The Foundation’s counteroffer was to give 200 free tickets, “which is the maximum we have as a protocol for the most important events” that take place there. “That is the protocol, there is no reason to give 5 thousand,” he insisted. The next day, Milei announced that she would not go and spoke of “sabotage.”
Vaccaro maintained that the tickets may have been the real reason why the President announced that he would not appear. “Perhaps that was the only reason or the most important reason in his decision to unilaterally break relations” with the fair.he slipped.
The person who responded to this version hours later was the spokesperson Manuel Adorni. In his lecture today he said that “I don’t know that 5 thousand tickets have been requested” free from the area led by Karina Milei, but he did recognize that “Given the offer of 200 tickets in front of a massive event as expected, it seemed to us to be part of something that was not going to work”.
“We were going to find ourselves facing an episode of unfriendly characteristics on the day of the book presentation,” he added and without embarrassment acknowledged that, in any case, “There was no genuine desire for the President to be at the Book Fair”.
Even so, The revelation made by Vaccaro sheds light on the dubious accusation that Milei made yesterday regarding facts “that make us suspect that there is a attempt to sabotage the presentation and doing it in the Kirchnerist style, in a violent way, not something typical of culture.”
The president of the El Libro Foundation refuted that accusation. He maintained that “although we have already expressed our discontent with the Government’s policies in the cultural world,” Talking about sabotage against the head of state “is crazy”.
“We are people of culture” and there was never talk of “sabotage or anything” that resembles it. Economically and politically, “Nothing would harm us more than sabotage”he concluded.
