The president’s arrival coincided with a rainy day. A delegation of political leaders from Neuquén and Río Negro went to wait for him at the airport. There was a lot of anxiety about his visit.
Alfonsín wins the elections.jpg
The previous year, Alfonsín had failed in the October elections and had become president with the return of democracy. In Neuquén, in the same elections, Felipe Sapag ratified his leadership with the MPN and returned to the governorship and Jorge Sobisch, a young man who until recently was the president of the Independiente club, assumed the mayorship of Neuquén after a resounding victory in the capital.
The delegation also included Pedro Salvatori, appointed Minister of Economy of the province who was also preparing to begin a great political career a few years later to succeed Don Felipe in office.
Beyond his technical profile as an engineer, Salvatori was characterized by his good humor and his witticisms. He always had room for a joke or a funny aside. The curious thing is that even he himself was the target of jokes, due to the light and exaggeratedly bulging eyes that characterized him. And he had no problem saying it in public.
As an example, an anecdote is recalled that took place at the convention to reform the Constitution of Neuquén in 2006, when a journalist from Channel 7 went to the Deliberative Council (place of work of the conventional ones) and at one point asked Salvatori did view favorably a project that the opposition had presented. Pedro thought for a few seconds and responded: “If I don’t see with good eyes, imagine the rest.” Of course the interview had to start again from scratch.
What happened in that talk between Raúl Alfonsín and Pedro Salvatori?
Alfonsín’s visit that September 1984 had a first meeting in a room on the second floor of the Municipality of Neuquén where the event that would be held with the President and the rest of the activities were coordinated.
There was a welcome lunch with a small group of people that included Sapag, Salvatori, Sobisch, Senator Jorge Doroteo Solana and Norman Portanko, a councilor who represented radicalism, among others.
Alfonsín in Neuquén.jpg
Alfonsín on the balcony of the Municipality. Among the protesters you can see posters supporting the peace treaty with Chile.
At the meeting, issues related to the province were discussed, but also one crucial for Argentines: the plebiscite that Alfonsín had called for November of that year for the signing of a definitive peace treaty with Chile, after the tensions of 1978 and the timely intervention by Pope John Paul II.
The meeting was serious and formal until at one point Alfonsín had the following casual chat (more words, less words) with Salvatori.
– So you are an engineer…
– That’s right President, but I confess that I was wrong when studying that career. I was really wrong.
– Do not tell me…
– Yes, President. I should have been a rancher, having dedicated myself to the countryside.
– Because?
-Because the eye of the master fattens the cattle.
Everyone’s laughter was immediate. Alfonsín almost spit out the drink of wine he had taken, Felipe grabbed his head laughing and Sobisch was surprised, as reflected in the photo that illustrates this note and that is part of the collection of images held by the MPN Orígenes Group. .
Then came the event, the celebrations for the city’s anniversary, Fertineu’s announcement that -unfortunately- never materialized and the hopes for the agreement with Chile that were finally fulfilled.
Behind that visit remains this intimate anecdote that few know about, but which is also part of the long and rich history of the province of Neuquén.
