Leandro Santoro He shouldered the campaign for mayor of the City of Buenos Aires (CABA) in a district that was never close to Peronism. He came to see him almost alone at the end of the PASO, in which as a candidate for Unión por la Patria (UxP) he obtained 22 percent of the votes.
“A result has been given in the City that clarifies the discussion that lies ahead. There are only two possibilities: it is Jorge Macri or it is Leandro Santoro and all these companions and companions who are accompanying us,” Santoro said on August 13 in the UxP bunker.
The fact that the candidate took advantage of most in his campaign was to go for the voters of the PRO partner in JxC: radicalism, which with the face of Martín Lousteau obtained 27 percent of the votes gathered in total for JxC. On Twitter, weeks later, Santoro announced that he had plans to take five points from the government program of the UCR-Evolución candidate. It was an almost solitary play. With a lot of screwing behind closed doors.
Meanwhile, on social networks the indifference towards the candidate, alfonsinian origin, was notorious. And Santoro, born on January 11, 1976 in the Boedo neighborhood (the same one where he continues to live today), has been active in Buenos Aires politics since he was 13 years old. Political scientist, he was undersecretary of the Common Basic Cycle of the University of Buenos Aires, coordinator of the Strategic Plan of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires and teacher in the “UBA XXI” program.
It is his beginnings in the youth of the Radical Civic Union (in fact he chaired it and had a very close relationship with Raúl Alfonsín) that made many Peronist militants look at him with a certain distrust. Although his hard work managed to earn more and more respect. And, in truth, he is not the only Alfonsinista who joined the ranks of Kirchnerism after the assumption of Nestor Kirchner as president of the Nation in 2003. During the presidency of Cristina Fernández de Kirchner Santoro was the national undersecretary for institutional reform and strengthening of democracy.
In CABA the fight has been going on for eight years: in 2015 he was a candidate for vice head of government on the list headed by Mariano Recalde; In the 2017 legislative elections he ranked fourth on the Unidad Porteña list and was elected as Legislator of the City of Buenos Aires; In 2021 he headed the list of national deputies for Unidad Ciudadana and his seat expires in 2025.
Finally, this year he became a candidate for head of government. In September the tone of his campaign changed dramatically when it strengthened itself on social networks, with short, forceful pieces, directly aimed at talking about specific problems and with specific proposals. He even posted his complete proposal on Twitter and included some of what Lousteau offered.
Since then, Santoro’s campaign has focused on fighting a runoff with the holder of the Buenos Aires seat since 2007, JxC. Little by little he began to have more support from capital peronism and also of the militants. But the real boost was received from UxP presidential candidate Sergio Massa on Thursday, October 19, at the Luna Park campaign closing ceremony, when he went on stage with Santoro. Both joined in a hug that left no doubts regarding support and belongings.
Today, and undoubtedly as another example of the differences between the hard sector of the PRO and the radicals, that Jorge Macri is not winning in the first instance and that Leandro Santoro The possibility of fighting a run-off election is the product of a commitment to call other non-Peronist sectors and non-members of the UxP coalition to generate broader consensus in the city.
by RN
