Cristina and Mauricio, loved and hated, have been the center of the last decade and a half. This year presents you with the challenge of evaluating how to position yourself
For Gustavo Marangoni
01/11/2023 – 5:35 p.m.
The last fifteen years have been marked by the leading roles of Cristina Kirchner Y Mauricio Macri. They gave vigor and volume to the two political forces that dominated the scene of power.
Cristina represented an innovation within Kirchnerism, with her own style that set her apart from Néstor. The K era has attributes that belong exclusively to it. Without exaggeration, one can speak of christian phase. Regardless of what happens in the future, his name is in the select gallery of presidents who were re-elected: Julio A. Roca, Hipólito Irigoyen, Juan Perón and Carlos Menem. It can be added that his biography has a plus: After completing the two terms (on that podium only Roca and Menem go up with her) she maintained -and preserves- a leading role that the others did not have.
Regarding the PRO founderHis first achievement was take ownership of a surname that until his mature age he was synonymous with Franco and not with Mauricio. Even against his father’s will, he entered the sports leadership, won titles and recognition with Boca Juniors, governed the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires for two terms, laid the foundations for a national party that capitalized on the support of non-Peronism and anti-Peronism. Peronism, took him to the government of the country and completed the entire presidential term, something that the radicals Raúl Alfonsín and Fernando de la Rúa did not achieve. After three years of leaving the Casa Rosada, two books through and an international position at FIFA, he continues to be a reference in the opposition ranks.
Cristina Kirchner and Mauricio Macri, faced with the dilemma of the candidacies
Cristina and Mauricio, loved and hated, have been the center of the last decade and a half. This year presents them with the challenge of having to evaluate the most convenient place in front of the elections. Application: yes or no? The vice president was emphatic on December 6 when she excluded herself, although three weeks later she softened her definition to confirm that ambiguity is the salt of leadership.
Series and movie viewers and book readers are captivated by stories that allow our imagination to participate and that -at the same time- surprise us with unexpected twists. That narrative game has also been adopted by the former president. After publishing “Primer tiempo” and “Por qué”, he moves as a postulant and speaks as a dispensary. In his residence in Cumelén, he receives visitors and multiplies images to feed all kinds of interpretations. Perhaps, like CFK, he still isn’t sure how to proceed.
For observers, the feeling always floats that the leaders are clear about the end from the beginning, but unlike the makers of fiction, Politicians make their way as they walk, since chance, the movements of their internal and external adversaries, intuitions and other herbs intervene in their affairs. They both know what they have in common very loyal hard cores and also high rejections in public opinion. The temptation to lead is always there, but it is accompanied by the fear of losing. And the defeats hurt, but they also usually bring the painful consequences of the plain.
The elections arrive and find Macri and CFK still in central roles.
“Cristina and Mauricio know that they have very loyal hard cores in common and also high rejection in public opinion”
In 2019, Cristina was able to conjure up those demons by placing herself in second place on the ballot. She found in the vice-presidential figure something more than the presidency of the Senate and something less than the responsibility of governing. That play does not admit repetition For her, it doesn’t even seem feasible for Macri. But in the minds of one and the other, ideas must be squeezed and strange artifacts imagined to reconcile the ideal with the possible. There is still time. The elections and their legal times are very close and very far at the same time.
The teaching left by the management of Alberto Fernández
While the high temperatures cross the country, it is necessary to remember that the definitions that matter usually come with temperate or cool times, perhaps to remember that you do not have to decide hot or have dinner for lunch. This is valid for them and for everyone. Success does not accompany those who start before but those who decide at the right time. And to those who learn from the hard experiences of others.
These years of government of Alberto Fernandez leave many teachings. The most important: the impossibility of dividing power at the top. The sequence of events proved that without Cristina it was not enough to win and with her driver it became very difficult to govern. There is no space left to repeat vicarious constructions. Argentina is thirsty for genuine leadership. That is the real border between the ambitions of some and the desires of others. Did you become aware of this in Together for Change?
