Alberto Fernández and Agustín Rossi
had breakfast on Monday in Olivos.
For some of the officials who report directly to the head of state, the meeting at the presidential residence was a signal for the succession to the head of the Cabinet office in light of the imminent departure of Juan Manzur.
"
There is a 90 percent chance that it is Rossi
," an official with an office in the Casa Rosada told this newspaper.
The meeting between Fernández and the head of the AFI took place 24 hours before
Juan Manzur
made official his departure from the office next to the President's, an alternative
that the man from Tucumán wanted to speed up as soon
as possible -as this newspaper reported- and that will finish taking effect on next February 15.
In the environment of the former Defense Minister, they point out that up to now "there has been no offer" and insist that the head of the AFI is "very comfortable" in his position.
-And the remaining 10 percent chance?
Clarín
asked
one of the officials who spoke of 90% chances for Rossi from Santa Fe?
-A bump -
was the official response.
Nobody dares to throw names, but all roads lead to Rossi.
"Whoever it was should have management experience," reasoned a leader familiar with the position.
Rossi's name was also mentioned, along with that of the current Deputy Chief of Staff,
Juan Manuel Olmos
, for Manzur's succession during the dinner that the President held this Tuesday night with a group of mayors from the Buenos Aires suburbs at the Olivos residence .
However, given the comments of those present, Alberto Fernández took special care to anticipate his decision,
Santiago Cafiero
flatly rules out returning to that role.
"
The chancellor will continue to be chancellor
", they insisted in the San Martín Palace.
The Minister of Foreign Relations was this Wednesday at La Rosada in a meeting with his Greek counterpart and the President.
Gabriel Katopodis
, who in the past had sounded like a hypothetical JGM and has a good presence in all sectors of Peronism, is not interested in the position either.
An eventual arrival of
Daniel Scioli
as head of the Cabinet is even more unlikely now that
Sergio Massa
is concentrating on Economy, Production and Agriculture.
"
Daniel was not called and he is not thinking about it
. He is focused on the integration agreement with Brazil and this week he has a hyper-loaded agenda with that," explained collaborators of the ambassador in Brazil consulted by journalistic rumors.
The Chaco governor
Jorge Capitanich
also passed through Olivos at the beginning of the week .
Cristina Kirchner's former chief of staff was on tour in Buenos Aires and met with various ministers.
He did not publicize the visit to the President, with whom he had shared an act days before.
Although officials close to the president suggested that he had been part of the meeting with Rossi, those around the head of the AFI denied it.
Anyway, today
all roads point to the head of Intelligence
.
If he is appointed, Fernández will have to find a new spy chief.
Until Monday, Manzur hoped that
Olmos
- in charge of the files and management - would keep his position.
However, the representative of the national PJ hastened to make it known that he will be fully focused on the electoral assembly.
In this way,
the actions of Rossi
, who had sounded in January 2022 as a replacement for Manzur -frozen at the time by Fernández himself- or
Wado de Pedro
in the Ministry of the Interior, skyrocketed again.
Neither of these things happened and the former head of the FPV legislature block finally became the head of the spies.
Beyond his role at AFI,
Rossi is a permanent source of consultation
for the President, also on political issues, and a defender of Fernández in the media.
Nobody can also object to his lack of blood Kirchnerism, since -unlike the President, among others-
he never broke up with Cristina Kirchner
.
In recent times he seemed to lower his profile and move away from Fernández.
"
He is fine with Alberto
. The nature of his management can generate looks that are not accurate," they explained close to Rossi, who - they bet on Rosada - is preparing to return to the front page.
look too
Another casualty for Alberto Fernández: Juan Manzur leaves the Cabinet office, although he promised to accompany the President
In front of the Buenos Aires mayors, Sergio Massa told the President that he has to decide "soon" if he is going to be a candidate or not
