“The pessimist complains about the wind, the optimist hopes it will change, and the realist adjusts the sails”. That quote –William George Ward, 1882– is Fernando Straface’s letter of introduction on Twitter. Unlike most of him, he does not summarize his resume or give an account of his steps through Techint and Harvard, and he dodges having founded the Center for the Implementation of Public Policies for Equity and Growth (the powerful Cippec). .
He also omits to say that Horacio Rodríguez Larreta has so much confidence in him that his offices are one in front of the other, in the modern building of the Government of the City of Buenos Aires, where he works as Secretary of Institutional Relations, and where he also diagrams the actions of your friend’s presidential campaign.
A few hours ago, Straface shook the hornet’s nest of Juntos por el Cambio and, in particular, of the PRO, which is going through these unprecedented days of internship in the open. In Seoul, he published: “It is unlikely to think of generating the transformations that Argentina urgently requires, and that are sustainable over time, betting only on their own and without dialoguing with ‘the other’.” An ode to the center; a reproach to the hawks who flirt with Javier Milei.
–What is the reading of this unprecedented intern in the PRO? he asked The voice to the pure larretista.
–It is a party that always had deep discussions regarding the paths to follow, although this time it was probably more towards society. After this moment, in which Horacio Rodríguez Larreta made an idelegable institutional decision (to hold concurrent elections, with different voting systems, origin of the cimbronazo), the entire PRO is very aware that society expects a consistent unity of Together for Change . A stage begins in which the leaders will do their best to stage that unity.
–Didn’t this discussion expose the verticalism exercised by Mauricio Macri? And in that sense: Where is the Macri-Rodríguez Larreta political relationship headed?
–It is a relationship of more than 20 years, because together, with María Eugenia Vidal, they founded the PRO. It is a relationship of much more depth and sustainability in the future than a circumstantial difference. And that relationship, ultimately, will go where it was before this difference occurred: President Macri as a very important beacon of “what for” Together for Change wants to return to the national government. And in the case of Horacio, when he is president of the Nation, he will fully exercise his role, which is compatible with the circumstantial consultation of a president as prestigious as Mauricio Macri, probably the most internationally prestigious former president that Argentina had of democracy so far.
– Within the framework of Rodríguez Larreta’s electoral engineering, which sectors of Together for Change cannot be left out; Will there be an alliance with radicalism as a party?
–Horacio (Rodríguez Larreta) has a deep conviction: that the next government of Together for Change be a coalition one. The central element is the government program. The great coalitions of the world discuss before reaching the government what issues are going to be a priority. We aspire that in this discussion the PRO, with Horacio, have an ancestry; the undeniable capillarity and territorial presence of radicalism; the republicanism and transparency agenda of Elisa Carrió; and the vision of Miguel Pichetto. The depth of the reforms that Argentina needs requires a very broad political support that cannot go through a single party, and it is not enough to get 50 percent plus one due to the impulse of a coalition. What is enough for you to win is not enough to govern. It is likely that, then, Together for Change will need to be expanded in the future.
– Within the framework of electoral engineering, does the “Milei phenomenon” clash with this option of the center?
–The sociology of the time shows that the option of a majority center is still valid. The majority is not in the extremes and favors life positions and opinions of the center. But it is true that a portion of society is very frustrated with the results of democracy, with the inefficiency of the governments of these 40 years to face the great problems of the people, and that gives rise to extreme positions, left-wing populism or from the right (Kirchnerism is a left-wing populism) gain followers.
–Is Milei a right-wing populist?
–Milei has some relevant economic ideas: recover the role of the market, repress some functions of the State. But they are ideas that have to coexist in a democratic system. Milei’s expression is legitimate and has a message that summons an important part of the frustrated, but that should coexist with attitudes towards democracy. We also believe that the State has a role in security, education, health, and we do not believe in a concept of a minimal State.
–And how do you contain that “frustrated” electorate that the PRO once represented?
-There should not be a portion of Argentines considered unfeasible to build a country. But there are political expressions, such as Kirchnerism, that are in a position contrary to values that make up a project for the country, so their participation in this process seems unfeasible. However, there are many people on the edge of the center of those expressions who are summoned by a government with a plan and an idea of thinking more about the future than about the past, if they see that “the crack” ends with the Kirchnerism that created it, maybe they will come. This is how Horace intends to build that majority.
