“Change” is one of the most repeated words in the electoral campaign that will conclude this Sunday in Argentina with the second round of the presidential elections; Nobody wants the country to continue in an inertia that leads directly to hyperinflation, a rise in poverty and the specter of IMF loans.
Without a doubt, the opposition – in any of the formations that fought before the final instance on November 19 – was the one that most defended the need to end the Government of Alberto Fernández (Peronism), which accumulated 142.7% of year-on-year inflation. , 40.1% poverty and an exchange gap greater than 200%.
The most extreme speech, that of the leader of La Libertad Avanza (ultra-right), Javier Milei, is the one that reached the runoff: “A different Argentina is impossible with the same old ones.” Among his messages, ending key institutions such as the Ministry of Women or the Central Bank; in addition to positioning himself in favor of the sale of organs and being a denier of climate change or the Argentine dictatorship (1976-1983), right on the anniversary of 40 years of democracy in the country.
Opposite, the candidate of Unión por la Patria (Peronism), Sergio Massa, will fight for the Presidency, whose greatest letter of introduction is, at the same time, his worst asset: having been a member of the current Executive and responsible for the most committed portfolio: the of Economy.
However, Massa also advocated for “change” and defended the need to create a “Government of national unity” and seek “consensus”: “On December 10 the crack dies.”
uncertain outlook
Some 35.8 million Argentines are called to vote this Sunday in a second round of the presidential elections that is very close and in the midst of the celebration for 40 years of uninterrupted democracy after the end of the last military dictatorship.
The outlook is so uncertain that there is no clear favorite. The polls show a technical tie, since some give the ruling party as a favorite and others the opposition; in both cases, with little advantage.
It is no less true that few trust the polls, after, in the August primaries, no one predicted Milei’s victory and, in the October general elections, no one gave Massa as the winner and they did announce the victory of Milei, some even in the first round.
The decision for a candidate responsible for the current economic portfolio – and its figures – or for another who threatens with plans that, according to the majority of experts, are “unrealizable” and walks a chainsaw as a metaphor for what he would do with public spending Many citizens voted blank.
The projections indicate that they will increase compared to the 2% of the general elections held on October 22, in which, in addition, there was 22.3% abstention.
For this reason, one of the jobs of the candidates in the campaign has been to try to convince those who did not vote and those who did, but in favor of the other candidates: among the center-right Patricia Bullrich (Together for Change), the The Peronist dissident Juan Schiaretti (We do for Our Country) and the leader of the Left Front Myriam Bregman added 8.8 million votes.
They can tip the balance, without their leaders – except Bullrich – giving indications: Schiaretti and Bregman spoke out in favor of “neutrality” in the campaign, while the former Minister of Security forgot that Milei had called her a “bomb-thrower” and He supported it to the point that he participated in his closing rally in Córdoba – the country’s second electoral nucleus and anti-Kirchnerist fiefdom.
To these other forces, including Together for Change, Massa extended his hand for his promised united Government and, to distance himself from former president Cristina Fernández (2007-2015), who pulls the strings of Peronist politics in recent years, he said: “No one manages me,” differentiating herself from Alberto Fernández, whom the current vice president announced as a candidate in 2019.
Enmity with Kirchnerism for many years and so close at one time to former president Mauricio Macri (2015-2019) – who is now campaigning for Milei – who in 2016 was elected as a member of his delegation to the Davos Forum, the Minister of Economy – whom his detractors call “careerist” and “liar” – has shown how to navigate the political arena with cunning, highlights EFE.
His rival is a newcomer to politics, an economist who achieved impact on television talk shows, who has been a deputy since 2021 and, in just two years, has managed to give his political force a chance of winning in the second presidential round. No one can predict what will happen on Sunday, but what is expected is a “change.”
