Argentina is going through a political cycle marked by the symbolic replacement of leadership. The visible figures in the spaces of power—in the government, unions and the opposition—seem to act more as delegates than as decision-makers. In this “era of substitutes”, the true protagonists move in the shadows, while the public faces exercise a conditioned and reversible authority.
The recent renewal of the CGT clearly exposes this logic. The new triumvirate made up of Octavio Argüello (Truckers), Jorge Sola (Insurance) and Cristian Jerónimo (Glass) symbolizes the generational change that unionism has been proclaiming for years, but that has never fully materialized. Real power remains concentrated in the old guard: Héctor Daer, Armando Cavalieri, Hugo Moyano, Gerardo Martínez, José Luis Lingeri and Sergio Sasia. The young general secretaries do not lead, they administer. Each strategic decision goes through consultation with your sponsors. The labor reform that is being negotiated with the Government will find them acting as emissaries of a consensus that is defined outside their offices.
The same phenomenon is repeated in the national Executive. Javier Milei delegates formal authority to officials whose autonomy is more apparent than real. The figure of Manuel Adorni as coordinating minister raises the question of whether he is an articulator of the cabinet or a messenger between the ministries and Karina Milei, the true repository of presidential power. In parallel, Diego Santilli faces the dilemma of negotiating with the governors while each step requires the approval of the Casa Rosada. The institutional fragility of mileism is explained, to a large extent, by this inverted structure: those who hold political authority avoid exposure, and those who come forward lack the margin to decide.
Peronism, for its part, is going through its own substitution crisis. The leaders who occupy the first places on the lists or in internal discussions speak on behalf of others, with the promise of a unity that only exists as an electoral strategy. The night of the midterm defeat revealed the fracture: the leaderships of Cristina Kirchner, Sergio Massa, Axel Kicillof and Juan Grabois neutralize each other. Each one represents a part of the past and a still diffuse project for the future. The repetition of the 2019 tactic—appointing a delegate who measures well and has the blessing of royal power—no longer produces cohesion, but paralysis.
Thus, the Argentine political system seems condemned to perpetual intermediation. In this era of deputies, no one rules completely and everyone obeys someone.
