When Alberto Fernandez he left the Pink House, just after 8:00 p.m. on Monday, none of his collaborators knew what was about to happen. In that small circle, they had been speculating, since the weekend, on a possible meeting with Cristina Kirchner. But all day long you swore Silvina Batakis, the President he hadn’t wanted to drop any clues. In fact, when he boarded the helicopter that took him back to the Quinta de Olivos no one in the government guessed who he was going to meet. The dinner he had with his vice president was the first heads-up they have so far this year. Will there be a thaw between the running mates?
It is true that albert he was more than reluctant to hang out with Christina. It had been suggested and insisted on by a wide range of leaders -Albertists and not so much- on Saturday and Sunday, but the President did not want to give in. The act of the Vice President in Ensenada, in which she harassed the President again about the use of the pen and the handling of power – she even had the luxury of replicating it through Juan Domingo Perón’s driving manual and advised him not to look for re-election – had greatly complicated a situation that was already bad. On Saturday night Alberto went to sleep furious. That anger reached Martin Guzman, the outgoing minister who he thinks lacked “codes”: in the presidential circle and in the Cabinet they swear that the former official had not advanced the president’s resignation, but only, in a meeting on Thursday, had assured him that he needed gain greater control over the economic keypad. Among those close to Guzmán, the version is different: they say that Stiglitz’s disciple demanded to keep control of Energy because he otherwise “could not continue.” Discussion for history.
Sunday was also a day of vertigo. Several replacement variants were analyzed, while a large part of the ruling party insisted to Alberto about resuming the dialogue with the Vice. The one who unlocked the situation was Estela de Carlotto, a contribution that weighed more than many think. The historic social leader received a call from Bolivia by Daniel Filmus, the Minister of Science and Technology who was in that country and in Peru meeting with his peers from those places. The Grandmothers’ reference gave him “an order” to call Cristina, despite Fernández’s excuses. This said that he had sent her a message and that it was CFK who did not answer him. In the camporismo they suggest another version: that Alberto had sent a message to a cell phone that CFK does not use on weekends, and that only after Estela’s intervention did he realize the broken phone. Believe or burst.
The call on Sunday, they say on both sides of the official crack, was tense. There were reproaches and lack of agreement on Guzmán’s replacement. Just on a second call, Alberto and the vice they agreed on the name of Batakis, suggested by Miguel Pesce and pushed by Daniel Scioli, who had her as a minister in his time as governor and who sent her a convenient message on Sunday evening. In that second call it was that they agreed to see each other in the days to come, although without any precision.
Monday dinner was handled with absolute secrecy. In fact, several of those who consulted the President on that day found elusive answers about the possibility of meeting with CFK. At this point, no one can confirm if he really hesitated to have dinner with her that night or if he was playing the mystery, fearing some leak and its consequences. Another debate for history.
The meeting was long and included a table talk. It was the first time they had a hand in hand – this year they crossed paths for the opening of sessions in Congress and for the YPF act – since December 2021, when they met for dinner with Lula.
The details of the meeting were also kept secret by both parties. A deputy K, close to Máximo Kirchner, today he entered the session in the House asking the pairs he passed if anyone knew what had happened yesterday. An idea was circulating in Albertism that came from Olivos: “It was much better than the call on Sunday, and the relationship was more comfortable. Let’s hope they continue like this.” Most likely, however, there will be new chapters in this novel between the President and his Vice.
