Argentina
Milei's decline reopens negotiations and accelerates moves among allies and governors
According to Ámbito, the President's slide in the polls is pushing La Libertad Avanza to review its electoral strategy. In that scenario, speculation is growing over alliances, candidacies and the fight over the post-Milei political order.
Javier Milei’s decline in the polls began to alter calculations within La Libertad Avanza, among its allies and also among governors who until now had maintained a cooperative relationship with the Casa Rosada. According to Ámbito, pragmatism is now weighing more heavily in the ruling party than the original plans for political organization.
The political development of the week, according to that outlet, was in Congress. The Chamber of Deputies moved forward with the committee summons for the extension of the disability emergency and for the projects linked to debt, while later the session in which the ruling party sought to advance the Biofuels Law fell through. For several governors, those moves served as a signal to begin hardening, albeit moderately, negotiations with the Government.
Ámbito said that among provincial governors there is growing discontent over unfulfilled promises and delays in the transfer of funds. In that context, it also placed the libertarian decision to contest territories administered by allies, with the case of Tucumán as an example, following the launch of Lisandro Catalán in a province governed by Osvaldo Jaldo.
At the same time, the result of the election in Marcos Juárez was read by libertarians and sectors of the PRO as a warning about the cost of fragmentation within the center-right space. According to the report, that dispersion made it easier for Peronism to win in a locality it had not won since the 1970s.
Electoral speculation also reaches the presidential ticket. Still according to Ámbito, in Patricia Bullrich’s circle there is a view that a ticket with Milei and the current senator would be the most competitive option for the ruling party, above a combination with Sandra Pettovello. The same outlet noted that this possibility coexists with internal resistance, especially in Karina Milei’s inner circle.
Another name that appears in those conversations is that of Salta Governor Gustavo Sáenz. Ámbito indicated that the governor is seeking to move closer to the President amid libertarian pressure in his province and his inability to find shelter in the national PJ. In Salta, the outlet added, tensions also coexist between the Sáenz camp and libertarian figures such as Emilia Orozco and Alfredo Olmedo.
On the PRO side, the debate revolves around how much an alliance with La Libertad Avanza is worth. According to Ámbito, one sector of the party believes that a partnership with the libertarians could dilute its identity and complicate its future project, while another is pushing for an agreement, at least in the province of Buenos Aires. In that context, names such as Cristian Ritondo, Fernando de Andreis, Diego Santilli and Hernán Lacunza come up.
The mistrust between both spaces is also evident in the City of Buenos Aires. Ámbito highlighted the video of Pilar Ramírez, a libertarian figure in the capital and a leader close to Karina Milei, with criticism of Jorge Macri’s administration. That gesture was read as a warning amid negotiations with the PRO and also as a message aimed at Bullrich.
The minister, according to the outlet’s reconstruction, is trying to preserve autonomy without breaking with Milei. Those around her understand that the President still needs her, but they also distrust the place the Karina camp could give her in a possible second term. For Ámbito, that tension feeds a broader hypothesis in part of the political system: the possibility of continuity of the libertarian course with another figure and another style.
On the economic front, the report stressed that the ruling party is betting on presenting the drop in inflation, fiscal balance, exchange-rate stability and the trade surplus as strengths. But it also pointed to persistent signs of deterioration in activity, employment and consumption. Ámbito reported that industry posted a year-on-year decline of 5% in July and 12% compared with the same month in 2023.
In that context, the debate within the ruling party also extends to economic strategy. According to Ámbito, Luis Caputo appears more inclined to soften some aspects of the program to reduce electoral risks, while Milei insists on not deviating from the current recipe.
Fuentes
Sobre esta nota. Written by El Notero with the assistance of artificial intelligence, based on what was published by the cited outlet. El Notero did not conduct its own reporting on this event.
