In the last provincial election before the national primaries, Chubut will define this Sunday a new governor to replace the Peronist of Massista cut Mariano Arcioni, involved in controversies since his unfulfilled promises of the 2019 campaign, especially with teacher salaries and the growth of a public debt that checks a rich province and places it among the most indebted in the country.
The main candidates are the young senator of the PRO, Ignacio "Nacho" Torres (35), who managed to agree with the local radicalism and has Gustavo Mena as his running mate. In a dialogue with Clarín, he remarks that the unity is broader: "It has Peronism inside, neighborliness, there are 12 parties, almost a citizen movement."
Thus, Torres hopes to break with 20 years of Peronist governments that have the late former president Mario Das Neves as an icon. But for that it will have to overcome the other three formulas headed by Emilse Saavedra, of FITU; César Treffinger, of the Independent Party of Chubut (PICH); Oscar Petersen, del GEN; and the main one of Peronism that leads to Juan Pablo Luque, mayor of Comodoro Rivadavia, the most populous city.
Mariano Arcioni, governor of Chubut, an ally of Sergio Massa very questioned for his management.
In Chubut there is no doubt that Governor Arcioni, close to Sergio Massa, is one of the most discredited leaders of the province and the country. His 2019 electoral promise to the 16,50 teachers to raise salaries, not only was not fulfilled but in salary matters they emphasize that now they only reach <>% of the basic basket.
This motivated union claims that cause that for six years the school cycle of 180 days of classes has not been fulfilled. Both in the PRO and in "Chubut Arriba", the space of Luque, recognize as a serious problem.
"In the last six years there was no year that they could finish the full cycle, they could not even finish 70% of the school year, counting that the middle we also had a pandemic. There are 6-year-old children who started primary school and finish primary school practically without having set basic contents," Luque told Clarín.
In a tense climate, which had episodes of violence in Trelew -the second city of the province-, where he recently won the Together for Change mayorship, Torres replies: "In the last five years there was only one school year on average, it is very serious, an educational tragedy similar to that of Santiago del Estero in 2003 when the province intervened."
In the external view of the province, another item that played in the campaign is the closeness with the governor. While Luque repeats that it has nothing to do with it, from the other side they reply: "They are the same."
But Luque, about Arcioni, maintains: "The governor is not a Peronist, the governor is from a provincial alliance, that when he ran to govern the province of Chubut, I worked with Carlos Linares who was a candidate for governor, and won the Alliance at that time that is Chubut Somos Todos of Mario Das Neves."
"I always tried to have an institutional relationship with the governor because my obligation as mayor to manage, discuss the things that I think are wrong and permanently mark differences regarding the catastrophe in education, and the lot of problems, economic and financial mainly," says Luque.
While Luque marks the differences, Torres erases them: "The division is a lie. They realized that they were very bad electorally because they practically melted a province impossible to melt, it has a logical electoral impact and they began to get nervous and fight among themselves, but they are the same front."
In the debate given by the five candidates for governor in the newspaper El Chubut, the provincial public debt was inevitable. "We are going to propose a simplification program. The big problem of this government is that they borrowed to pay current debt is bread for today and hunger for tomorrow, we need to spend well, "said Torres.
Before the consultation of Clarín, Luque was crude with the numbers: "We are the fifth province net contributor to the Gross National Product, we are the fifth exporting province of Argentina but clearly, it is not enough, and they have indebted it in such an important way that by 2023, only debt services between capital and interest, It has to pay 100,000 million pesos, which is 20% of the 2023 budget."
"We must generate a much more important productive equation, we must diversify the matrix, generate added value to the natural resources that leave our province to different parts of the world, and where I intend to base my work scheme precisely which is what I have already presented with a very important productive guideline plan and that what will allow us to take off, " Luque added.
Comodoro Rivadavia, the key city in an election that looms polarized
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Chubut has 448,149 eligible voters to vote this Sunday, representing 1.31% of voters throughout the country. The most populous city is Comodoro Rivadavia, which takes a little less than half of the population and will be key.
Luque governs the city, it is his bastion, although in the campaign he moved from the Coast to the Cordillera in search of votes and support.
Torres, based in Trelew – where his ally Gerardo Merino won the mayoralty in April – went to close his electoral campaign in Comodoro, where he promotes his candidate Ana Clara Romero, for the most difficult election. It is that Comodoro will elect mayor at the same time as governor, in a strategy of Luque to strengthen his candidacy for governor.
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