There will be no republican front in Argentina. The ultra-liberal Javier Milei received strong support ahead of the second round of presidential elections scheduled for November 19: that of Patricia Bullrich, unsuccessful candidate of the center-right coalition Juntos por el Cambio (“Together for Change”) , which comes in third place (23.8%) in the first round on October 22nd. The far-right outsider, who came second with 30% of the vote (behind the Peronist candidate Sergio Massa, 36.7%), celebrated the rally of the one nicknamed “Pato” (which also means “duck” in Spanish) with a publication In On his social networks there is a drawing of a lion – an animal with which he, the roaring candidate, identifies – tenderly hugging a small white duck.
The decision by Patricia Bullrich – leader of the most right wing of the coalition, the Propuesta republicana (PRO), a party founded by former President Mauricio Macri (2015-2019) – and her running mate Luis Petri was announced on Wednesday, October 25th at a Press conference announced The conference is motivated above all by the profound rejection of Kirchnerism (a current of Peronism named after Nestor and Cristina Kirchner, in power between 2003 and 2015): “Argentina cannot accept a new cycle of Kirchnerism under the leadership of Sergio Massa begin (…). They have been driving us into decadence for twenty years,” she claimed.
The numerous insults that Javier Milei uttered against him during the election campaign have been forgotten: “We have forgiven ourselves. » As a left-wing activist in the 1970s, the populist candidate described her as a “murderer” and “kindergarten bomber”. Patricia Bullrich had announced that she would file a complaint against Javier Milei. That complaint was the subject of a “confidential agreement” as part of her political support, she said Wednesday.
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Abandoning the aggressive tone with which he is accustomed to castigating the “caste” – as he refers to those who have shared power for forty years, including Juntos por el Cambio – Javier Milei had immediately followed the results of the Coalition clearly opened the door to coalition first round.
Strong rejection of the centrist movement
The individually announced support of Patricia Bullrich triggers an unprecedented crisis within Juntos por el Cambio, which was already largely shaken by Javier Milei’s break into political life three years ago. The centrist Radical Civic Union (UCR, a party founded at the end of the 19th century and a member of the Socialist International) expressed its strong opposition to the agreement. The UCR “will not support either candidate,” the Radicals said in an Oct. 25 statement. The text castigates “the demagogic extremism of Javier Milei”. “His political latitude and the violence that emerges from his words and gestures against coexistence have nothing to do with our party,” the UCR continues. Various party executives expressed their discomfort with a decision that was made without prior internal consultation. “It’s a joke, Milei is a charlatan. “The homeland is in danger of experiencing its darkest night,” denounced Gerardo Morales, radical governor of Jujuy province (northwest of the country).
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