Gerardo Morales it works well, but not so well. He managed to get the UCR to maintain the government of Jujuy, but he will not be the governor. He has the presidency of the National UCR, but it is not one hundred percent aligned. He made an alliance with Horacio Rodriguez Larreta, but is not guaranteed a place on the ballot. That is to say: half everything.
The chronology of the last few months shows Morales in a series of ups and downs that left him in an uncomfortable place when it came to negotiating. He first he quarreled with Martin Lousteau, the radical candidate who competes with the PRO for the Buenos Aires Government Headquarters. The anger of Jujuy was such that he threw a glass at him that almost hit the head of the economist. Morales said that Lousteau was not committed to the UCR and that he had handed over the party to Rodriguez Larreta. Lousteau replied that “the thief believes that they are all of his condition.” They were spicy months for Morales, who had also fought with Larreta for defending Facundo Manes, who was doing well in the polls. He said that the mayor of Buenos Aires made him remember “the chubby guy in the neighborhood that when they take him out he takes the ball… He doesn’t like being put as goalkeeper and he takes the ball.” That fatphobia doesn’t add up either.
When he took off, he clamored for the unity of the UCR and expressed his presidential wishes, which immediately produced divisions. afredo cornejo He approached Patricia Bullrich, Carolina Losada moved away, Governor Gustavo Valdés took refuge in his province and Facundo Manes, who also ran for president, also distanced himself from Morales.
Now, allied with Larreta, he dreams of integrating the presidential formula that places him at the helm of the Senate. It will be difficult, because the numbers are very tight and Larreta will have to choose a more competitive partner. Morales only measures well in Jujuy, where just over 500,000 people vote. He is less than 2 percent of the national register. Sometimes electoral math can be cruel.
This week Larreta and Morales they passed through Córdoba accompanying the candidacy of Luis Juez. There they found a complex panorama, because Patricia Bullrich received the majority of the applause.
Small payment. In Jujuy, Morales is lord and master. He has a good part of his family employed in the State, including sons, brothers, brothers-in-law and cousins. In February of this year, Javier Milei defined him as “the king of the caste”, because the number of relatives in the State would amount to 25. His son Gastón is the president of Cannava, the state company from Jujuy dedicated to the business of cannabis oil. His other son, Facundo, is the president of the Institute of Audiovisual Arts, a kind of INCCA in Jujuy.
His brother “Freddy” Morales He is the secretary general of the government, but he is also a director in Sales of Jujuy, the Mining Joint Venture which exploits the Olaroz salt flat and is made up of the Australian company Allkem (66.5%), the Japanese Toyota Tsusho (25%) and Jujuy Energía y Minería Sociedad of the State (8.5%). Morales represents the State (and his brother).
Another innovative business in Jujuy is renewable energy. The Cauchari Solar Parks were created there, which were built by the PowerChina company and are managed by Jujuy Energy and Mining State Company. The Solar Parks are under the responsibility of Guillermo Hoerth, a friend of Morales and historical radical operator, who is also a permanent staff of the Chamber of Deputies. Nobody releases anything.
The other brother of the outgoing governor, Walter Morales, He is president of ImproJuy, the Provincial Games Institute of Random. and Tullia Snopek, Morales’s wife, was also benefited from a position at YPF. In other words, there is a Morales man or woman for each area of the State.
These State benefits led the radical to have complaints about the use of the medical plane for personal trips. Jujuy’s lawyer Juan Giusti reported that the governor of Jujuy made 33 plane trips between January 5 and 31 of this year in provincial medical planes, a Cessna 560 XL Citation Excel and a Learjet 31-A. Even last year a trip to the United States was also reported in one of these planes.
Goals. Morales knew how to build power in the north of the country and is one of the few radical governors who are still standing. He managed to keep the governorship for the party, but, as he always happens, he begins to grow afraid of losing influence. Now his energies are focused on getting Rodríguez Larreta to make him a place in the formula or having some degree of interference in the Cabinet assembly, if they win the election.
He doesn’t worry too much about Jujuy, because Charles Sadir, the elected governor, is surrounded by moralists. If national plans fail, Morales may think about returning in 2027.
