“Let it break but not bend.” The emblematic phrase of radicalism is famous, but its context not so much: it was written by Leandro Alem, father of the party, before ending his life with a shotgun blast in a carriage in 1896. And if it is true that history repeats itself twice, that of the founder of the UCR would be part of the tragedy. And now, several in the space think that they are boiling with anger, mockery.
The thing is Rodrigo De Loredo, president of the block in Deputies, showed his willingness to approve the omnibus law of the Milei government. It is a central issue: the 34 legislators that this bench has could be the ones who tilt the field not only for this project to be approved but also for those who come. And with those statements the ghost of the breakup appeared again.
Cracks. “He speaks for Loredo. He did not organize a block meeting, he did not notify, he did not consult. He sent himself. “He likes the camera too much,” one of his colleagues says quietly. The thing is that in that group they are still getting used to De Loredo’s presidency. The man was promoted by the two governors of the UCR -Alfrefo Cornejo de Mendoza and Gustavo Valdés de Corrientes-, at the end of last year. Those who complain about the docility of the deputy tie him to this reality. “Governors need to support the national government, whatever it may be. They have to be okay with Milei. What De Loredo does must be understood there,” they say, while they mull suspicions about a direct agreement between him and the Government, and warn that we will have to closely monitor the possibility that the ruling party provides some extra funds to the UBA. the university from where radicalism takes root. And they highlight another detail: the Cordoba native was accepted at the head of the bloc as part of the agreement to endorse Martín Lousteau as president of the party at the national level. “Where is Lousteau? Did anyone see it? “Is this why he wanted to be in charge of the UCR?” They maintain.
In any case, the debate over the position before the law is only the surface of a deeper one: the place and role of radicalism in the stage that the Milei government opened, at a time when the space is far from being cohesive and Each space (the governors, Evolución, the space that proposes Facundo Manes as the leader of the resistance) has its own interests. “Radicalism is those who vote for us, and those voters support the Government, to the extent that the positions of the ruling party do not contravene fundamental issues of space. There may be leaders who do not think this way, but those principled and formalistic positions led us to be a party without influence. If the party wants to regain influence and be transcendent, we cannot be against what our voters want,” he says. Oscar Aguad, Macri’s former minister and one of De Loredo’s mentors.
But not everyone agrees. Federico Storani, radical historical, was in favor of the strike that the CGT decreed. Agustín Rombolá, president of the party’s youth, points out those inclined to agree with the ruling party. “They are terrified of being called Kirchnerists, of being attached to the previous government. It is a central issue: if you do not lead the rejection you do not lead anything, the approval of the law will be led by the government. Radicalism’s position of renouncing leadership leads us to fall into the same trap that we have fallen into for a long time: that of thinking of ourselves as a skeptical democratic center, far from reality without taking a position on the historical future due to any of the power factors. . There is a prejudice from the center, perhaps crossed by the crack, where it would seem that being from the center is being indecisive, that is not the center.”
But beyond the internal debates, sooner rather than later it will be necessary to vote for or against the law. What will happen there? Will Alem’s maxim be fulfilled?
