by “It was positive but we have to regain confidence and then we will see which comes first, the chicken or the egg”reflected one of the five governors of the Norte Grande who this Tuesday met with the Minister of the Interior, Guillermo Francos, in Salta. The metaphorical appeal attempts to describe the background of what was a forced attempt to recompose the political dialogue between the parties: the need for the Executive to guarantee legislative support from the leaders in the face of the eventual treatment in Congress of a substantial part of the Omnibus law and the demand of the provinces to advance in a fiscal pact that returns them the federal resources that they lost in recent months.
On the occasion of the celebrations for the 211th anniversary of the Battle of Salta, the host governor, Gustavo Saenz, received the vice president Victoria Villarruelto the head of the political portfolio and his peers from Misiones, Hugo Passalacquafrom Tucumán, Osvaldo Jaldofrom Catamarca, Raúl Jalil, and from jujuy, Carlos Sadir.
After the official events, there was a political lunch, which lasted between 2 and 4 p.m. and in which the vice president did not participate, which took place at the Government House in Salta. Those present tasted a menu consisting of empanadas and barbecue, with the classic quesillo as dessert. Although the meeting was cordial, the national official had to listen to the proposals of the provincial leaders.
At Casa Rosada they recognized that aspects of the “national and provincial” reality but that progress could not be made “in any concrete agreement”. There is a demand from the governors for the president Javier Milei lower the “verbal pyrotechnics” and that your government agrees to move forward in dialogue.
“Francos listens but does not decide because the President has a defined plan. And he does not seem to want to give in,” said a close collaborator of a Cordilleran leader.
Villarruel did not participate in the agape but was previously in the celebrations for the “Battle of Salta.” The night before he had shared a meeting with the five governors with the intention of “contributing” to relaxing the bond between the provinces and the Nation. Aware of the needto bring positions closer“, The vice president listens to the proposals of the leaders who feel “detracted” by the Executive.
The first to come out to make a public assessment of the meeting was the governor saenz who, through his the Battle of Salta.
Jaldo, from Tucumán, meanwhile, considered it a “positive sign to resume the dialogue.” Although he assured that “we are not going to get tired of demanding the resources that correspond to the interior” in relation to the Fonid or transportation subsidies, he said that “Argentina is one. We must deepen the dialogue in search of moving the country forward because it does not help that the Nation is well and the provinces are not, or vice versa.”
The threat of going to court
Beyond the conciliatory tone of the meeting, there are governors of the Norte Grande who, although they did not raise it at lunch, will study resorting to Justice to recover funds that the Nation withholds from them, imitating Patagonian districts such as Chubut or mountainous districts such as La Rioja.
Close to the missionary, Passalacqua acknowledged that they could go to court to demand the reimbursement of Anses funds owed to the district and for non-payment of the teaching incentive, which is “guaranteed by law.”
After the fall of the Bases Law and the cut by the Nation of funds that it distributed to the 24 jurisdictions, the political climate overheated. Now Francos would try to resume dialogue with “groups” of governors.
However, leaders of Together for Change and other political groups highlight the constructive vocation of the official but recognize that “he is unauthorized” by “the hawks” that surround Milei. “In the Yerba Mate Institute we have an example. In the end they appointed a leader similar to (Ramón) Puerta, who is an opponent here and a friend of Macri,” confided a collaborator of the missionary leader.
The substance of this Tuesday’s meeting was clear: the Government’s need to reduce the confrontation with the provinces to guarantee eventual support for the laws that they make “legal security” that guarantees the arrival of investments and the demands of the leaders to obtain “instruments” that allow them to rebuild the ailing provincial coffers.
The removal of VAT, the elimination of Profits, the cut of the Fonid and other national items have put in check the economy of many jurisdictions.
