Amid suspicion and mistrust, LLA and PRO move forward with defining the lists in the Province

Karina Milei cracked a smile as she looked at Cristian Ritondo's phone screen. The head of the Buenos Aires PRO party, who was celebrating the incorporation of the party founded by Mauricio Macri into a coalition known as La Libertad Avanza (Freedom Advances) , showed her a message from the President intended to express his excitement over the agreement. The animated sticker featured an Orthodox Jew jumping and dancing on top of a door at a party while being held by his friends; pure jubilation. Diego Santilli, who also appeared in the postcard taken by a Clarín photographer and illustrated in this article , received the same message.

Mar del Plata Mayor Guillermo Montenegro was also smiling at the table filled with Sebastián Pareja, president of the Violeta party in the province. At the same time, Macri was posing in New York with some international soccer legends, in the run-up to the Club World Cup final, oblivious to the mud of local politics.

The group that met Wednesday at the Libertador Hotel to celebrate the coalition, which appears to be a merger, will meet again—without the presence of "the boss"—between Monday and Tuesday to advance the lists of legislators and school councilors for the eight electoral sections. In principle, none of the sectional representatives are expected to participate in these talks. The mayors of the PRO and LLA parties will gather in their municipalities.

The President's sister was once again—as was the case in the City—the sole leader of her party . " Those who aren't seated here are here to make accusations ," Pareja said, seemingly taking a dig at Agustín Romo and the Santiago Caputo faction vying for spots on the Buenos Aires lists, the reason for the war over seats in PAMI delegations . In the Capital, Karina was vociferous and forceful ; everything went to her backers.

The Secretary General of the Presidency also managed to impose her strategic vision over Guillermo Francos and Caputo's in national politics, which clashed head-on with Congress this week. Milei gave in to the temptation of confrontation; an alternative that could jeopardize governability and cause setbacks in the economic plan. The Chief of Staff is trying to revive dialogue .

Ritondo also had reason to celebrate. He managed to maintain—for now—the unity of the party he leads . Half of the Macri-supporting mayors are still threatening to ignore the governing board and run with their own coalition.

The previous promises that the 13 PRO mayors would retain 75 percent of the lists in their districts have disappeared. Vicente López Mayor Soledad Martínez —Jorge Macri's close friend—endorsed the agreement after stretching the situation. To reconcile positions, she met this week with Libertarian councilman Luis Palomino, who just two months ago declared his goal to govern the first municipality Macri won in the province. Distrust prevails, as does need .

The wing of the PRO party that most advocated for an agreement recalls that the mayor ceded 50 percent of her legislators to her JxC partners in 2021.

The discontent of some PRO mayors extends, however, to those who report to the mayor of Buenos Aires, such as Martínez, Pablo Petrecca (Junín), and María José Gentile (9 de Julio). Lisandro Matzkin , of Coronel Pringles, wasn't satisfied with referring to Santilli , one of the most enthusiastic promoters of an agreement with LLA.

Daniel Angelici has also been unable to protect Javier Martínez, from Pergamino , the mayor of his group, who is threatening to slam the door in response to the Libertarians' demands. The paradox is that the bingo entrepreneur is trying to negotiate within this framework with representatives of the national ruling party to build bridges in the city before October 26 .

The former Boca Juniors president—who defines himself as a radical, but has worked with the PRO for more than 17 years—is very close to Darío Wasserman , vice president of Banco Nación and husband of Pilar Ramírez , president of LLA in the capital. Within the Buenos Aires Karinismo, they have no motivation to join forces with the PRO after the May 18th beating .

Angelici is nonetheless gaining ground in Jorge Macri's administration in sensitive areas of government related to the judiciary. These days, he's been promoting the former Sushi Group member Lautaro García Batallán (who was eighth on the PRO list)—a close associate of his—to take control of the legislature, which until now was held by Matías López, a close associate of Santilli .

The former deputy mayor of Buenos Aires—with a direct line to Karina Milei—continues to resist those pushing him as a candidate for senator for the first electoral district, which ousted the third as the most populous. He would be content with third place on the list of national legislators in October, behind José Luis Espert . The mayor of 3 de Febrero, Diego Valenzuela, one of the first to jump to LLA, could be the candidate for provincial senator, as could Guillermo Montenegro be the contender in the fifth. They neither confirm nor deny this.

With a short campaign, voices are gathering to promote presidential TikToker and Colegiales resident Iñaki Gutiérrez as a candidate in the third, a Kirchnerist stronghold where the ruling party smells a resounding defeat . His greatest asset is being the President's friend. Pareja's representative, Miriam Niveyro , has not yet been ruled out.

In the Buenos Aires PRO party, they avoid talking about submission and point out that the front where they hid with Sergio Massa in 2013 was the Renewal Front, the name the Tigre native eventually adopted for his force. " No one said anything or remembers it, because there was a greater common good. Today we have the best drivers, but they have the McClarens ," they say, confident in their commitment.