In the middle of the official intern, Sergio Massa asked for 'unity', but opened up to compete in the PASO

After a week of rumors about an early departure from the Ministry of Economy, Sergio Massa headed this Saturday the Congress of the Renewal Front, a legal requirement for all parties, which the Tigrean turned without dissimulation into an act similar to a presidential launch and that served to celebrate the 10 years of the birth of the party he created when he broke and confronted Kirchnerism. The minister vigorously defended his rejection of internal competition in the PASO, but was willing to compete if the other contenders of the Frente de Todos do not decline their candidacies.

"We believe that the best way to travel the road to the end of the government and continue building the future is unity. These are not electoral vanities. I am not proposing a personal candidacy. Let him be Juan, Pedro or Mickey Mouse, but let him be a candidate to face the challenges that Argentina has going forward. The best thing for Argentina is unity, but if it is decided that there is PASO, let us know that we will be there," Massa bellowed at the climax of his speech in front of thousands of militants who filled the Direct TV Arena, in Malvinas Argentinas.

Massa did not say whether he would eventually be willing to compete in the primaries or choose another candidate from his space. In the last time, the governor of Salta, Gustavo Sáenz, had sounded like an option. In the environment of the FR leader they suggested that everyone works with the hypothesis that the candidate will be the Minister of Economy.

Massa's wife, Malena Galmarini, with the governor of Chubut Mariano Arcioni. Photo Juano Tesone.

Although he was willing for his space to compete, Massa made an apology for the unity that allowed the Frente de Todos to win the elections in 2019 and face the pandemic. "Let's keep dreaming, let's grow. We are the homeland, we are the flag. Long live Argentina! Unity! Unity! Unity!" the minister shouted. A sector of the militancy celebrated with an eloquent song. "President, Massa President," they lived it.

The head of the FR defended his 8 months of management and showed himself as the guarantor of political stability although he avoided mentioning the word inflation. "They said the helicopter was coming and there we were. We put the body, we did not hide, we did not stay in the dresser, "he bellowed minutes after 17:15 p.m., when he took the stage.

The economy minister slipped criticism for his internal rivals who have no government responsibility, a dart that seemed to Ambassador Daniel Scioli, whom he did not mention. To subject a government force to a division, to a fight, is to confuse the people," he reasoned.

CGT leader Carlos Acuña with Chamber of Deputies President Cecilia Moreau. Photo Juano Tesone.

He also pointed against the two opposition forces with which the ruling party competes to enter an eventual runoff. "There are two oppositions: Together for the position, which is giving a Dantesque show seeing who fights with whom," he said, in the first place, with an irony that he took from Javier Milei. He then asked to draw up a unity list to differentiate himself from the opposition.

Privately, Massa suggests that since the internal outbreak in the opposition coalition, Jxc has fallen 10 points that it cannot recover.

Milei was accused of promoting behind the banners of freedom and dollarization "adjustment and repression" – an argument he took with a quote from one of his greatest detractors, Elisa Carrió.

Massa, who had already privately made it known that he has no plans to resign – a possibility that slipped neither more nor less than the president of Deputies Cecilia Moreau – did not explain otherwise. "I don't need a position to do politics," he said. At the minister's small table, Massa's allusions to government responsibilities were emphasized. They also argued that he can be a candidate and minister at the same time as the French Emmanuel Macron or the elected president of Paraguay Santiago Peña did at the time, although both did not face an economic situation like the current one in the country.

Massa defended his incorporation into the Frente de Todos in 2019 with a nod to Cristina Kirchner, whom he also did not mention. "That decision came from the generosity of the leader with the most votes. We were born into politics questioning the decisions of that leader," he recalled.

While negotiating a new disbursement with the IMF, key to macroeconomic stability, the ministerdescribed as "another pandemic" the multilateral credit agency, for the debt contracted by Mauricio Macri. He hinted at his differences with the agreements with private bondholders and with the Fund sealed by his predecessor, Martín Guzmán.

In the previous one, Massa's inner circle explained that the leader of the Renewal Front responds to the "irresponsibility" of those who ask for internal competition in the PASO in the ruling party – including President Alberto Fernández – with management. "We have been proposing at this stage that, whoever the candidate is, there must be a candidate and a formula of unity to be competitive," they insisted.

Despite the fact that his administration at the head of the Economy Ministry does not show positive results in lowering inflation, the main concern of the electorate, close to the minister the results of this week's debt swap and "fiscal relief" – a trademark of the Tigrean – for the working middle class stand out.

In the preview of his speech, Massa followed the presentations of the management panels of the FR officials of the Executive from behind the scenes with his right hand and childhood friend Ezequiel "Kelo" Melaraña, president of the Tigre club. The head of Deputies Moreau, evoked the firmness of her political boss to raise flags when there is no consensus.

A score of leaders, governors, deputies and mayors from all over the country and extra-supporters greeted Massa and the FR with recorded messages. Among so many, Máximo Kirchner stood out, who welcomed the help of the militancy to form the FdT and keep it united. Time will tell if it's words or a wink.