Dante Gebel had a hectic 72 hours in the country. He arrived on Tuesday the 21st; He participated in several coffees with politicians, businessmen, trade unionists and journalists; a couple of interviews and some brief moments of relaxation with friends. On Friday the 24th, at the time of going to press, he was returning to his residence in California.
It was the landing in Argentina of the possible presidential candidate. He did not confirm that he is launching, but he warned that he is in the previous round: “I would like to try it,” he says. Meanwhile, a team of people with little ties to each other set up an operation that he lets grow. In July, after the World Cup, he will make his decision public.
Empty candidate.
There is no clear setup around Gebel. Not even a discursive line to accompany it. He does not have positions taken on the most basic political issues of the country. For now it’s just a shell. A name.
This was evident in his first media statements. “I am not a pastor. I am not a politician,” he said in an interview with Luis Novaresio. And when the journalist asked him if he was closer to Cristina Kirchner or Javier Milei, he said: “None of them. And that is not being lukewarm.”
He only throws in a political reference, when insisted upon. He claims to be a friend of Nayib Bukele, the president of El Salvador. But he assures that he is not in favor of the “iron fist” that was the emblem of the management of the Salvadoran politician and businessman. Conclusion: yours is a center-right proposal.
It also does not have clear economic definitions. He confirms that he is putting together a team to draw up a plan, but there is no recognized economist to reference.
His team plays from the shadows. It is made up of union members, businessmen, political and religious leaders. In the interview in America, he gave some more clues about those who are working on his premature campaign: “They are from all sectors. Some are in office and I don’t want to compromise them,” he indicated. And he concluded: “We have people from old Peronism, from the PRO, from the UCEDE and from the Radical Civic Union. We are going to manage based on integrity, if they do not comply with moral values, they will be expelled.”
The creators of his campaign were also in charge of completing the boxes of the furious agenda that he displayed in Buenos Aires. Of course, not all contact was successful. There are politicians who rejected the proposal. A governor from the center of the country received an invitation to meet with Gebel from a deputy for the City. “Look, I still don’t even know what he thinks,” he responded to decline the offer. “Besides, now is not the time,” he concluded. Only one provincial leader had contact, Martín Llaryora from Córdoba.
Under construction.
The outcry operation included the placement of posters in the Capital with his face, the colors blue and white, and a grandiose slogan: “Argentina needs you.”
The space they work in is called Consolidación Argentina. It is the multisector that has been building a structure to contain the candidate and organizing events even without him, in case Gebel finally decides to take the step.
Privately, he assures that his family does not want him to get involved, but that he believes it is the right thing to do. In public, he adds: “I am in a struggle with my civic duty. I have my life figured out. Seeking recognition in politics is a fallacy,” he says. And he continues: “If I don’t get involved… wouldn’t it be that this omission keeps the scoundrels in power, those who are there by default?”
His candidacy is going to be built from evangelism, it is his strength. But he assures that he does not want to bring evangelism to politics. Plus, it has to come off a little to grow.
In any case, at the end of the year he organizes an event in River that he will call Superclásico de la youth. He even dreams of filling two stadiums, something unthinkable for any politician today.
Gebel plays the mystery, but his objective is clear: “Not yet,” he says when pressed. It’s just a matter of time.
