Marcos Peña and the book that was not what everyone thought it was going to be

One day the almighty Chief of the Cabinet of Ministers of Mauricio Macri returned to the public scene. After five years in absolute silence, Marcos Peña He reappeared in society to present his book yesterday The art of going up (and down) the mountain (by Siglo XXI publishing house) at the 2024 Book Fair.

When many believed that it was a book where he was going to tell the secrets never revealed of the government that he was part of, one of the founders of Cambiemos chose the path of sanity: he separated the political character from the person to launch this work, a kind of help book to deal with cases of leaders of any kind: politics, cultural, sports, business, among other areas, and also leadership.

The art of going up (and down) the mountain is the result of podcast Project 77 in which Peña spoke with different personalities from politics, sports, business, science and culture born between 1977 and 1982.

They are some 40 interviews where you can hear testimonies such as those of the former Colombian president Iván Duque, the Spanish representative Cayetana Álvarez de Toledo, the former Soda Stereo drummer, Charly Alberti; the political scientist Rodrigo Zarazaga and also the former soccer player Pablo Aimar, current member of the coaching staff of the world champion Argentine National Team led by Lionel Scaloni.

The launch of Peña’s first book took place in the Victoria Ocampo room, on the first floor of the Blanco Pavilion in front of a large attendance among friends, visitors and intimates and other former political officialslike the former Minister of Culture Pablo Avellutothe former Minister of Human Development of the City, Maria Migliore; the former Minister of Security, Eugenio Burzaco; in addition to Maximiliano Ferraro (Civic Coalition deputy) and Cristiano Rattazzi (former president of FIAT in Argentina).

Also his wife, the journalist Luciana Manterowho in 2019 gave him the “ultimatum” to change his lifestyle, according to the political scientist turned writer, just before Cambiemos’ defeat in the presidential elections that year.

“This is how the book starts, it’s what I say: ‘Show me what I do with who I am.’ It was May 2019, we were going through a year of economic crisis. That last year and a half was super demanding. At that time the boys were 2 and 17 years old. We lived in an apartment in Palermo,” recalled Peña, 47 years old.

“The position of Chief of Staff It doesn’t have that much of a support structure.. You continue living your life. We fought from day one to try to maintain as much normality as possible for our children, but the more time passes, the more difficult it is to sustain,” he continued.

“It was something super honest from the love we have for each other and the shared conviction of who we are. That was important: have the reference and the anchor when something becomes more dangerous and complicated than it should be,” concluded the former official.

In a full room, Marcos Peña spoke with journalist Juan Pablo Varsky –he served as moderator– about his first work. More than an interview, it was a fluid dialogue for an hour. They talked about everything: politics, “Marquitos’ trolls”, social networks, the pandemic, “the human dimension”, the possible (or not) return to the political arena and, of course, leadership. That’s what his book is about.

“On December 10, 2019, you retired from the political scene. You don’t give a single note. De-sa-pa-re-ces. The phrase precisely appears: what is the life of Marcos Peña? The page remains blank,” Juan Pablo Varsky wanted to know.

“It was a process. I tell you in 2020, that in the middle of the pandemic I wrote a half-impulsive book, with political analysis. I wondered why we won, why we lost, among many things. It was obviously saved. Clearly, I needed to focus on my personal path and understand the experience of living,” he responded.

“First it was a paper, then it was a podcast. We started chatting with people who told me: “Here is something that is good to talk about.” There is a dimension that is half omitted that has to do with us as people,” said Peña.

The former strongman of the Macri government recognized that this book “was like a mixture of catharsis with inertia. There is a point where that character that is being built still wants to fight, he wants to continue being there. It’s like he likes it, he needs to continue being there.”

According to the repercussion that has had The art of going up (and down) the mountain, Peña said that he was consulted from different political sectors. Even about Kirchnerism, something that surprised him. “There were people from different parts of the country and of different political affiliations. What surprised me most was Kirchnerism itself. People I knew and people I didn’t. They tell me: ‘How good. We can talk about this, you have talked about this and I can relate. Similar things happen to me.’”

The author proposed one of the hypotheses he elaborates on this point: “The human dimension is a bridge to find ourselves somewhere between different thoughts, different countries or in different places or types of activity. I think it is necessary.”

“We must not forget that We are all human beings and we share that humanity and from that place we can differ in thousands of things but from a respect for the other person that deep down we are all half connected,” he added.

“That’s why the message has something against the current, against culture,” Varsky encouraged.

Varsky also referred to the fatigue of society and the “crack” that there is on social networks that is still valid. “There is a kind of tiredness of unconnected leadership. I think there is a rejection of that which does not necessarily imply, obviously polarization exists, identity exists everywhere,” Peña responded.

And he added that “it is not necessarily a demand problem, it is also a supply problem: how to rethink that leadership offer from a more humble, more collective place, from a more authentic place. Otherwise, the problem is that disconnection creates emptiness, it creates space for other feelings.”

“How do you understand this reconversion of society based on the social networks, where everyone is their own medium? You even had the hashtag #LosTrollsDeMarquitos for a while. It is a reality,” Varsky inquired.

“Clearly, these artifacts changed everything. The first characteristic is that we all use cell phones. One of them is the overflow, the excess of information, demand, content, disorder,” Peña highlighted.

Varksy mentioned the overly ambitious claims that parties usually do in electoral campaigns that, once in power, they fail to achieve. “I am referring to the government that you formed: zero poverty, fight against drug trafficking,” he pointed out.

“Part of the learning I try to convey is that you have to be careful with the forecastsit is not the same as the expectation Second: with the risk of assuming the centrality of the metaphor of the selection,” Peña responded.

–If you had to fill out your resume today, What would you put in your profession today??, Varsky wanted to know.

–Leaders Coach. It is today that identifies me, Peña responded bluntly, and added: I think that today there are many more people who feel that they need help.

“This is the newest thing and was part of the discovery on the editorial cover: it is helping to get off the mountain. It is probably one of the loneliest tasks: to climb, everyone more or less calculates if you have a chance and there are many people willing to help you. When you are at the top, everyone wants to help you or wants to take advantage of that need. But when you go down, generally there are much fewer offers of help”, he stressed.

Finally, million dollar question: “Would you return to politics?Varsky inquired.

“I feel that the come back What you mentioned about Rocky is precisely revanchist, vindictive. I don’t feel that way: I feel that today the political contribution comes from that place, which is important, but to think that going down the mountain also allows you to climb another mountain. It is not that you are retiring but I feel that the contribution that I can make and that is what the base camp project is about from a place to help work,” he concluded.