Stealthily, but noticeable enough. This is the negotiation strategy that Cristina Kirchnerthe top leader of Kirchnerism, maintains with her counterpart from the Radical Civic Union, Marin Lousteauand with Miguel Pichettothe leader of a sector of self-perceived dissident Peronism who until last year were candidates for what was known as Together for Change.
A rooster trick with the Kirchners on one side, Lousteau on one end and Pichetto on the other. They have been talking for a long time, but In recent weeks, several of those telephone and WhatsApp communications became face-to-faceas he was able to reconstruct Clarion through half a dozen sources. Some meetings would have been in Sergio Massa’s offices on Avenida del Libertador and others, in Pedro’s “Wado” Buenos Aires apartment.
Like sharks with blood, Kirchnerism smelled an opportunity to articulate a kind of anti-Milei front. Through Massa and De Pedro, Máximo approached Lousteau. “They have been talking to each other for at least a couple of months. They did not form a friendship, but they did form a relationship of trust. Máximo takes advantage of the fact that Milei did not stop pissing (SIC) on Martín and that he has sworn to her for life. He has never forget that, especially in politics, the enemy of my enemy is my friend,” he reminds Clarion a Peronist senator who claims to be aware of the incipient negotiations.
Another senator, but from radicalism, also tells this newspaper that the head of his party “He made a kind of pact with Cristina that none of us understand very well.. Or, to be honest with you, we do understand it, but we don’t share it.”
At UCR, there is no one who is not surprised by Lousteau’s behavior. “He is very angry with Milei, not so much with his Government. He would tell you it’s personal. He accumulated a lot of anger and the only one who really plays with Martín is his friend (Emiliano) Yacobitti, who is also his patron, heh. What he did with the single signature ruling is monumental. For me, he agreed with the K to modify the Base Law to continue having cash in the Universities. We will know on Wednesday,” says a co-religionist who is also a legislator in the upper house.
Pichetto’s thing is not so linear, according to other sources more closely linked to the Chamber of Deputies. “Miguel will never admit that he talks to Máximo to participate in some type of legislative front against Milei, but Look how he came out with unusual firmness to defend privileged pensions. That was read as support for the figure of Cristina, who is the most questioned for charging almost 15 sticks,” interprets a deputy who speaks frequently with Mauricio Macri’s former vice presidential candidate.
A seasoned Peronist leader of the Conurbano, one of the most populous municipalities, confirms the meetings between Máximo and Lousteau. Also the contacts with Pichetto. “The number of votes they gathered with the retirement reform was an ecstasy among so many pale ones. It was the first time that we felt we won the agenda that Milei always imposed on us. That created a window to be able to continue insisting on some type of agreement against the Government. This is what always happens in these types of cases and forget it, this will not be the exception,” he maintains.
In his opinion, Lousteau did much more than any of the Kirchnerist senators could have done. There he proposes not giving Milei almost any extraordinary power that he himself as a legislator did grant to other presidents.
Lousteau usually tries not to show himself to Emiliano Yacobitti, his friend and, according to those who love him and those who don’t so much, his patron. He also moved against privatization. The radical leader excludes Aerolíneas Argentinas, Correo Argentino and Radio and TV Argentina from the list of companies that the Government can sell. And if Milei wants to move forward with something else, he should present the proposal for privatization to a Bicameral Commission.
Finally there is the issue of RIGI. Or the regime to be able to attract, according to the Government, with tax and customs benefits, million-dollar investments in dollars. “This is the mother of legislative battless. Beyond the obvious excess in some prerogatives for these large investors, we all know that if approved, 20,000 palo verde trees could enter the country the next day. Especially in energy and mining. It would be the takeoff that the Government needs“admits a deputy who voted against the Bases Law.
Consulted by this newspaper, the head of the UCR came out to distance himself. “The last time I spoke with Máximo was because he called me, in March of this year, to tell me that he had talked about me because of a question he was asked in an interview. And I had previously contacted him when the attack against Cristina occurred.”
Along the same lines, Pichetto denied participating in any type of movement against Milei. “I do not have any type of relationship with Máximo, Wado, Massa or Cristina. This is a clear Government operation. I regret that they publish such a lie,” he said.
The majority of sources agree that the new alliance is focused on Congress and is not intended to be electoral.
