Weretilneck secured the vote of its Senator Mónica Silva in support of the Base Law. As incredible as it may sound, in the negotiation, the provincial leader would have obtained the completion of work on a roundabout on National Route 22 near Choele Choel. If Senator Crexell, in line with the Neuquén president Figueroa, sold her vote for a position at UNESCO in Paris, on this side of the river the Senator herself, a native of the Middle Valley, showed off that miserable barter for her positive vote.
Political and economic agreements at stake
It was not only that that Weretilenck sent to support Milei in the Senate. Other agreements were made, but it is not clear that they will be carried out. The concession of tracks for a future provincial train that unites the entire Alto Valle is mentioned; two sections of national routes for the province to administer, with the expectation of collecting tolls in the future; as well as an agreement between the President and governors Figueroa and Weretilneck on the concessions of the hydroelectric dams that have already expired with the private companies that manage them.
Remember, the dams had been one of the starting points in that distant December where the “Patagonian” governors posed as strong opponents of Milei’s new government. They almost ignored a state company project between both provinces that manages the dams, given the provincial ownership of the waters. The idea did not last long, that whole diatribe ended in an agreement with Milei that remains to be seen. The President himself visited the Italian owners of the companies that manage several of the dams, ENEL, to whom he assured that if they are interested in continuing with the concession, “let’s go with that one.” Now with RIGI, the Italians themselves who wanted to leave the business are interested in staying. But what would Weretilneck (and Figueroa) get in exchange? Only a fee greater than the one they obtain today for the management of water resources. Nothing else…
The Rio Negro governor is looking forward to the effects of RIGI. The photo with Figueroa and Lula at the business forum on “energy transition”, a euphemism because the only thing that counts are the Vaca Muerta fracking wells; It occurred at the same time that his Senator was approving the Bases Law in Congress. It’s the whole plan of “W.”, another one doesn’t have it. The province is the one with the largest number of mining projects under analysis for investment; At the same time that the first section of the construction of the oil pipeline from Vaca Muerta to the Punta Colorada port has already begun, this “incentive regime” could attract some other investments from the hydrocarbon octopuses. In this work the bid for the tandem investment between Petronas and YPF for an LNG plant sneaks in, which Weretilneck, with the support of the camper Doñate, is fighting for an agreement with Milei to be installed in the port of Sierra Grande itself. aforementioned. The fight is with the petrochemical lobby of the Ingeniero White port in Bahía Blanca and leads to a confrontation between Doñate and Kiciloff himself. The investment projection of said plant in the southern city of Buenos Aires makes more sense for capitalist businesses: 63% of all the gas produced in Argentina passes through there.
It sounds incredible, but it is true: Rio Negro Peronism, which with the seats of Deputies and the Senate, voted against the Bases Law; They are one of the main allies of Weretilneck (whom they put on their ballot for governor) in the installation of these hydrocarbon works. Therefore, by transitive relationship, they are also interested in Weretilneck’s negotiation with Milei for the installation of the LNG plant to be on the Rio Negro coast itself. Doñate’s campaign against the Bases Law, in addition to sounding ridiculous on the part of an extractivist allied to Weretilneck himself, was only a discursive opposition. Otherwise it is not explained why Peronism, which leads the vast majority of the CTA and CGT unions in Río Negro, played almost nothing in the protest mobilizations of June 12.
Teaching conflict and provincial adjustment
In this theater of operations, the provincial teaching strike entered the scene. The governor’s line can be seen between the lines for a long time: the adjustment to pay the next maturities of the Castello Bonus is guaranteed with lower salaries for all state employees. Spot. And if there is a strike, it was already seen with the Health struggle last March: we will have to attack them. This is why Weretilneck came to retain power in the province, with the transversal support of radicals, Kirchneristas, massistas and the center-left of Nuevo Encuentro.
In just 6 months Weretilneck showed all its cards. The future of adjustment will be “lighting a candle to the saint” RIGI. In other words, the promise of a rain of Macri-style investments in 2015. In these aspects, the provincial government is a continuation of the repudiated management of Arabela Carreras, who walked through every international forum of extractivist businessmen selling the latest “jewels” that They mean provincial natural assets. The danger that Weretilneck can commit is to consider that with all this political engineering and his friendly relations with the union bureaucracies he can carry out his company without major opposition. The March Health strike was an example of the opposite. The new contradictions with the provincial teaching working class may, sooner or later, unblock the union truce and the working class will once again be the main opponent of the government of Juntos Somos Río Negro and its allies.
