Fernando Espinoza had confirmed his attendance at the meeting that President Alberto Fernández led on Tuesday with Peronist mayors of the first and third electoral section in Olivos.
At the last minute, he got out
.
It was not one more foul or as predictable as those of Mayra Mendoza or Juan Ustarroz, from La Cámpora.
Nor was it a rudeness identical
to that of other Buenos Aires caciques who answer to Cristina Kirchner.
The municipal head of the most populous district in the Province - the main stronghold of the PJ -
had also been absent a week earlier
, at the meeting of the Frente de Todos de la Provincia led by Máximo Kirchner and Governor Axel Kicillof, in Merlo.
The Matanzas mayor finally attended the act led by the President in Berazategui, where there was a subsequent barbecue but
there were few political definitions
.
"They are signs of
discomfort that Fernando has
," a weighty leader with a track record in Buenos Aires Peronism explained to
Clarín
regarding the resounding absences.
Espinoza alleged that he was on vacation on the coast.
“It was a way of saying that
they have to notify him in advance
and they cannot leave him out of those definitions,” he points out.
Espinoza's main displeasure is with the President's men who, according to him,
endorse the internal competition in his district
, where the Evita Movement has decided to play strong, with the candidacy of provincial deputy
Patricia Cubría
, wife of Emilio Pérsico.
But that is not all.
Espinoza also did not like the
bridge that Cristina Kirchner set up with Evita
last year.
In Kirchnerism and in the rest of Peronism there are more and more convinced that the
internships in the municipalities will be inevitable
.
If the elections were this Sunday, La Cámpora would present its lists in Hurlingham
against the aspirations of the current mayor Juan Zabaleta
.
"The kids learned from 2019 and 2021. That is why the list of (the head of the ANSES) Fernanda Raverta lost in Mar del Plata," explains a provincial Peronist mayor who speaks with Cristina Kirchner and Alberto Fernández.
“Nobody cares about the inmates.
The one in La Matanza, yes, because there may be deaths”, alerts in private a Peronist leader with a prestige who kicks the Conurbano.
The antecedent of
a squeeze with shots and barrabravas blows to Evita militants
just three months ago, is too fresh.
Those who speak with Espinoza point out that the also president of the sleepy
Argentine Federation of Municipalities
does not agree with these assessments.
He considers that an inmate in the main stronghold of Peronism - where the ruling party can make more difference, compared to other districts - is too dangerous.
The leaders of Peronism who agree with him evoke the
internship between Julián Domínguez and Aníbal Fernández
in 2015 that ended up enabling the landing of
María Eugenia Vidal
in the governor's office.
That memory is quite benevolent with Sergio Massa and Felipe Solá, who with their candidacies paved the way for the victory of the now deputy for the City.
“
An inmate in La Matanza is shooting herself in the foot
”, they reason in the same vein.
They point out that with a single list they can retain
500,000 votes out of the 1,200,000 at stake
.
Other leaders from Matanzas who have a fluid dialogue with Espinoza say that in private, the mayor is convinced that the
inmate will be unavoidable
.
The underlying question is what rules will be adopted, in that case, to distribute the votes.
"It will not be a drama to give up the fourth and eighth councilor either," they point out.
The panorama will be different if Espinoza repeats the scheme of Fernando Gray in Esteban Echeverría, which allows internal competition but "all or nothing."
The first cordon of the district is the only one where historically JxC stomps, with
the former CCC Lalo Creus
(who accumulates the favor of Catholic businessmen), the "lilito" Héctor "Toty" Flores and the former Minister of Education
Alejandro Finocchiaro
, who responds to Vidal, has a more harmonious internal, but internal at last.
The ruling party is enthusiastic about the votes that
Javier Milei
can steal from that list, although the libertarian candidate also keeps voters who traditionally chose Peronism.
In the second cordon Peronism wins and in the third it sweeps.
Thousands of the beneficiaries of the social plans also live there, which
Pérsico
administers in the Ministry of Social Development.
Sources close to the mayor of La Matanza believe that Evita "has plans, but no votes."
El Evita seeks to expand its universe of parishioners to the middle classes through its new party seal:
Patria de los Comunes
, which it will present together with its candidates -among them, Cubría- on March 17 in a
massive act on
the Ferro court
.
In the
orga
they assume that this will be the vehicle to compete if there is no internal competition.
“It is interesting that no one wonders where Evita gets the money to do politics,” her most insidious rivals point out.
A mayor who speaks with Espinoza heard him complain about the INDEC census conducted by Marco Lavagna, which revealed inconsistencies between the 2010 survey and the 2022 survey, denounced by the opposition.
In the provincial Peronism they preferred silence.
Municipal sources point out that the 2010 census corrected inconsistencies from the previous one, from 2001. They argue that the survey numbers do not reflect the 510,000 light meters registered in the district, which according to their numbers would be equivalent to more than 2 million inhabitants.
In the national Cabinet there are also
crossed interests
in the main Peronist stronghold.
Social Development official María Laura Ramírez, who answers to Social Development Minister Victoria Tolosa Paz and tried to compete in vain against Espinoza's list in 2021, advances with her own assembly.
The outgoing chief of staff Juan Manzur, who also has a good relationship with Evita and began his political career in the district with Alberto Balestrini, visited construction sites this week with Espinoza.
In the municipality they do not doubt the loyalty of the Tucuman.
Espinoza bets on the re-election of the provincial pair that leads Axel Kicillof and the former mayor Verónica Magario, head of the municipal PJ.
In the district they criticize the avidity of the Buenos Aires chief of staff
Martín Insaurralde
, who is dreaming of occupying that place.
"Peronism does not forget the losers", they point out in reference to the defeat of Lomense in 2013.
look also
The Government seeks to balance the weight of Kirchnerism at the political table
look also
Barrios de Pie joins the party launched by Evita to compete in the internships of the Frente de Todos