Although tension has increased in recent weeks, Javier Milei does not rule out his desire to reach an agreement with Mauricio Macri and form a great coalition electoral that defeats Kirchnerism to, as he understands, put an end to Cristina’s leadership in the opposition. The President was always the main promoter of an alliance with the PRO and this was raised at different times during these ten months of administration.
But his troops, the “iron triangle” that complete his sister Karina MileiSecretary General of the Presidency, and the all-terrain advisor Santiago Caputo, works so that La Libertad Avanza has own candidatures throughout the country. “We cannot depend on (Mauricio) Macri and it is not that we do not want to give places or positions: And if it is not convenient for him to play with us, what do we do? Until now it has been very clear that does not want merger“, they explain in Casa Rosada.
The official strategy not only contemplates guaranteeing the seals in the 24 districts but also a fine tuning in the election of candidates.
“The objective is have your own paintings ready to compete and represent the ideas of freedom but also have the ability to understand that they may have to sacrifice their places in pursuit of the national strategy. And that no one is above the cause,” they reason at the top of the ruling party.
The reference not only has to do with the possibility of a formal agreement with the PRO: the dialogue with non-Kirchnerist governors could result in district-by-district pacts with the premise of achieving the greatest number of seats possible in Congress.
Also, the diagnosis – and self-criticism – arises due to last year’s setup: in the presidential campaign, in which concessions were made with leaders in different provinces who, once Milei took office, jumped to the opposition. It was a precarious construction which in LLA they do not want to repeat but justify: “There was no other option, we grabbed the leaders we could at that time and we did not have our own party.”
Now, the scenario is different. In the Government they know that joining the LLA has a different appeal, but also that the libertarian candidates are watched closely and that the demands on the legislators, in their seats, are greater. On more than one occasion the head of state was heard reproach the pockets of rebellion in the troops and the rudeness suffered by the LLA block.
He emblematic case He is from Mendoza Lourdes Arrietawhich came to challenge to the president of the Chamber of Deputies, Martin Menemand criminally denounced her own colleagues before being kicked out of the bench. There is a before and after of that episode.
“The 24 who head the lists and the (16) candidates for the Senate They have to be presentable and pass all the filters, because they are going to be looked at with a magnifying glass and now there are no excuses,” argues a libertarian operator. “No names have been discussed yet.”, he adds.
To ensure that, the Undersecretary of Institutional Management, Eduardo “Lule” Menem, advances in the armed partisans. His agenda – like that of his cousin Martín and that of Karina Milei – seems packed almost every weekend until the end of the year, between events and party affairs.
The landing in La Plata this Friday was along those lines: it was about formal launch in Buenos Aires territorywhere the Secretary of Socio-Urban Integration, Sebastián Pareja, builds, who knows that the mother of all battles will take place in the Province: “We have to do enormous work to guarantee greater governability for the President in 2025.”
He said it alongside Karina, who was the keynote speaker. This is not a casual fact: there is a sector of LLA that wants her to be the candidate in the main district of the country. She doesn’t give clues but she doesn’t reject the versions either. A Milei-Kirchner surname duelin the event that Cristina plays, it is a possibility that the political table does not want to waste.
Arming throughout the country, they say, is guaranteed. Agreements were made to absorb stamps – including a name change – and avoid cumbersome procedures in several provinces. In Catamarca, Chubut, La Pampa, Salta and Tierra del Fuego the papers are already up to date. And work is being done against the clock to appoint authorities, who will not necessarily end up being the candidates anyway. “They will have the pen, but we all depend on the President.” That’s where Karina’s veto power and Caputo’s ever-present hand come into play.
The presidential strategist’s favorite, in case Karina decides not to compete, is the deputy José Luis Espert. Milei himself put him on the starting grid.
In the city, the one who is on point for the Senate is Manuel Adorni, who at this point plays a more important role than that of spokesperson: he sits at the political table and is listened to by the trident of power.
Although she herself ruled out the possibility of competing, Patricia Bullrich It is the letter that they say they keep in the Government as pressure tool on the PRO: They believe that even in a scenario in which, against all plans, Mauricio Macri would play to defend his bastion, the Minister of Security could put him in trouble.