The poisoned dart reached the President's ears. That unexpected summit generated distrust in Cristina and heightened her discomfort with her once-favored political son, with whom she no longer speaks even by phone. Kicillof takes a breath and challenges her: 'I'm fed up.'
The president baffled him when he rebelled and split the elections. 'That's fine, it's a good designation.' Some propose Sergio Massa as a guarantor. Since the lifting of the currency controls, he appears tougher, more combative, and more irascible, which is saying a lot, in the face of criticism. The President feels comfortable when he gathers enemies. The rupture would distance them from victory and could even condemn them to a very severe defeat. 'The logic would be to respect our bible: 'together we will succeed,' but it’s not assured,' says a representative of Peronism from the Conurbano.
Cristina flirts with a candidacy for provincial legislator, although she does not rule out running as a national deputy. The announcement could materialize in the coming weeks. And then? Until the porteno contest passes, there would be no news. The young woman took to X to defend herself: she said she had been expelled for being part of Las Fuerzas del Cielo. They believe that the majority do not use them because they fear retaliation from the tax authorities. They also think about those who work informally and have savings capacity. 'The idea is that those who have dollars and cannot justify them should be allowed to go out and buy a truck, for example,' they assert.
The revitalization of activity, market control, and reducing inflation are pillars of the Government in the run-up to this year's legislative elections. In his circle, they believe that 'the economy is already healthy' and that this will be the next step following the lifting of currency controls. Javier Milei, who during the electoral campaign promised dollarization, took the lead in the movement. 'When do we do it?' they asked him. 'Now, as soon as possible,' was the answer.
The ejected ended up being Pascual, a man of Sebastián Pareja, the organizer of Karina in the Buenos Aires territory. The activism helps Gordo Dan with reposts and comments. It’s Milei’s style. When there is a tremor, as happened before the agreement with the Fund and when inflation soared to 3.7% in March, La Libertad Avanza goes on alert. Enemies who, in their view, want to make their government fail so that the country sinks once again into frustration and chaos.
Some are promoting him as a candidate for deputy. Kicillof and Cristina do not speak. This week, Dan asked for several journalists to be imprisoned. Until recently, he said otherwise: that Kicillof had to do what Cristina said. And they do not discriminate, the surname does not matter. Twitter users were ecstatic. Milei is fascinated with the character. They have known each other for years, and he visits him on his streaming channel.
In recent weeks, in addition to journalists, one of the targets was Mauricio Macri. Fear of a definitive rupture and the governor's threat. It does not matter if they accumulated them over years with small purchases in the black market, if someone gifted them or if they obtained them doing some legitimate work whose income was never declared. Some handle privileged information and use it quickly whenever circumstances warrant.
By Santiago Fioritti. While confronting the media, the Government is working on an initiative to encourage the use of dollars: what it consists of and who it targets. This defensive position, however, increases even when the atmosphere seems less prone to conflict. Minister Luis Caputo only said it would be a 'surprise' and that it would aim to incentivize the use of the U.S. currency.
On Wednesday, he managed to remove Alberto Pascual as head of PAMI in Junín, after a tweet from Marina Biagetti, an influencer who is part of Las Fuerzas del Cielo, the group led by Dan. They want him where he is. Dan and his disciples can be lethal. The more cautious mayors are working to negotiate both lists. The suspension of the PASO forces Cristina and Axel Kicillof to make a crucial decision: to form lists together or go each their own way and divide the voters.
Tension with the founder of PRO is rising, despite both forces promoting an electoral alliance in the province of Buenos Aires solely to defeat Kirchnerism. Macri does not pay much attention to social media, but his advisers tell him that there is an army of libertarians questioning him. For the President, this web shelters five types of protagonists from the Red Circle: politicians, businessmen, unions, economists, and journalists.
But for at least two weeks, four of those actors have been sidelined, and the cultural battle is centered on the press. The libertarian leader and his main followers are obsessed. There is not a day without some attack. To make matters worse, he attacked Karina Milei. These are the tools available to Máximo Kirchner and La Cámpora to stand on equal terms with the governor.
Others try to be more original: he has been dubbed the minister of X. Parisini has disproportionate power for someone who supposedly holds no position. This power has allowed him to dictate political line and even announce the removal of officials. They say he can organize Kicillof's and Máximo’s ambitions. 'I will do what Cristina says,' says Máximo. Milei has just said that the activity level is soaring and will exceed the 5.5% projected by the IMF for this year, but both he and Caputo admit that sooner rather than later growth could slow down due to the shortage of pesos.
The total mass of pesos in circulation reaches $45 billion. Some call him the minister without a portfolio. In the ruling party, they maintain that individuals hoard - apart from those who have their savings abroad or in local banks - between 160,000 and 200,000 million dollars. They could even use them to buy land and build a house in a gated community.
There will be no need to pay fines or make a sworn declaration, nor will there be spending caps. These details, along with others kept under wraps that could be controversial and even legally challenged, are part of a complex plan that the Government is preparing to try to prevent the lack of pesos, typical of the unprecedented adjustment made by the libertarian administration, from cooling the economy. 'We want to radically change consumption patterns, for the fear of being persecuted to end,' they say at the top of power - 'It will be the end of the cursed question in banks and the old AFIP... where did you get this money from?'
The initiative will not be sent to Congress but will be sought to be implemented through joint resolutions by the Revenue and Customs Control Agency (ARCA), the Central Bank, and the Ministry of Economy. Biagetti had been fired by Pascual. The outcome would be decisive. While LLA and PRO negotiate in the province, the other focal point of tension in the main electoral district of the country is in Peronism.
Adds: this would make the usual ones return. Those who were hoping for a Milei-Macri meeting will have to wait a bit. They didn’t believe he was capable. Now, Kicillof says he is willing to discuss the lists, but warns that he will not allow himself to be subjected. Some are real, others imaginary. The questioning may focus on the major columnists of recent decades' newspapers, a simple reporter, a media owner, or a photographer struggling to make ends meet.
Those criticisms are echoed on social media, especially on X. There, the baton remains in the hands of Daniel Parisini, better known as Gordo Dan, who has been seen entering the Casa Rosada on more than one occasion. Ministers also circulate through that studio. 'Gordo Dan is the embodiment of the spirit of La Libertad Avanza,' confide those who interact with him frequently.
'Minister of X?' He conveyed it to the leaders of the CGT with whom he met in the run-up to Labor Day at the Azopardo street headquarters. On Friday, Macri said that the Government did not raise 'even one place' in the Corruption Perception Index that measures the transparency of countries. 'Let them start to clean up their own house,' he pointed out. They face the same fate as their rivals.
Argentines with dollars stacked under their mattresses will be able to use them freely to buy appliances or deposit them with a dealership in exchange for a brand-new car. They have in mind a universe of professionals ranging from lawyers and dentists to employees of major companies who receive part of their income officially but complement a good part of it without issuing invoices. Enough. Difficult.
