Empowered, resisted, protagonist or targeted: these are all words that are used, within the ruling party, to talk about Gabriela Ceruti. The official went from being a spokesperson for the Government to Secretary of Communication and Pressthe post that had become vacant since the tsunami unleashed by Cristina Kirchner after the STEP was loaded to Juan Pablo Biondi. The former journalist arrived in mid-October with the difficult task of ordering the albertista device, maintaining dialogue with all the tribes of the front of all and also to take the mark so that all the darts do not fall on the president Alberto Fernandez. Whether or not he is succeeding depends on who you ask.
LIGHTS CAMERA ACTION
As is often the case in Casa Rosada, the arrival of Cerruti It was the product of the tandem that works best within the Government: Alberto and Vilma Ibarra. The President had been ruminating on the idea of creating a position with the figure of government spokesperson, something he had seen on his trips to Europe, and the Legal and Technical Secretarythe woman you trust the most Fernandez, was the one who suggested the name. Cerruti, in addition to being extremely trusted by Ibarra, scored points for several factors: he knows the cloth for his long career as a journalist (and wrote classics such as “El Pibe”, one of the first biographies of Mauricio Macri), he had a very close relationship close with Cristina Kirchner and therefore designating her was a wink towards that sector, and furthermore, while Alberto always maintained a cordial dialogue with the press, at least in dealings, she could become the “bad police” or have the friction that the president never wanted.
Only six months have passed since then, but things have also happened.
“It is incredible how Gabriela wore herself out in such a short time. It’s a shame,” says one of Alberto’s bishops. It is that Cerruti, high-profile and combative, generates a crack inside the crack: either you want it or the opposite. Those in the second group list from unusual anecdotes – to cite one of the several that are commented, they say that by action or omission she did not notify Albert in Moscowwhich was on the air, and that was when the president said that “Argentina could be Russia’s gateway” to the continent, a statement that according to this version was not intended to be made in public – to specific political events.
In particular, they insist on the “unnecessary” frictions that he had with Kirchnerism: not only did it cause tension in his personal relationship with CFK, but also his statements -such as when he spoke about the vice president not answering messages to the President- only served to throw more fuel on the internal fire. In her K rows, there is also talk of an incident within the incident: they accuse her of leaking to the media a private conversation she had with Hernan Reibel, the historic spokesman for the former president. They are the style of plays that Christianity detests.
In this library there are also critics for its positioning. There are complaints about the idea of holding the press conferences on Thursdays with an open agenda (“by opening the game to any question we end up installing topics that do not serve us and we do not set our agenda”, is heard in La Rosada), but above all because of the high exposure it has been having. “On Wednesday something happened that defines who Gabriela is: after the Cabinet meeting she joined the conference as if she were another minister, alongside Manzur, Taiana and Vizzoti. She has too much desire to appear, ”says an official, who points to the failed project that Cerruti made – which included the attempt to install three fixed cameras inside the Journalists’ Room that he also seeks to remodel – to transform his conferences into daily deliveries.
IN FRONT
Of course, everything just listed, as often happens in life and also in politics, can be seen from another lens. It is the one chosen by its defenders. “Since the government started, Cristina only complained in public with the name and surname of three people: Guzmán, Biondi and now Gabriela. She is gaining a lot of centrality, creating a figure of her own, and Alberto respects her a lot, they have daily dialogue”, they say. It is true that they have elements: Cerruti kept the position held by Juan Ross – a close friend of Biondi, the still spokesman in the shadows of Alberto – who became Media Secretary. Until then that place belonged to Valeria Zapesochny, Manzur’s historical spokeswoman who now returns to work in that position.
In fact, those who speak with the spokeswoman say that she is more than confident. “I want to stay six more years here,” Cerruti is saying, one of the few who believes a re-election of Alberto is viable. You have faith.
