Libertad Avanza consolidated its political dominance this Sunday by clearly prevailing over Kirchnerism, represented by the Fuerza Patria coalition, in the legislative elections on October 26. With an impressive performance in most of the country’s districts, the libertarian ruling party managed not only to consolidate its presence in Congress, with 40 percent obtained nationally, but also to deal a significant blow to the space it leads. Cristina Fernández de Kirchnerwhose internal power within the PJ was severely weakened.
The force led by the brothers Milei managed to capitalize on the discontent with the traditional leadership and turn it into electoral consolidation, especially in the provinces of Buenos Aires, Córdoba, Mendoza and Santa Fe. In several of these territories, the libertarian candidates surpassed by wide margins the candidates from Fuerza Patria, a front that had tried to regroup the Kirchnerist and classic Peronist sectors under a discourse of frontal opposition to the national government.
On the political level, the defeat leaves Cristina Kirchner in a situation of withdrawal. Although she was not a candidate, her figure continued to be the symbolic axis of Fuerza Patria’s campaign and the main point of reference for her adversaries. This situation was reflected when militants approached the home located at San José 1111, Constitución neighborhood, to accompany the former president. The leader went out to the balcony and greeted the crowd that gathered with drums in the vicinity. She also danced a few steps in gratitude to the activists who came to the place where she is confined under house arrest.
The loss of seats in the Senate and the evident fracture in the provincial leaderships mark the end of a stage within Kirchnerism. In the last few hours, leaders in the space recognized privately that the former president now faces the challenge of redefining her role within a movement that no longer has the capacity to attract people or the electoral weight of other times.
On social networks, trolls related to LLA developed a deepfake of Alberto Fernández’s former vice president jumping from the balcony of her home. Spread by networks such as X and Threads, the tasteless video was a trend in the virtual world after the final counts of the legislative election were known.
The libertarian advance in Congress reinforces Milei’s position for the second half of his term and gives him greater room for maneuver to promote structural reforms. Meanwhile, Peronism in its Kirchnerist version must go through a complex process of internal reorganization, with figures disputing the leadership that Cristina Fernández de Kirchner embodied for almost two decades. The Argentine political map, after the polls on October 26, is redefined with a strengthened ruling party and a Peronist opposition that seeks to reinvent itself after the deepest setback in its recent history.
