Diego Santilli’s time came in the least expected way. Since he began to build bridges with La Libertad Avanza, he knew that he would not be at the top of the list. The only candidate that Javier Milei had in mind to lead, and he said it openly, was José Luis Espert. But his relationship with “Fred” Machado, which the deputy administered in the worst way, changing versions in a matter of hours, ended up catapulting him. Suddenly, “El Colo” took a step forward.
The scenario is not optimal either. The surveys they receive in Casa Rosada do not show them winners in Buenos Aires territory, so, except for a hit, Santilli’s thing would be to manage the defeat: not by a landslide as the Provincial elections turned out in September.
“We had to go out and measure Santilli now,” says an important consultant who studied Espert’s image decline during the scandal from beginning to end. “In any case, I don’t think there will be a drastic change. We had La Libertad Avanza 9 points behind Peronism and I suspect that with Diego the scenario will be similar,” he adds.
Trust.
After turning the page, the President had to quickly assume “Colo” as the protagonist of the campaign. It will take a little longer for militancy, for the hard core, to digest it. Minutes after Espert announced that he was withdrawing from the election, Milei began to praise his new head of the list: “I have the highest regard for Santilli,” he said in an interview on LN+. On Tuesday the 7th, they shared the first campaign event in Mar del Plata, at the inauguration of an industrial plant. “Today our list from the province of Buenos Aires is headed by the beloved ‘Colo’ Santilli,” he said. And he added: “Someone who knows about security issues and who did it successfully in the City of Buenos Aires. So, drug traffickers and drug traffickers, I warn you that we are going to give you a bad time.”
But this series of praise contradicts the qualifications that Milei had about his new candidate some time ago. “There is no one who does not say that he is corrupt,” wrote the then libertarian deputy in the 2023 campaign. He assured that he was a bad candidate and completed: “This is the one that the media wants to sell us as an alternative in the Province of Buenos Aires.” A paradox: now he is their bishop in these October elections.
Libertarian militancy also tries to take on Milei’s candidate as best it can. It is not easy to swallow that toad, with the immense library of insults that they had compiled on social networks. To reverse this situation in the least unpleasant way possible, they chose to ironize the matter. Gordo Dan published a photo with his red hair and wrote: “In the end the seats at Santilleta were not so uncomfortable.” They themselves took care of rehashing their offending messages towards Santilli, before the opponents did, to give a comical spin to the matter.
For Santilli, it is not an unexplored situation to be a candidate viewed with distrust for his own space. It also happened to him in the PRO, where he never managed to get Mauricio Macri to let go of the reins. To make matters worse, during the space crisis, he sided with Horacio Rodríguez Larreta.
Now, however, “Colo” insists with his party. In his first campaign appearance he made his plan clear: in addition to going to look for those who did not vote in September, he assured that he had already summoned Macri to accompany him.. “We all have to play, we cannot leave the effort we made as citizens behind,” he asked, winking at the former president. It will not be possible: Macri is in Europe and has decided not to get actively involved in the campaign.
In fact, the ruling party barely asked him if he was willing to head the list, Santilli contacted the former president to hear his opinion. Then he called Cristian Ritondo to tell him the news.
In the PRO they are excited about the turn the campaign took. With Santilli at the helm, they are confident that they will be able to handle some aspects of communication and that they will have greater participation in the activities and agenda. Until now, the level of interference was equal to zero.
The plan.
In the PRO they say that Santilli, if he heads the list, would do so with a very unfavorable scenario. “After the Espert scandal, ‘Colo’ assumes the campaign at least 20 points down. That is the picture that must be reversed,” they say close to the deputy. It is an exaggeration by the allies to avoid taking responsibility for the defeat: the task, they indicate quietly, will be to deduct points from Peronism so that the result is not overwhelming in the Province.
What they gained with Espert’s resignation, allies of the ruling party say, is peace of mind when campaigning. The inconsistencies in the former candidate’s story and the evidence that was accumulating against him forced them to give uncomfortable answers in each interview. They trust that, as the days go by and the number of tours increases, the issue will be forgotten.
By the time they ask you about the former candidate, Santilli has rehearsed the answer: “Justice is in charge of solving.” Brief message, another topic.
Recovering one’s own agenda means being able to return to the original campaign plan: confronting Axel Kicillof. The idea is to show “Colo” as a great manager against insecurity, for his work in the Federal Capital, and contrast it with the weaknesses in the Peronist government.
By focusing on insecurity, they believe they are going to seduce many disenchanted people who did not go to vote in September. “We must speak again to the Together for Change voter. The one who trusted Milei in 2023, but who walked away later. The hard core is already inside,” they suggest from the PRO.
Santilli will also have to overcome media complaints about corruption. From links to companies in tax havens to financing of fraudsters. The creator of Generation Zoe, Leonardo Cositorto, imprisoned and sentenced to 12 years for having carried out a pyramid scheme, gave a radio interview in which he assured that he had had lunch with the possible candidate and other yellow officials. “I gave them $32,500,” he said. And he concluded: “I don’t have problems with Diego, but I don’t want him to deny me. I’m not ‘Fred’ Machado. They put me in the ring and I fight.” “Colo” denied knowing him. But he knows that he will have to overcome several of these obstacles until October 26.
Lock.
Now, Santilli had an additional problem. Justice, in the first instance, denied him the possibility of leading the endorsement to lead. The prosecutor with electoral jurisdiction, Laura Roteta, ruled that it should be the actress Karen Reichardt (second on the list), whoever heads after Espert’s resignation. Judge Alejo Ramos Padilla agreed with him. It will be the Electoral Chamber that will determine the fate of “Colo”: they trust that they will allow him promotion.
As long as Justice does not grant LLA’s request for a new orderthe ruling party still has the possibility of asking Reichardt to step aside to leave it to Santilli first. But beyond the fact that there is a plan B, what complicates it is the lack of time. The new main actor of the campaign wanted the ballots to be reprinted so that his photo would appear: the passing of the days conspired against his wish.