-In recent days, Aníbal Fernández said that if Juntos por el Cambio wins there will be a “trail of blood”; and Mauricio Macri asked to “semi-dynamit everything.” How do these statements from “the crack” coexist with the moderate position that Rodríguez Larreta seeks to express?
They are in no way comparable. First, with enormous irresponsibility, the Minister of National Security talks about deaths and blood, and that is a different threshold: he is talking about people who would lose their lives. While President Macri was referring to a reformist attitude, to carry out reforms for growth, it is a distant metaphor for the declarative pornography of Aníbal Fernández.
–After the Rodríguez Larreta – Patricia Bullrich crosses, and the tension that Milei generates in the PRO, is the unity of Together for Change guaranteed?
–We must make an effort in gestures to make it clear that unity is guaranteed. This unity will allow the differences to be expressed in La Paso. Horacio represents a call model to generate a government program with a great agreement. Patricia may have simpler ideas in the way she imagines solutions to some problems. Horacio asks to “speak seriously”, and that means avoiding any discursive bias and any easy solution. Stabilizing the economy supposes an agreement between many sectors. The idea that inflation can be solved in five minutes or that 30 percent of public spending is reduced with a magic formula, are facilitations that do nothing good for the credibility of Together for Change. If Together for Change manages to speak seriously to society, it will be easier to amalgamate the votes of one candidate and another.
– Is there a chance to avoid that step between Bullrich and Rodríguez Larreta? Or is it necessary to contain the electorate of Together for Change?
–Factually it is difficult due to the genuine ambition of being president of both (and of some radical, like Gerardo Morales or Facundo Manes). But I think it is virtuous for the next president of Together for Change to leave in one step. Together for Change made La Paso a very effective instrument to energize the election and contain expressions with nuances that come together in the coalition.
– Are Argentines being told the size of the adjustment that Together for Change will apply?
–Society is more willing to listen if the proposal comes with sincerity. The call cannot be to adjust, nobody joins a political action to be part of an adjustment. This idea that the only thing that society expects from Together for Change is “blood, sweat and tears” goes against the vision of hope of Together for Change and is not good electorally. That is why we must have an effective pedagogy towards where Argentina is going to go in a reasonable time.
-In this expansion plan of Together for Change, is there a place for Peronist governors?
-There are governors who, even though they have a circumstantial Kirchner affiliation, can be summoned for a growth project in Argentina. There are sectarian expressions of Kirchnerism, the vice president herself, from which one cannot expect much. If we manage to build a greater majority than the expression on election day, it will be society itself that is going to put a limit on the boycott of kichnerismo. Every day, La Cámpora is becoming a party in the province of Buenos Aires and a microspace of power.
– Is it possible to govern Argentina without governing the province of Buenos Aires?
–The province of Buenos Aires is key for governance and for a plan of progress for Argentina. Together for Change was strategic in 2021 by putting together with Diego Santilli and Facundo Manes a Step that empowered him and allowed him to beat Peronism. In order to carry out the stabilization plan proposed by Rodríguez Larreta, there must be a partnership in the province of Buenos Aires with the one who governs. Taking the 2021 strategy and understanding that the unity of Together is valued, we can win again this year.
-In that “progress plan” that Rodríguez Larreta talks about, what are the real possibilities?
-Argentina is in a position similar to the one it had when it was the “granary of the world.” There are five sectors that make up a global production chain: food, energy, mining, tourism and the knowledge industry. For these growth engines to unfold their potential, growth reforms are needed: from an educational reform focused on what these engines require; specific labor rules, as the construction has and as they did in Vaca Muerta; a reform that translates social plans into work, because it is diagonal to promise that 4 million plans will disappear from one day to the next; and a great tax simplification with a progressive path towards the elimination of withholdings. We must recover the positive sense of reformism: the country adapts to what the world needs or we are going to perish.
– What is Rodríguez Larreta’s relationship with Schiaretti and what role can the governor of Córdoba have in this great agreement?
–There are different planes and moments of relationship. Today we are in a moment of approximation to the power dispute in the province of Córdoba, and we want Luis Juez to be the next governor and that we recover the city of Córdoba.
– For you, Schiaretti must conform to a scheme of Rodríguez Larreta president?
–Our priority is to win the province. I don’t know what Governor Schiaretti’s plans are, we’ll see what the future holds. That does not mean that we cannot maintain a space for dialogue.