The conflict between libertarians and Ritondo's faction, which began as a municipal dispute, now operates as a political instability factor with direct consequences in legislative negotiations. The immediate outcome in Bahía Blanca leaves a reconfigured City Council, a strengthened Peronist ruling majority with tactical alliances, and a fragmented opposition that reflects, on a local scale, the national dispute for control of the Argentine right.
La Libertad Avanza in Buenos Aires mentioned the case of La Matanza, where councilor Leila Gianni —elected on the libertarian ballot— later joined the PRO block in agreements with Peronist mayor Fernando Espinoza.
The surprising alliance of Cristian Ritondo's sector with local Peronism to displace the libertarian Mauro Reyes from the Council presidency and replace him with the Ritondista councilor Gisela Caputo triggered an open clash between the two forces, one of the most significant political fractures since the beginning of Javier Milei's administration.
The movement caught the libertarian leadership in Bahía Blanca by surprise. As members of LLA pointed out, the vote coincided with these sectors' support for an extraordinary tax increase pushed by Peronist mayor Federico Susbielles.
In parallel, the Bahía Blanca conflict strongly impacted the Buenos Aires Legislature, where libertarian senator Florencia Arietto accused the Ritondismo and PRO sectors of having agreed to positions in the Banco Provincia in exchange for facilitating the approval of the debt requested by Axel Kicillof.
For libertarians, these episodes constitute a systematic strategy by the provincial PRO to absorb leaders and weaken LLA's territorial representation.
In Casa Rosada, the dispute is watched with concern, especially because Milei needs to maintain cohesion in his parliamentary base and secure allies at a time when the vote on key laws depends on very narrow margins.
With just a few months in office, the La Libertad Avanza councilors witnessed how two PRO members aligned with Ritondo joined the Peronist block to gather the necessary 13 votes and remove Reyes.
From Diego Valenzuela's orbit, they retorted, stating that past conversations "never included the expansion of positions in Banco Provincia," and warned that one cannot support President Milei "while helping the governor add political resources."
The repercussions even reached other municipalities. Other libertarian leaders spoke of a "pre-arranged agreement" between the local PRO and Peronism, an accusation that sparked a verbal crossfire that quickly involved provincial and national leaders.
The formal rupture was consolidated when the two Ritondo-aligned councilors presented a note to separate from the original block. They also noted that the PRO's position in the province has been maintained for two decades and questioned libertarian figures who, they claim, "pretend to ignore previous institutional negotiations" with the Buenos Aires Executive.
The statements further strained the relationship between the two forces at a time when Milei needs to guarantee support for the approval of the Budget and Labor Reform before the year-end recess.
The response from Ritondo's sector was not long in coming: leaders close to the former provincial minister assured that their space acted "coherently" and rejected having negotiated benefits in exchange for votes.
Thus, the libertarian bloc was reduced to nine members, and the municipal opposition was reconfigured with a majority made up of the PJ, Ritondismo, the Civic Coalition, and a councilor described as a "blue libertarian" by sources from the space.
BUENOS AIRES, December 9, 2025 - Total News Agency-TNA - The political crisis that erupted in the Bahía Blanca City Council quickly overflowed the municipal sphere and escalated to the national leadership of PRO and La Libertad Avanza in a conflict that already generates concern in Casa Rosada due to its potential impact on Congress.
The maneuver was completed with the appointment of Caputo, third on the list that both spaces had presented in alliance during the elections but that, according to LLA, never functioned as a unified block.
The new provincial deputy Oscar Liberman was one of the first to publicly denounce the maneuver, calling it "the reason why people stopped believing in politics."
The tension promises to continue in the coming weeks with cross-accusations and a growing risk that the conflict will complicate governance at a critical moment for the President's agenda.
