Little remains of the character of that young economist with a technical profile who was chosen to negotiate with the International Monetary Fund. 500 days after taking office as minister, Martín Guzmán has already become a leader who is encouraged to play in the official internal. Whether or not he is winning the game will depend on how you look at it. But what nobody can deny is that, by action of Alberto Fernandez and omission of Kirchnerism, continues to accumulate power.
The resignation of Robert Feletti the Ministry of Internal Trade was surprised, but it didn’t feel bad at all. The Minister of Economy he had severe discrepancies with the official close to Cristina and was not willing to let him get away with it, especially now that he would become her boss.
The day after the changes in the Cabinet, the economist received the President’s support, who seated him next to him in an act. The concern that must now be answered Guzmán is if he twisted Kirchnerism’s arm or if they made him a power vacuum so that he is solely responsible for the direction of the economy. One way or another, now things will be done your way.
the last round
The organizational chart change led Feletti to make the drastic decision. It is that his area, Commerce, was going to become part of Economy. That is to say, his direct boss was going to be the one he had blamed on more than one occasion for rampant inflation. In April, prior to knowing the economic indices for March, he left him alone: “It will be very high, but that is the responsibility of the Ministry of Economy”said the soldier Homeland Institute. And he completed: “It is clear that we do not perform miracles. The baskets have worked and the reference prices have improved, but it is insufficient”. From there there was no return in the relationship with Guzman.
Before Feletti After the door slammed, there were two organizational meetings for Commerce to change its ministry. In the third meeting, after having spoken with Cristina, the Kirchnerist released the news that he was leaving. There were no attempts to hold him. The minister called the President to inform him of the decision and told him in advance that he had a replacement: a young economist from his kidney. Albert accepted it.
few hours later, Fernandezin an act at the Bicentennial Museum, was already greeting the promoter of careful prices for the last time: “I spoke with Feletti, whom I take advantage of to say goodbye and thank him for all the work he has done,” he said and added: “I I had to face such a unique moment”.
In his farewell letter, Feletti argued that he wanted to give Guzmán “freedom to select male and female officials who share the defined course and the set program” and pointed out that with the Minister of Economy and with Matías Kulfas “we share the final objective”, but that they had “discrepancies on the path traced and on the selected economic tools”.
Guzmán did not comment on the matter, but in his environment they assure that the change will allow to give “coherence” to the minister’s plan: that the decisions that start from the leadership are respected and shared by the secretaries. With the consummate resignation, in the corridors of Economy they analyze that it would have been very difficult to maintain an optimal working relationship with such sensitive differences. First of all, they talk about retentions, which Feletti encouraged and Guzmán rejectseven at the cost of contradicting the President.
More than one official asked if the resignation of the Secretary of Commerce, agreed with the vice president, was an isolated issue or would there be a barrage of desertions, as happened after the PASO of 2021. For now, the only one that Feletti accompanied in his decision to return to the plain was Liliana Schwindt, who was in charge of the Undersecretary of Actions for the Defense of Consumers. But the eyes had been directed towards the secretary of Energy, Dario Martinez, and the undersecretary of the same area, Federico Basaldo, who also had short circuits with Guzmán. For now they resist.
challenges
For months the minister has been approaching businessmen. That gesture earned him the disapproval of Kirchnerism, despite the fact that he argues that he only does it to explain the measures to them, not to give in to his interests. That relationship with the establishment gives him an opportunity to face what is to come: he will have to convince the red circle of a truce and not to continue raising prices, at least until the agreement with the IMF begins to bear fruit.
It is that if Guzmán fails to stop the rising rate of inflation, will be exposed. They know that many leaders of the front of all They wait for him with a knife and fork after the failure.
The approach of the Government, through the economist, with the red circle was noted in the act of May 24 to encourage investments in Vaca Muerta. There they said present businessmen who had not appeared for a long time. The most emblematic: Paolo Rocca, one of the most powerful in the country and whom the President had reprimanded some time ago for a series of dismissals at Techint.
While he bids to meet the goals with the IMF at the end of the first quarter, Guzmán has to return to the role of negotiator.
The Minister of Economy will resume the dialogue with the Paris Club in June, to renegotiate the payment of some 2 billion dollars that the country owes to that organization. The minister is prepared so that the opposition, which usually crosses, now a large part of the ruling party is added to it. They will no longer hesitate to make you feel the rigor. He knows that the harsh criticism of his work from Kirchnerism is going to intensify. But Guzmán is not the same as two years ago: he is willing to face them.
In April, Máximo Kirchner undisguisedly squeezed him: “How come Guzmán doesn’t get involved in power disputes?” he said at a Buenos Aires PJ union plenary. The minister did not shrink: from there, still with the usual low profile, he showed his claws.
Now the die is cast for the minister. Once the Kirchnerism of the Economy is over, there will be no one with whom to share responsibilities.
