just for a moment, the fierce battle of the PRO entered into a truce. The Ministry of Justice had intervened in Patricia Bullrich’s foundation for alleged irregularities and her rival, Horacio Rodríguez Larreta, expressed solidarity.. “Dirty campaigns have no place in our democracy. Using the state to persecute opponents is unacceptable,” she wrote on Twitter. The former minister thanked him.
It was hardly an oasis, because the internal dispute continues. It is that the message is the same in both corners: whoever manages to overcome the obstacle of the PASO would have the path to Balcarce 50 very smooth.
One month before the primaries the pre-candidates enter the final stretch of a race that will escalate levels of tension. They agreed not to debate, so as not to be the only ones exposed, but they will continue to respond publiclyat the risk of wearing down their electorate. Ruthless campaign, crosses in networks and war of polls with bulging differences to make psychological action and create a sense of victory. Anything seems to go in the Juntos por el Cambio internship.
Speech.
The biggest difference is in the style. And the candidates want it to be seen that way. Bullrich exaggerates his “hawk” side and Larreta defends his “dove” profile. That was exposed in the first spot of the former Minister of Security, when it was announced the campaign slogan: “If it’s not everything, it’s nothing,” he says.
On the other side, the response was forceful. “The slogan it proposes is to continue on the same path that no longer worked,” Larreta said in an interview.. And he completed: “I never started shouting ‘I’m going to get the drug dealers out’, no. I took them out and period. I propose something different. Get out of this spider web in which we are paralyzed. The changes are not by blows”.
From bullrichism they seek to embarrass Larreta for his moderate speech. They assure that it is more similar to what Sergio Massa, the pro-government candidate, is trying to do than to the essence of Together for Change. They leave implicit the idea of a pact between both candidates, whom some even call “the chosen ones of the red circle.” The association is not accidental: the search is to expose the friendship that both leaders maintain. “Larreta and Gerardo Morales are the same as Massa,” Bullrich stated long ago.
According to the sector that is consulted, the polls turn to one or the other candidate. Under their breath, they agree that the election could be very even: “It gives us a technical draw,” they confess. But in the middle appear works that surprise by the bulky differences. Like that of a well-known consultant that places the former minister almost 20 points above the Buenos Aires head of government (25.7 percent to 7.5). It is not the only fact that draws attention: “Can you seriously believe that in a survey that says Grabois is taller than Horacio?” they say with irony at Larreta’s small table. It is that the same study gives 9.6% to the candidate of Union for the Homeland.
Only the polls will elucidate the underlying debate: how many votes were lost due to the fierce internal. Gerardo Morales had calculated it at 10 points, which were dispersed to other forces. Massismo repeats the same amount. Bullrich goes in another direction: “I don’t believe that,” he maintains when asked by this chronicler.
“Argentines are little used to primaries. In democracy, this is the third. There was that of Menem and Cafiero, that of Fernández Meijide and De La Rúa and ours ”, Bullrich argues before NEWS. And he completes: “Perhaps we are a little surprised by the political debate that we are giving on how Argentina is built. There we do have different views regarding how to lead the country. If it is with the dialogue with the sectors that govern, which are the ones that have led us to this situation, or if it is setting a clear objective of changebecause Argentina half measures will not come out ”.
For Bullrich, after the PASO a different instance opens, without rancor: “It is a debate and there is a commitment: we are accepting the rules of the game of the primaries. The day after you have to accept the results”.
M factor.
After appearing close to Bullrich and ignoring the initial pact of impartiality that he had made with both PRO candidates, Mauricio Macri broke away from the inmate. He listened to all kinds of advice, including that neither of the two leaders was going to respect the place he claimed.
Due to the constant short circuits of recent times, If Larreta is victorious, Macri knows that he will not have a leading role in the Juntos government. But other analysts warn that nor will it be easy for him to keep the place he wants before a possible management of Bullrich. That is why the former president did not venture more explicit support for her.
In his last speeches, Macri decided not to interfere in the internal and dedicated himself to discussing outside, with Kircherism. On Monday the 10th, the crossing was directly with Cristina, based on data from the gas pipeline and energy policies. In the middle was a 2019 NEWS cover, in which the mother of the former president, Alicia Blanco Villegas, confessed “I have hit him for lying.” “Now I understand why his mother punished him for lying,” wrote the vice.
In the middle of the campaign the former president has other concerns. In addition to his obligations as a FIFA official, he is preparing to participate in the Bridge World Cupwhich begins days after the PASO in Morocco.
Other rounds.
Bullrich and Larreta’s internal dispute began too early. “If they had not been arguing these last two years, we would be closer to winning the elections,” says a radical shipowner.
The PRO leaders were dividing the waters and causing everyone in the opposition coalition to define themselves for one or another candidate. “They made us all play their internship,” protests the same consultant. It is that even the UCR and the Civic Coalition were subsumed in the dispute.
inside together Macri’s delay in announcing that he would not be a candidate was also criticized. The former president waited until the end of March to reliably communicate his decision, despite the fact that he was already giving indications in that regard. This adds uncertainty and makes it difficult for the candidates in the final stretch of the campaign.
After the midterm elections, the rift between Bullrich and Larreta only widened. It reached its most violent point in November 2022, when the former Minister of Security met Felipe Miguel, Larreta’s right-hand man, at the presentation of Macr’s book.Yo. He had criticized her on television, but when he saw her personally, he went to greet her. “Don’t cross me anymore because the next time I’ll break your face, I’ll let you know,” he threatened.. The exchange was recorded. “I’m telling you, you don’t fuck with me,” she completed. The images did not take long to go viral.
Now, the internship of the PRO has been extended to the pre-candidates for radical vice-presidents. Morales, Larreta’s partner, and Luis Petri, from Bullrich, crossed over networks. The Mendoza reproached “the warmth” against the pickets. The jujeño returned him with the lack of experience: “You never had to manage or govern.” Again, a discussion of hawks and doves.
According to the protagonists, from the inside the crack does not look so impressive. That’s why Bullrich describes it as “different views” that will come together on August 14, after the PASO. Larreta has a similar idea. “My differences with Patricia, if they are well managed, enrich us”, he repeated when asked about the coexistence between them. Far from breaking the coalition, in both corners they believe that the dispute generates an attraction for the voters. That they are strengthening the space, instead of weakening it. Only the polls will have the answer.
