With the PJ in crisis, Ignacio Torres aspires for mayors and gives volume to his own army

They say that in politics, sometimes a photo is enough to send a message or, in some cases, a meta-message. The successive incorporations of mayors referenced in pan-peronism to Wake up Chubutthe space led by the governor Ignacio Torresconfirm the saying and begin to give volume to the transversal construction that the president promoted from the beginning of his administration.

The municipal leaders who from the opposition confirmed in recent weeks their adherence to Despierta Chubut based their decision on the reception they find in the provincial government, which bears the seal of the PRO, to the problems (some historical) of their communities. Thermometer of social humor and at the same time ammeter of micropolitics, the mayors who relied on Torres’ proposal at the same time show the existential crisis that crosses the wide world of the provincial PJ, which in 2023 was out of power after two decades.

Mayors on the run

The first municipal chief to make the leap was the elected mayor of Lago Puelo, Ivan Fernandezwho assumed representation of the Labor and People’s Partyspace that orbited within Union for the Homeland in the last national elections. The decision was based on the need to articulate a more fluid work agenda with the provincial cabinet.

In second order was Miguel Mongilardicommunal leader of Alto Río Senguer and a member of the pan-Peronist party. Chubut We Are All (ChuSoTo). “Since the departure of our leader, Mario Das Nevesthis was eroding, it lost the prominence that it knew how to have in politics”, were the political reasons cited by Mongilardi himself for his move. The ChuSoTo is chaired by Máximo Pérez Catanformer mayor of Trelew and leading exponent of a party of which today merely the formal authorities remain.

The third figure to confirm her “pass” to Despierta Chubut was the mayor of Camarones, Claudia Loyolawho is in his third term and knew how to make good friends with the government of Mariano Arcioni.

The leader promoted her campaign for re-election within Arriba Chubut, the official front that had the then Peronist mayor of Comodoro Rivadavia as its candidate for governor. Juan Pablo Luque, who finally lost the fight to Torres. Since joining the front led by the governor, Loyola has presented numerous activities and meetings with members of the provincial cabinet linked to problems that the town has been dealing with for years, including the possibility of having its own port administration so that the municipality has a voice. and vote on fishing matters.

Ignacio Torres adds and continues

At the end of May, two other communal leaders confirmed that they were joining the governor’s space: Gustavo Loyautefrom Río Mayo, and Silvio Boudargham, from Cholila. Both are affiliated with the Frente Renovador de Sergio Massawhose main ally in Chubut was Arcioni, who, however, remains affiliated with ChuSoTo to this day.

Finally, this week the governor’s party joined Sergio Bowmanfrom Las Plumas, who took over as head of the commune also wearing the T-shirt of the Labor and People’s Party.

The mayor of Sarmiento deserves a separate paragraph, Sebastian Balochi, affiliated with the Justicialist Party of Chubut. Months ago he was re-elected with the Arriba Chubut seal. In a radio interview, he asked himself “what would be the problem of building with Torres.” In less than 24 hours, the PJ councils of Comodoro Rivadavia and Trelew came out to question even his belonging to the political space. “It is worth asking if Balochi is, in fact, a Peronist,” read one of the statements.

Local and national reasons

The transfer market of Chubut politics and the arrival of mayors to the Torres space finds a first explanation in the wide accession that the president reaped from communal chiefs throughout the province during his dispute with the government of Javier Milei for the co-participating funds, the questioned omnibus lawfishing activity and unfinished public works.

There were several communications sent directly to the central administration with the signature of the governor and the signature of all the mayors of the province, without distinction of political color.

Secondly, below this waterline, there are also the meetings of Torres’ work teams with municipal leaders, beyond their party affiliation, to address issues related to each city and commune. This proximity generated a later success that overturned the previous government model, where related mayors received the greatest attention and amount of works. Now, it is “for everyone equally,” they point out in the corridors of politics.

The other variable that favors the provincial ruling party is the existential crisis that the Chubut Justicialista Party is going through, emptied of leadership after the last national elections and with its corresponding local correlate. The main exponents of pan-Peronism have shown a closeness with Torres that set off the alarms of historical figures, among them the president of the space, the senator Carlos Linares, who already anticipated that he will not seek to repeat in the Senate. The former deputy and leader of Camioneros joined the debate Jorge Taboadawho criticized the current leadership of the PJ in harsh terms and anticipated that his union “is not going to make alliances” with Torres.

In the midst of internal debates and blows in the PJ due to the flight of mayors to Despierta Chubut, the truth is that Torres won a handful of new allies from a list that promises to be extended. In politics, he who confronts does not always win, seems to be the governor’s motto. In this construction, the Peronist verticality is blurred by a horizontality centered on the management in which the ruling party wins.