No friendship between Macri and Bridge — MercoPress

Argentina: No friendship between Macri and Burrich

Bullrichists will not leave PRO, but prepare for next year’s primary election with Macrists

After the events at the Republican Party convention on Thursday, there seems to be no friendship between former Argentine President Mauricio Macri (2015-2019) and Security Minister Patricia Bullrich, who was supposed to chair the convention but was sidelined. The feud between Macri and Bullrich has reportedly been going on for months.

Macri and 2023 presidential candidate Antonio Burrich have reportedly reached an agreement whereby Burrich will resign as party council president, allowing Macri to return to the party council in exchange for the top post in parliament, the body that sets party policy. However, a disagreement broke out over the nature of PRO’s alliance with President Javier Milei’s ruling party, La Libertad Avanza (LLA).

In the end, the leaders of the alliance with Burríc left the meeting, and Martín Yeza, the former mayor of Pinamar, current congressman and a strong supporter of the Markritz faction, was appointed president of the congress, during which it was decided that “PRO will not merge with other parties”, namely the LLA, despite its occasional support for Milei.

On the other hand, Burrich had argued in vain that PRO should be loyal to the voters who supported her in the first round and then chose Milley in the runoff. “We decided to support Javier Milley because if things don’t change now, we will sink. In six months, we have seen unprecedented changes, achieved against all odds”, Burrich said. “We have a contract with society that cannot be broken”, she added. “We can no longer do things halfway”.

Despite their differences, the bull tycoons said they would not leave the political space and hoped to resolve the issue through next year’s primary elections.

“We are unconditionally committed to change and freedom,” Burrich wrote on X. “This is the commitment of Argentines who believe in our convictions and will do everything in their power to support those who can represent change with greater force,” she also posted that her organization is supporting Milley’s candidacy to “stop this candidate who, during his campaign, made the most brutal use of the country in history, bringing Argentina into the depths of degradation and poverty.”

When accepting the position of Speaker of Parliament, Yeza said: “I believe that PRO must become a party that has never been before, a party that repositions itself, reinvents itself, and draws on the best practices from around the world.”