In the last days of January 2019, Axel Kicillof came to Villa Gesell in the black Clio he was driving Carlos Bianco and which became a trademark of the electoral campaign that followed months later. He did a dunk on the beach and revealed his vocation to build a candidacy in the province of Buenos Aires.
The electoral calendar had not yet started, but he was already showing his head in the interior of Buenos Aires to say that he wanted to compete with María Eugenia Vidal, the then governor, who measured well in the polls and was a tough rival to face. Kicillof had two things that marked his electoral path: the support of Cristina Kirchner and the resistance of the mayors.
Six years later, without the Clio, which currently has 220,000 km and is conditioned to return to the road, Kicillof will return to the spa city to lead an act of his political team, where they work to position him as the renewing figure of Peronism and build his presidential candidacy at a slow but firm pace.
The meeting will be Next Tuesday at the Intersur hotel, at 2:30 p.m.and all the mayors, leaders and officials who are supporting the growth of the political scheme led by the Governor were summoned. “It will help us know where we stand”reflected one of the main shipowners of the space.
In Kicillofism we begin to see the need for definitions of the electoral process. The leaders of the second and third ring of the political apparatus warn that time is of the essence and that if the internal situation with CFK explodes, they will have to create your own lists in the 135 municipalities and in the eight electoral sections of the province. They have to prepare for a very complex crusade.
The intention of the meeting is to show political musclecount the faces and intentions, and know who will be standing next to the Governor if the internal situation worsens in the coming months. The greatest importance lies in the presence of the mayors who, ultimately, are the ones who drive votes in the territory.
Before the meeting he will have a short tour with the local mayor, Gustavo Barrerawho is part of his political circle, and will inaugurate some homes and a Shelter House. The initiative to hold the meeting came from the mayor. About fifteen days ago he proposed it to Kicillof, who only confirmed this Wednesday that he would be present.
Barrera plays close to the Governor from the beginning. He is one of the closest communal leaders and one of those who has been putting his face in public to defend the need for a generational change at the head of Peronism. “The alternative and the future is in Axel”he said a handful of days ago on local radio.
As the days go by, Kicillofism is trying to sustain, with political actions, the leadership of the Buenos Aires president. Little by little the stage of electoral definitions is approaching and there is the need to show volume and conviction in the action plan.
If the Government manages to suspend or eliminate the PASO at the national level, Kicillof will follow the same path in the province and, subsequently, plans to split the Buenos Aires election. If this idea is realized, a new level of the extensive internal knowledge of Kirchnerism will be unlocked. From there, it will be days of fury.
Those who frequent Cristina Kirchner They say that they are not convinced that Kicillof is capable of breaking the coalition. He thinks he will be tense until the end, but will end up negotiating unity. Because if the space is fractured, Peronism runs the risk of losing the elections.
“He is his political son. What he is doing hurts him. And, furthermore, he disappoints her.”assured an important leader of Buenos Aires Peronism who has a good relationship with the former head of state. And he added: “Those around him tell him that he is number one, that he is Churchill, they are eating his mind.”
In the bowels of Peronists, they warn that the breakup will be the immediate consequence of executing the decision to split, which is what CFK asked not to do. “If the elections are brought forward, everything breaks. Legislative blocks are broken and political space is broken.”said a mayor who is on the former president’s side. They visualize a chaotic scenario.
During the summer, Kicillof decided to visit several cities in the interior of Buenos Aires. He was in Guaminí, Sierra de la Ventana, Tornquist and Mar del Plata. Next week he will be in Villa Gesell, Claromecó and Pehuencó. In February it will pass through Santa Clara, Balcarce, Junín and San Nicolás. All inland towns, where the Governor, since his campaign in 2019, always tried to gain a foothold and strengthen his image.
There are two inland municipalities that are not on the road map. One from the Atlantic coast and another that is one of the largest in the province: Monte Hermoso and Bahía Blanca. In the first, where the former president was on vacation, he governs Hernan Arranz and the political head of local Peronism is Alejandro Dichiara, current vice president of the Buenos Aires Chamber of Deputies and man close to Martín Insaurralde.
In the town in the south of the province he governs Federico Susbiellesone of the twelve mayors who have The Campora. The absence in both places does not seem like a coincidence. The three political actors spoke out in favor of the president of the National PJ in the months when the internal elections were a powder keg.
The division is increasingly stark. There are some mayors who still maintain their manners and bite their tongues so as not to criticize Kicillof. Because, ultimately, he is the governor of the province. They are waiting for an eventual breakup to question it and swear full loyalty to Cristina Kirchner.
Other community leaders try to be on good terms with both parties. They go to everyone’s actions and prioritize balancing. Others have defined positions, like the campers, or, in the case of those who are from Renewal Frontthey remain distant from the conflict at the request of Sergio Massa.
Kicillof wants to show political muscle and insist on the construction of an alternative to the Government. His territorial space considers that the split will be the opportune moment to give greater visibility to his figure and put him in the ring with Milei. In Christianity they think the opposite. They consider that, based on the Buenos Aires election, Peronism should hold a national discussion.
The resolution of the electoral process will arrive soon. Meanwhile, the Governor alternates political messages with management tours, signs of CFK’s autonomy with low-profile days. Kicillof walks on a fine rope, balancing, discussing power within Peronism. His words, his silences and his actions seem to make it clear what the plan is sleeping inside his head.
