The Argentine provinces take their war against Milei to court

The Argentine Justice has in its hands the fate of the millionaire public funds for which Javier Milei and the governors of the country's provinces are fighting.

After failed attempts at negotiation, several regional leaders have resorted to the courts to try to reverse the presidential decision to turn off the tap.

“Let the president not believe that no matter how much they continue to extort or threaten the provinces, we are going to stop fighting,” the governor of the province of Buenos Aires, Kirchnerist Axel Kicillof, warned at a press conference this Monday.

The president, one of the main opposition leaders in Argentina, stated that after exhausting the administrative procedures, only the judicial route remains: "Today we ask the State Prosecutor to initiate legal actions before the Supreme Court so that the funds are returned to us."

The fight between the governors and Milei has united the former regardless of political color.

One of the most critical is Macrista Nacho Torres, head of the Patagonian province of Chubut.

Torres has threatened to stop the supply of oil and gas produced in Chubut if Milei cuts the funds he sends to the province.

In a public letter supported by governors of all parties, Torres denounced on Friday that the national government withheld in February almost a third of the funds committed to Chubut, a total of 13.5 billion pesos (about 16 million dollars at the official price). ).

“If he doesn't get off our backs, there won't be one more barrel of oil coming out of Chubut for Argentina,” said the Chubut governor.

The Ministry of the Interior responded that the money had been withheld due to debts.

Milei, in another night of Twitter fury, pointed out to Torres that Argentine legislation contemplates prison sentences of up to two years for anyone who hinders the provision of energy.

This Monday, the authorities of the Patagonian province anticipated that they will resort to Justice.

broken bridges

The dialogue between the parties has been broken since the legislative failure of the omnibus State reform law promoted by Milei.

The president attributed the vote against key articles of that megalaw to some governors and accused them of “traitors” and “extortionists.”

He also warned that without the tools he requested from Congress, the fiscal adjustment would be even harsher.

The tension increases day by day.

“The president, in addition to trying to turn that failure into a triumph, ridiculously, decides, given his own clumsiness in dealing with it, to merge the provinces,” Kicillof said at the conference.

Until now, the most relevant provincial fund that Milei had suspended was the teacher incentive fund, with which the provincial authorities paid part of the salaries of public school staff.

Only in the province of Buenos Aires - the largest and most populated in Argentina, with 17 million inhabitants - it represented a reduction of nearly 15,000 million pesos (about 17.5 million dollars at the official price) per month.

The cut to the Buenos Aires coffers was expanded this Monday with the cancellation of the Fiscal Strengthening Fund that it had received since 2020.

“We have a president who steals funds from the provinces,” said Kicillof, who assured that this strategy does not take money out of the pockets of the governors but rather from all the inhabitants of Argentina.

The Buenos Aires governor also accused him of sowing violence on the networks with aggressive messages against “anyone who does not agree with him.”

Intra-party divisions

The tough fight over public funds has suddenly aggravated the internal struggle in Propuesta Republicana (Pro), the party founded by former president Mauricio Macri who has been Milei's main ally in Congressi.

The harmony between the Pro and La Libertad Avanza during the debate on the failed omnibus law opened the door to a possible parliamentary merger, but today it seems closed again.

The ten provincial governors of the Together for Change alliance – made up of the Pro, among others – signed a letter of support for Torres on Friday.

The apparent internal consensus cracked over the weekend, when a group of legislators related to the Minister of Security and president of the Pro, Patricia Bullrich, supported Milei.

The division of opinions is made public a few weeks before the internal elections in the Pro to elect new party authorities.

Barring surprises, Macri will regain leadership of the movement that he founded.

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