"
Not now, not later
."
President
Javier Milei
does not want to know anything about the request of the governors of Together for Change for the Nation to share the PAIS tax with the provinces.
This was made known at the Cabinet meeting this Tuesday, hours after a group of leaders made it known that the Minister of the Interior,
Guillermo Francos
, had accepted the proposal to unblock the points that, within hours of this Wednesday's session , the omnibus law is still under discussion.
"At no time was the PAIS tax discussed. The issue was not discussed directly
," was the message that Francos conveyed at the summit of ministers, in the midst of the commotion that was generated this Monday night, according to what Clarín was able to reconstruct from various sources. present at the event in the Eva Perón Hall.
The minister made a point of telling the President and his peers that in his fleeting visit to the governors' summit he had never addressed the possibility.
"
He said that it was not even talked about, that it was not even a proposal that was transmitted to him
," was the response of one of those present in the Cabinet.
"So all the governors and deputies who said that agreed to lie?" was the question that Casa Rosada did not hesitate to answer off-screen:
"They are not telling the truth, of course it is a lie
."
In the presidential environment they made known their anger at the version that, they understand, came from the governors themselves and that stated that an agreement had been reached based on the Government's concession to the request to share the tax.
"
It's crazy, we weren't thinking of doing it even if we had been able to maintain the fiscal chapter in the
(omnibus) law," rejected a senior official.
Milei was in charge of letting his discomfort be known by reposting a tweet from the President's Office that denied an agreement for the PAIS tax and another from the leader Joaquín de la Torre who maintained that "
the deputies of the 'extortion bloc' want to continue living off the business of politics
".
In this context, in his usual morning press conference, the presidential spokesperson, Manuel Adorni, established the official position of the Government: "I spoke with Francos. And he never considered participating in the Country tax, it never existed in the discussion. No "It was never on the table to discuss the sharing of the country tax, precisely because the fiscal chapter was removed and economic issues are not part of the discussion."
The curious thing is that Francos, after meeting with the governors in the Federal Investment Council, had admitted that they conveyed the proposal to him.
He did it in an interview with Alejandro Fantino on the Neura platform.
There he said that it was "a short but fruitful meeting": "They raised two or three points that were still under discussion and I hope we can resolve them tomorrow (this Tuesday). One point was the issue of the PAIS tax, another were articles linked to hydrocarbons and the third point was the list of companies subject to privatization".
Milei, who is suffering from discomfort in one of his ears, agreed with the explanation that Francos gave at the Cabinet meeting.
He considers what is collected from the tax "non-negotiable", not only for a fiscal issue: the president remembers that in Argentina every time a new tax was imposed, it was difficult to remove it later.
"And even more so if it participates with the provinces," they clarify around him.
The head of state also cleared up any speculation surrounding his link with Francos.
In recent days, versions have been growing that show an alleged disagreement with the work of the political minister, to whom the opposition recognizes his capacity for dialogue but considers that he has no room to negotiate on behalf of Milei: "He is
firm like a statue's curler," Milei replied
about the continuity of his former boss at Corporación América.
Beyond the difficulties that the Government encountered in the negotiations for the law, the President considers that Francos is being attacked by sectors of the dialogueist opposition who seek to push him to weave broader agreements and who do not forgive him for having suggested that he leaned towards leaders of La Libertad Avanza to preside over the Chamber of Deputies and in the Provisional Presidency of the Senate: "Guillermo is immovable," they repeat in Casa Rosada.