Mauricio Macri
will return next weekend from Villa La Angostura, after spending the entire summer with his family at his home in Cumelén.
There are those who say that in the South, the former president usually has a more active agenda in political terms than when he is in Buenos Aires.
Political leaders and friends pass by, all linked to the red circle and the majority with past or present in management.
But summer, in political terms at least, is over.
Or there almost wasn't really.
A week after turning 65 - he celebrated them last Thursday the 8th -, Macri
is determined to assume his first national position starting in March since he left the presidency on December 10, 2019
.
If there is no unforeseen event,
he will be the new head of the PRO
, with the consensus of most of the leaders, including the wing historically known as "pigeons" and
the refusal, only for now, of Patricia Bullrich, current president of the party, with whose relationship deteriorated in recent months
, especially after the elections.
However, the possibility of a unity list headed by Macri and joined by Bullrich is also highly viable.
In the midst of this new adventure that he is preparing to face, Macri promotes a political agreement with Libertad Avanza to add the PRO to the Government, through the incorporation of his own representatives to the Government and the creation of
an interbloc in Congress, which would have 75 deputies and that Cristian Ritondo could lead.
But that
does not imply that the former president endorses a "merger"
, the word that Bullrich used to refer to what the PRO defines as an agreement in the process of forming a government coalition.
The internal unrest with the Minister of Security has to do with her alleged intention to unify the parties, something that the rest of the leaders rule out, including Macri, founder of the party two decades ago.
"The PRO is a party that has been working for 20 years for a modern, republican, free country, open to the world. It has its history and identity," is the reflection that comes from the former president's entourage when they are consulted about a possible fusion with libertarians.
This variant, which they rule out, does not imply that they explain that "as a space we are open to seeing how we can help the Government to carry out the changes that the country needs and that the people voted for."
Four central actors of the PRO, with divisions at present.
Although in Macri's mind these days the main priority is to
"strengthen the PRO, keep it united and strong as demonstrated in the work with the Bases law"
, in reference to the total consensus that the party adopted when voting in general and in particularly, in Deputies, in favor of the ruling party's project, the frustrated Omnibus Law.
In addition to chatting periodically with Milei via Whatsapp, Macri talks with leaders who during the last elections, within the PRO, played opposite to his claims.
Two examples of this are Soledad Acuña and Diego Santilli, who worked in the campaign close to Horacio Rodríguez Larreta but who today are aligned with the idea of forming a coalition with mileism.
In the case of Soledad Acuña, she met with Macri in Cumelén last weekend and publicly declared that the former president "tries to help" Milei, but that he does not lead him politically.
Santilli has not spoken with Macri for a long time, but he cultivates a relationship of affection.
The links of the Buenos Aires national deputy, in that sense, are direct with Milei.
Hence, there was speculation about his eventual arrival in the government, either as Minister of the Interior or Security, in the event that Guillermo Francos or Patricia Bullrich changed roles at some point.
Later, in the former president's relationship with his PRO allies,
the historic hawks signed a request in his favor in January, for him to take charge of leading the party
.
In that letter appear many soldiers who accompanied Bullrich in the campaign, but who today, within the party itself, are betting on the former president.
In relation to the PRO governors,
the support for Macri's candidacy at the head of the party is signed by all three: his cousin, Jorge Macri, Ignacio Torres from Chubut and Rogelio Frigerio from Entre Ríos
.
The last two support Macri's candidacy and welcome a convergence at the legislative level with Libertad Avanza.
But they also have a good relationship with Bullrich, with whom they met this Wednesday, and they also maintain a positive bond with
Rodríguez Larreta, the only one of the big names in the PRO who does not advocate reaching an agreement with the libertarians
.
Milei always used the former head of the Buenos Aires government as the main target of his criticism.
María Eugenia Vidal
is the other prominent leader of the PRO who is willing to advance in a government coalition with Milei and who, beyond certain nuances in the relationship, is expected to support Macri's candidacy as president of the party.
However, the Buenos Aires governor does not seem to be thinking about joining a Milei government, as Macri would have recommended, who was betting on her to replace the ejected Juan Carlos Giordano in the ANSeS.
Like most of the PRO's leaders, Vidal is not willing