In another day full of tension around the discussion about the eventual entry of Juan Schiaretti to Together for Change, Mauricio Macri moved strongly against the initiative of Horacio Rodríguez Larreta. In Córdoba and together with Luis Juez, the candidate for governor of the opposition coalition in Córdoba, the former president accused the mayor of Buenos Aires of "putting at risk" the space.
Late in the afternoon, Rodríguez Larreta ordered the convocation of the National Council of the PRO with the purpose of unblocking the discussion and moving forward with the incorporation of José Luis Espert, to function as a first step in the debate for Schiaretti. It was a virtual meeting with strong crosses between both sectors, in which the Larretistas could not impose a vote to approve the agreement with the economist.
"
We are putting everything at risk and it is not known why, due to electoral speculation. Here we do not have to speculate, Argentina needs serious conviction with change, with what we are going to power for, "Macri said in Córdoba against the purpose of Rodríguez Larreta to incorporate a sector of Peronism, endorsed by Gerardo Morales, Elisa Carrió and Miguel Pichetto.
In his statements, the former president was comprehensive in criticizing the latest determinations of the head of the Buenos Aires government. "I understand them. I have told him that I do not understand the decisions he has been making," he questioned, and suggested that they could be motivated by an adverse scenario in the fight with Patricia Bullrich: "Changing rules with five minutes left ... They are not changed by the one who is calm on the road he is going."
Rodriguez Larreta did not respond to the accusations, but already during the afternoon he let it be known that he will continue to bid to finalize the agreements with both Schiaretti and Espert. "There is no going back," they ratified in their team, and replied to Macri: "Mauricio is destroying everything."
After a while, the head of government sought to advance one step further in his strategy that the PRO endorse the expansion of Together for Change and ordered the convocation, through Eduardo Macchiavelli -general secretary of the party- to the National Council of the PRO. It was an emergency meeting, by Zoom, of the body composed of the provincial presidents and other referents, in total 43 members. Federico Angelini, head of the party and referenced in Macri and Bullrich, endorsed the meeting in which the tension also escalated.
The bid for José Luis Espert
As far as Clarín could know, those aligned with Rodríguez Larreta pressed for the incorporation of Espert, arguing that it would function as a sign of an agreement in the midst of the strong confrontation in the PRO.
Rodríguez Larreta promotes him as a candidate for president, to try to attract a portion of Javier Milei's electorate. Macri and Bullrich reject it, considering it a maneuver to take votes away from her in the PASO, although they contemplate it in other candidacies, such as governor or senator in the province of Buenos Aires.
The discussion escalated between referents of both sectors. It was when Macchiavelli proposed to vote, after other larretistas like Carmen Polledo pronounced themselves in that direction. That attempt met resistance in leaders such as Fernando De Andreis, Laura Rodríguez Machado and Néstor Grindetti, from the Macri and Bullrich sector, who complained about the so-called "untimely" and asked for an intermediate room. "If they do this, trust ends up being broken," they warned.
On the side of the head of government, they argued that the lack of definition would mean another reflection of the internal confrontation and that it was convenient to approve the entry. After the crossings, they agreed to ratify the "permanent and inalienable vocation in the search for enlargement" and to entrust Angelini and Macchiavelli to "advance in the negotiations aimed at the incorporation" of Espert.
In the previous one, from the Macrismo they had advanced that they would dismiss what the Council resolved. "It is irrelevant what happens there," a leader close to the former president told this newspaper. In the virtual meeting, members of the Macri and Bullrich sector argued that the exit had to be political and not by vote in that body. Some proposed promoting a meeting between the two pre-candidates for president of the PRO to try to bring positions closer.
See also
Horacio Rodríguez Larreta kicked the board of Together for Change: Cristina Kirchner and Javier Milei, grateful
See also