More than 40 Peronist mayors from Buenos Aires province closed ranks this Friday and backed Governor Axel Kicillof, amidst growing internal tension in Peronism following former President Cristina Kirchner's letter criticizing the election split. The meeting, which lasted over three hours, was held at 'La Casona' of the Ministry of Agricultural Development, in the Pereyra Iraola Park (Berazategui). At the end of the meeting, the mayor of La Plata, Julio Alak, served as spokesperson and defended the governor's electoral strategy: 'The split was very positive,' he assured. In press statements, Alak argued that 'the September electoral result allowed us to win in 107 out of 135 municipalities' and that 'we won 34 provincial legislative seats, including senators and deputies, out of a total of 69'. Specifically asked about the former president's reproaches, Alak downplayed the impact of the letter and stated that it 'was not a subject of analysis' during the summit. 'The general balance was very positive, with the difficulties we have always had in legislative elections,' he added. In turn, Minister of Government Carlos Bianco conveyed Kicillof's explicit request to his team: 'He asked the ministers and mayors not to get entangled in any internal discussions'. Bianco also defined the map of rivals: 'We have only one adversary, which is the president and his policies, and now a more powerful adversary has been added, which is Donald Trump'.
