“It has nothing to do with the internal affairs of the PRO.” Patricia Bullrich’s phrase, this Sunday, on Radio Miteris a kind of quick preview of the natural question that was asked about the departure of Vicente Ventura Barreiro, his second in the Ministry of Security, whom he fired on Saturday in an announcement he made on social networks for “interfering in the bidding process of food services for the Penitentiary Service”, complaint included to the Anti-Corruption Office.
Beyond Bullrich’s public statements, There is only one reading within the party chaired by Mauricio Macri at the national level. To Ventura Barreiro, official close to Cristian Ritondo and with a long history in the security sector, they fired him because he responded politically to the former Minister of Security of Buenos Aires, who today is close to the former President of the Nation in the internal party.
And they give an argument in that sense: On Tuesday the 25th, the lists to join the next leadership of the PRO of the province of Buenos Aires closeanother chapter of maximum tension between bullrichistas and macristas that led last May to 24 of the 33 members of the board of directors resigning and leaving the presidency of the Buenos Aires party headless.
With the endorsement of Macri, Ritondo emerges as the top candidate to lead the party and supplant provincial senator Daniela Reich, wife of Diego Valenzuela and both allies of Bullrich in their attempt to create a liberal alternative that brings together the PRO and Libertad Avanza.
In the Macrista wing they believe that it was no coincidence that 72 hours after that crucial decision, Bullrich’s dismissal of an official from Ritondo’s kidney turns out to be a kind of vendetta against the current national deputy such as Ventura Barreiro, “Tito” for him. nearest circle.
A decision forced by “unacceptable” conduct
In public, but also in front of your small tableBullrich insists that he did not make the decision with resentmentbut because he considered that Ventura Barreiro’s interference in a bidding process that did not correspond to him was an “unacceptable” case.
The minister trusted in the professional virtues of someone who was a Security official in the last Buenos Aires governments, both during the time of Diego Santilli, as well as with Marcelo D’Alessandro and Gustavo Coria. That’s why she called him to join her team at the national level. He accepted the proposal, even though he could have continued in Ciudad, with Waldo Wolff.
“You may be technically trained, but if you are not morally trained, there is no place here.. “He wanted to issue a tender in the Penitentiary Service, compromising the force in a case of possible corruption,” they say near Bullrich about Ventura Barreiro, who according to what they say “confessed” everything to Patricia. And they add, regarding the minister’s decision: “To think that Patricia can remove an official who is good because he is a friend of Ritondo is crazy.”
Furthermore, they completely dismiss that the ejection of Ventura Barreiro has to do with the proximity of the elections in the Buenos Aires PRO. “Patricia is focused on management, she is not interested in the topic, she did not even know that the lists were closing,” they maintain. Bullrich’s objective in terms of political armed forces is to consolidate the liberal/libertarian armed forces in Buenos Aires territory.
“Foul” play and a countersuit
Until now, Ritondo did not speak publicly about the issuebut in private he interprets it as a maneuver by Bullrich to destabilize Macri and him. The head of the PRO block of Deputies was abroad in recent days, with activities in Silicon Valley, Los Angeles, and only on Monday did he join his daily activity as a legislator.
“Cristian spoke on the phone with Tito, but he did not see him in person. He is still going to support him because he is a guy with an impressive career in security, with a master’s degree in public security administrative law,” say Ritondo’s regular interlocutors. In their telephone conversation, Ventura Barreiro asked him about Bullrich: “Are you going to sue me because I didn’t like a document?”. The minister instructed the Anti-Corruption Office to advance its complaint against him, which does not rule out a counterattack.
At this time, as he knew ClarionVentura Barreiro Advice is being taken to sue Bullrich criminally in case the complaint she filed against him moves forward. Her anger has to do with what He understands that the minister “dirtyed” him.
“Everyone knew that Tito had an expiration date because he was a friend of Cristian, but from there to denounce it without reasons is too much. He is a prestigious guy in academics, he is not a politician, he does not have the backbone to bank this,” those who know him from management support him.
In the ritondismo they remember that it is not the first time that Bullrich touches his own bishop. He already did it with minor positions in recent months, and he also did it with Sebastián García de Luca, the Secretary of Federal Articulation who left in February and who is politically identified with Rogelio Frigerio, the governor of Entre Ríos. García de Luca left on good terms, but the internal PRO was evident even then. He became much cruder in recent months.
Far from lowering the tension, the PRO believes that the issue will continue to escalate and that the Ventura Barreiro case is just a kickoff in a series of internal conflicts that may continue to occur in the future. On July 4 there will be the assembly of the party led by Macri and in which Bullrich continues to carve from the side, having been the previous boss. It seems difficult for there to be peace in this context of constant tensions.
