Just over a month ago, Agustín Oscar Rossi was sworn in as the Nation's Chief of Staff.
After the departure of Juan Manzur to the political fight in Tucumán, the two-time Defense Minister joined the coordination unit of ministers with a specific role: defend the President.
The engineer from Santa Fe held, until March 15, as head of the Federal Intelligence Agency (AFI, former SIDE), where his role was strange: a "Mr. 5" or head of Intelligence speaking on the radio or going to television programs to defend the national administration and to explain why Alberto Fernández had the right to be re-elected.
Or to say that "Cristina Kirchner is banned", in honor of the old relationship that he maintains with the current vice president.
Rossi had joined the AFI because the President could not find him a more comfortable chair for the active political role of the nickname "Goat", who had become a spokesman for "Albertismo".
The role of coordinating minister was held by Manzur, who had received CFK's endorsement for that place, after the electoral defeat in the PASO 2021 of the ruling party.
His name had sounded for the Ministry of the Interior, when Wado de Pedro had been left in the middle of the Christian "fire" against Alberto;
but the political minister will not leave that ministerial chair until his political chief (CFK) determines it.
And the General Secretariat - a place where there are always direct collaborators of the head of state - is in the hands of a man who is closely trusted by Fernández, such as Julio Vitobello.
But Juan Manzur thrown into the fight in his province, where he will go for the lieutenant governorship but with total management of the Peronist campaign in that northern province, Rossi finally ended up in the Chief of Staff.
There was a long breakfast between him and Alberto Fernández, where they defined roles, positions, management areas and also, where it was coordinated that "Chivo" would play politically.
That was on standby until
this week when the President "blessed" that Agustín Rossi began to move - supported by his role as coordinating minister - throughout the country
, dressed as a pre-candidate.
"Let a thousand flowers bloom," an important albertista leader
told Rossi , who remembers that phrase coined in the time of Néstor Kirchner, which stated that the leaders had to move and generate adhesions for the kirchnerista project.
Alberto and Rossi know each other from those Nestorian times
.
Alberto Fernandez and Agustin Rossi
Thus,
in the Casa Rosada, there is talk of two names with the possibility of "playing" in the presidential STEP, in the event that Alberto Fernández runs away
from the idea of re-election, which is furiously fought by Christians.
Agustín Rossi and Daniel Scioli
have a license to circulate and display the presidential OK.
Rossi says today, out loud, that he will not move from his job as chief of staff and that he is dedicated full time to that task, located on the first floor of Government House from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.
While the ambassador in Brazil is active with visits to factories in the suburbs and accompanying Argentine business delegations to Sao Paulo.
But both are already running in the fight to come in Peronism.
On the other hand, the name of Sergio Tomás Massa is the most talked about since the National Senate, where Cristina holds her political meetings with governors, trade unionists, businessmen and, obviously, camperista leaders. There, Wado de Pedro (pre-candidate) appears on a daily basis President of La Cámpora), Andrés "Cuervo"
Agustín Rossi will put a strong focus on staying active -and visible- in the situation in the province of Santa Fe
, mainly in the city of
Rosario
, today with a greater presence of gendarmes after the step back from the national government in the discussion on the fight against drug trafficking.
Alberto's administration first put Aníbal Fernández as a bishop, who targeted Omar Perotti and Pablo Javkin, provincial governor and local mayor, respectively.
But given the scale of the crisis - with the aftermath of homicides and attacks on premises such as the Roccuzzo-Messi family supermarket - La Rosada rewound and sent Aníbal with more gendarmes and a change of speech, to avoid greater political costs.
Rossi has a house and family settled in Rosario
and cannot maintain a dispute speech with the Peronism of Santa Fe: for this reason, the current head of the national Cabinet will travel to his province, weekly, with news for the fight against drug trafficking.
But with the brand new pre-presidential candidate outfit.
This will not cause noise with the Christian camp.
Beyond the current speech of total alignment with the President,
Rossi has a line with Cristina.
In fact, he met her before accepting the Chief of Staff
from her.
"Goat" was a key bishop in the years of the presidential administrations of Néstor and Cristina Kirchner from the leadership of the block of national deputies of the Front for Victory, from where Kirchnerism carried out the parliamentary projects that his government needed.
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