The new additions that closed Horacio Rodriguez Larreta For the Government of Buenos Aires, they were not something new for the political strategy of the PRO referent, but rather they follow the line that remained constant throughout the year: “empty” of support to your competitors internals in the presidential race, where Patricia Bullrich Y Mauricio Macri appear to be the most affected.
The signing of Waldo Wolff as Secretary of Public Affairs of the City surprised by the identification of the deputy with the “hawks” referenced in Bullrich and, in part, also in Macri, but Rodríguez Larreta had already taken a similar step when added Florecia Ariettoanother leader of “bullrichismo”, to her Buenos Aires army.
The strategy It is not reduced to incorporating “hard” leaders that they speak to those voters who may sympathize more with Bullrich’s confrontational discourse than with the “anti-crack” look of the Buenos Aires president, but instead seeks broaden your base of support as much as possible by the time of his official release as a presidential candidate.
In the City they are cautious about when he will take that step. “There is no date and it is not yet time to think about it,” they say. However, among the territorial shipowners of the head of government, they estimate that the launch will be between February and March, according to iProfessional.
Is almost the same deadline that Macri got to clear up the question of whether or not he will be a presidential candidate. The head of government has a pending meeting with the former president who could be key to the internal PRO and the expansion of its electoral assembly also gives it political muscle to face that talk.
Rodríguez Larreta and the “emptying” strategy
The incorporation into the Larreta space of leaders who were part of other internal lines of the PRO is a strategy that started in February 2022when he added Diego Santilli’s Buenos Aires army to Florencia Arietto, who had worked alongside Bullrich in the Ministry of Security between 2015 and 2019.
Larreta advanced one more step in the sum of leaders who responded to other sectors of the PRO
Later, In September, the Buenos Aires head of government organized a plenary session with leaders from the Buenos Aires suburbs, in which the presence of territorial references such as Segundo Cernadas and Gastón di Castelnuovo, who until then moved close to Cristian Ritondo, stood out.the gubernatorial candidate supported by Macri.
Finally, in November, Larreta offered a demonstration of force by bringing together more than 3,000 PRO leaders and allies across the country. there they were several of the potential gubernatorial candidates from different provinces and leaders who are not yet in Together for Change, such as the former deputy and leader of Más Vallores, Cynthia Hotton.
Thus, the head of government advanced throughout the year leading up to the elections with the sum of figures which, at the same time, implies a subtraction for Bullrich and to some extent also for Macri.
“It is logical that Larreta uses the Buenos Aires government apparatus to attract people from other currents and empty out rivals. Who wouldn’t do it?”, a PRO operator evaluated before iProfessional, while estimating that in this framework there may be more incorporations to the City Cabinet.
After the arrival of Wolff together with the deputy Silvia Lospennato (very close to the deputy Emilio Monzó who moves independently in the PRO) for the Advisory Council of the Gender Secretariat and the former president of the Central Bank Martin Redrado for the Secretariat of Strategic Affairs, there is talk of Graciela Ocaña for the Secretariat for the Third Age.
Will there be a meeting with Macri?: the key summit for the PRO
Larreta’s advance annoys Bullrich’s sector, who does not hide his discomfort. “A lot of charge, right? It seems to me that the country’s political discussion is less charge and more austerity“, fired the presidential candidate of the PRO after Wolff’s arrival in the Buenos Aires government was confirmed. In his space this fell as badly as Arietto did at the time.
A meeting between Macri and Larreta is pending, which will be key for 2023 and they try to handle it with maximum reserve
Rodríguez Larreta maintains the line of not entering into direct confrontation with Bullrich while removing support and enlarging his structure for the 2023 primaries (PASO), something that would allow him, as an additional benefit, to reach the election on a good footing. meeting that he would hold in the coming days with Macri to iron out the rough edges that have arisen in the last year.
Days ago it emerged that the Buenos Aires president would spend Christmas in the country Cumelén in Villa La Angostura, Neuquén, where Macri usually settles. It was expected that there a summit to close an agreement for 2023 but it would have been postponed due to the conflict with the national government over the co-participation and the recent renewal of the Cabinet.
However, close to Rodríguez Larreta they want keep this meeting as confidential as possible. “If it happens, it is always in strict secrecy,” slipped a source consulted by iProfessional. The Buenos Aires president wants to avoid any type of noise that could frustrate an eventual understanding with his former political boss.
Although the head of government has already announced that Macri’s decision will not condition his presidential candidacy, the possibility of ironing out rough edges and Bringing positions closer to the former president would play in his favor internally with Bullrichwhose “model” electorate is practically the same as that of the former president, as evaluated by the PRO.
From there arises the decision to handle that eventual summit with the greatest possible care. “Mauricio is above the internal and somehow going to be part of a future government“, a leader of Larretismo told this medium, where the maximum bet is that the former president plays as a referee and does not seek to take away support from Buenos Aires.
