Next week, when the delayed meeting between the PRO political table and José Luis Espert takes place, the liberal economist's entry into Together for Change will be formalized.
The approval for Espert to join the main opposition coalition already has the approval of the radicalism and the Civic Coalition, but there is still the endorsement of the party founded by Mauricio Macri two decades ago and that today has within its ranks the two potential pre-candidates for president who best measure in the polls: Horacio Rodríguez Larreta and Patricia Bullrich.
It is expected that in the coming days the entry will be resolved, although there were doubts after certain short circuits that were generated and motivated internal rethinking in the PRO.
The hawkish sector of the party sees in the presidential candidacy of Espert an attempt by Rodríguez Larreta to weaken Bullrich in the PASO of August 13. Although the former head of the PRO did not express it publicly, she distrusts that movement and is one of those who postulate, for some time, that if an entry of an external liberal leg is confirmed, it had to be, in any case, to reinforce the electoral strategy in the province of Buenos Aires.
That was always the original plan of the larretismo: that Espert join to compete against Diego Santilli in the Primary, although in a scenario of single Buenos Aires candidacy in the PRO and not distributed, like the one that will end up taking place between the "Colo", ally of Larreta, and the mayor of Lanús -in use of license- Néstor Grindetti, the pre-candidate supported by Bullrich.
"I'm no longer in the PRO, I don't want to get involved," is a phrase that Bullrich usually says to those who work close to her when asked what decision should be made about Espert, whom the former security minister saw last week, in a meeting that included portrait and posting on social networks.
The president of the party since she left it, two months ago, is Federico Angelini, deputy from Santa Fe and pre-candidate for provincial vice governor in tandem with Carolina Losada, formula of the "Santa Fe hawkism" that is supported by both Bullrich and Macri.
José Luis Espert wants to be a pre-candidate for president for Together for Change. Photo: Federico Lopez Claro.
Regarding Espert, it is the former president who also has reservations about his arrival at Together for Change. Macri has had dialogue with the economist of Avanza Libertad in recent years, to the point that they have maintained a relationship of some respect. But he's not entirely comfortable with Espert's profile. "In that, Javier Milei is more genuine," they usually say in Macrismo about the relationship with both economists, today confronted.
As with Bullrich, Macri states internally that he does not want to get involved in the decisions of the PRO. To the point that they assure close to him that he did not carve when defining the pre-candidates for governor of the province of Buenos Aires. Although he maintains a friendly relationship with Cristian Ritondo and promoted his candidacy, he accepted the elections of Santilli and Grindetti, with whom he has always had good dialogue.
However, there was a point that altered the Macri moods. On May 3, when there was already talk of his incorporation into Together for Change, Espert shared on Twitter a note in which he spoke of the political leaders most denounced in Justice. The list was headed by Julio de Vido, followed by Cristina Kirchner and Mauricio Macri.
The report was from the Civil Association for Equality and Justice (ACIJ) and about it, the economist tweeted: "The podium: gold for De Vido, silver for Cristi and bronze for Macri." The post was then deleted. That the former president has been involved in the same list with the former president and the former minister of Federal Planning was something that fell really badly in the PRO.
With the passing of the days, the issue was deactivated and it is expected that next week, when the meeting with Espert is made, it will simply be a bad memory. It will be led by Angelini and will serve as a closing of the negotiations held with the economist by all the parties of Together for Change. The Radicalism, the Civic Coalition and even the Republican Peronism of Miguel Ángel Pichetto already approved its entry at the end of April.
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