A few hours have passed since he published the video in which he reaffirmed that he will not be a presidential candidate this year, and Mauricio Macri is concerned about saying two things specifically directed at Juntos por el Cambio voters and PRO candidates.
"
I did not leave, I am not leaving, I am here
", is one of them.
And the other, more specific, is a message that must generate a knot in the digestive system of Horacio Rodríguez Larreta, Patricia Bullrich and María Eugenia Vidal, the three macristas who asked the former president to explicitly communicate that he was not going to show up.
"If at some point I see clearly that due to the circumstance there is one of those leaders who has the characteristics
to better represent the scenario in which we are, then I will say it.
I'm going to say it," says Macri, and that is a reminder so that none of the three can rest easy during the campaign, thinking that the former president was going to refrain from expressing his preference.
These are the main sections of an interview that he had this Monday with
Clarín
.
-You mentioned that the decision not to appear was strengthened when you realized that you do not need revenge. In addition to that personal question, what political change does your ad generate?
-The decision is based on doing what is best for Argentines and not on thinking what is best for me or satisfying what I could personally feel, to this little monster that we all have inside, which is the ego.
I do it because I believe that it is necessary to put an end to the personalities and the saviors, or caudillos responsible for everything.
The change has to be pushed by everyone.
The change that I see for politics is that I see that there are good leaders in Together for Change, that the Argentines are going to elect a president from among themselves.
And those people will support so that the changes are made.
Never again that "I chose him and now let him fix himself."
-And does it have any impact on the Frente de Todos?
-The seriousness of what is happening, the destruction they have done to Argentina in these three years makes the candidate they are going to have or what they are going to do irrelevant.
The only thing that we Argentines have to do is spend the months that remain aimlessly, without a plan and without a government as well as possible.
For me it is a cycle that ends and I hope it ends forever.
These ideas have been destructive for Argentina.
I would not pay attention to what they do, but I would pay attention to what Together for Change does because it is the space that will have the responsibility of governing since December.
- Now a third actor appeared, which is Javier Milei with the libertarians. Can his departure from his candidacy generate a consequence in that space?
- Today there is a scenario in which a part of the anger is being channeled by Milei.
That is a reality with which we have to work and we have to show people that we understand their anger, and that they have every reason to be angry because they are decades of bad politics, appropriating the work of others, taking advantage of the defense of the State in benefit of politicians and their circle of relations.
We understand that, we interpret it and we have an experience, which is what makes the difference.
We were in the Government, we did many things well and others not so well and that is an experience.
-Does Milei draw more attention to how she represents anger or her ideas?
-I think that there are more people who are angry than people who embrace liberal ideas, but he is doing a very good job of introducing liberal ideas to all the people who come close to him.
Argentina urgently needs a dose of liberalism after years of denial of freedom, of innovation, of deregulation that creates development spaces for people.
Argentina sided a lot to the side of an absurd statism that crushed people's lives.
Mauricio Macri, in an interview with Clarín on March 27, 2023. Photo: Rolando Andrade Stracuzzi
-Is the PRO electoral offer going to be unified in the City?
-We have to do it.
It's what we've all talked about.
It is the base district of the PRO.
We all have to make a concerted effort to retain the City.
All those things that have been said, that it is indifferent to the PRO, or that for Larreta it is the same to give up the City, he himself has taken it upon himself to deny it.
-You say that if there is more than one PRO candidate they can lose the PASO against Martín Lousteau?
-Today the polls say that Jorge Macri still wins, but the truth is that it does not make sense to be divided.
The one in better condition has to go and the others have to accompany.
I have just confirmed that I am not going to be a candidate, showing that this cannot be the end of the world, not being the leader in a country that needs so much talent and so much capacity to carry out the reforms that are needed.
-Horacio Rodríguez Larreta says that if they win, a broader coalition will be needed to govern than it is today Together for Change. Do you think the same?
-We all know.
Why are you asking me if I think the same?
It is clear that I do not think the same.
I don't think the same because today it is difficult to find what Peronism is without Kirchnerism.
There is no vocation to dialogue, they have never had it, they take you ahead, they try to take you off the field and they do not believe that this discussion is done within the Constitution.
Argentina is in free fall, there is three-digit inflation, an explosive situation in the Central Bank, without energy.
When we take office, we don't have months, we have days to implement a number of reforms that restore trust, which is an essential element of society and which has been lost.
Buenos Aires March 27, 2023 Mauricio Macri at the Artearfoto studios Rolando Andrade Stracuzzi law 11723 - FTP CLARIN RAS_9474.jpg Z Guest
-You say that this task cannot be done with part of the people who are in government today or with a sector of Peronism?
-In Peronism I do not see, except in some provincial expression, a clarity about what must be done.
These reforms have to be made, and then, over time, hopefully as many leaders as possible will join in and everyone will understand the importance of coming to their senses.
-What will your role be in Together for Change?
-I am going to do the same thing that I have been doing in recent years, which is to comment on the course of Argentina, help bring clarity to Argentines about ideas, strengthen the future president.
If I ran from this place it is because I believe that there is a president and that everyone understands that he is going to be a great president.
-Without you on the ballot, can Juntos por el Cambio lose Macrista votes?
-I hope not, because I am.
I am not leaving.
I was, I am and I will always be.
My relationship with the Argentines is for life.
-And backwards? Can people who disagreed with your government come to Juntos por el Cambio?
-Hopefully.
If the impediment was me, let them do it.
In Argentina there will be a president, never again a puppet.
He is going to be the figure and he is going to be responsible.
The rest of us will have to help without hindering.
This is the secret.
-The next government is going to receive a worse or better situation than the one you received in 2015?
-This is the worst government of Peronism that I can remember.
It is obvious that it is going to be much worse than in 2015. The economic inheritance is going to be much worse than what I received, but our learning, the conviction of the people for change and the political power give us a scenario for action much better than the political weakness that I always had.
I was always in the minority.
-Are you going to say which presidential candidate you prefer within the PRO?
-I am going to be fair, which is not the same as impartial.
It means being fair with the relationship I have with the Argentines, which is for the whole route, I think.
If I see something, I have to tell them, otherwise I would be disloyal to them.
I am going to try to accompany the candidates so that they grow as much as possible, but if at some point I see clearly that due to the circumstance there is one of those leaders who has the characteristics to better represent the scenario in which we are, I will say it then, I am going to say it as in other times I have also taken sides, trying not to be subjective.
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