Already launched as a presidential candidate, the head of the Buenos Aires Government, Horacio Rodríguez Larreta, appeared this afternoon before the Inter-American Council of Trade and Production, where he outlined ideas for his government plan and asked that the 2023 election be “a turning point” in the history.
In that sense, he called for the formation of a coalition government, but set limits. “We are never going to agree with Kirchnerism or the populist extremes”He launched.
“A coalition government is something totally different from what we are used to in Argentina. A government where we add people from other forces and independents with whom we can agree on a country project; and that they express a broad social mandate, that is, that they represent the millions of Argentines who want to advance in the transformations that our country needs”, he graphed.
Larreta said that he has a figurative number that he always uses. To change the country, he assured, he need 70% support. “What is enough to win an election, which is 50 + 1, is not enough to transform the country,” she said.
“70% is not all. We will never agree with Kirchnerism or the populist extremessince we do not agree with the vision of the country that we want”, he said in reference to the Frente de Todos and the force led by Javier Milei, La Libertad Avanza.
“Confrontation is not an option”
In that sense, the head of the Buenos Aires Government stated that “the confrontation is not an option. We already tried and it didn’t work, it was years of cracks that didn’t take us anywhere. And he pointed out: “It does not mean that we are looking to win the election with 70%, because it is impossible. The idea is to expand representativeness once in government, incorporating leaders in management spaces so that they give power and support to the plan”.
“Not even the governments that had periods of high concentration of power were able to sustain their reforms, because later other governments came, also with a lot of power, and turned them around. There is only one possible path, which is that of consensus,” he argued.
For the referent of the PRO, what is truly disruptive today is the call for consensus and that must be, he said, the starting point to move Argentina forward.
Larreta invited those present to do an exercise and imagine what they think the country will be like in 2050. “I dream that in Argentina in 2050, the history books and many of you will see and recognize 2023 as a great turning point in the history of our country.
“May 2023 be the year in which Argentina, after 70 years of stagnation, was able to change course and straighten itself towards a growth path that, moreover, was sustained over time because successive governments, regardless of their political color, they agreed on a vision and a project for the country,” he continued.
In that sense, he separated into three axes what the country he projects requires. First, to be integrated into the world of truth; second, to be a truly federal country; and third, that education be the engine of progress.
In that racconto, he maintained that integration into the world will achieve a generation without inflation in the country, he emphasized the need to develop the potential as an energy producer, both in lithium and renewables; and be part of the OECD and have an agreement with the European Union.
On the need to be a more federal country, he called for reversing the concentration process in which 14 million people live where basic services cannot be provided, in a clear reference to the Greater Buenos Aires.
“A country where we have fulfilled Sarmiento’s famous dream of having 100 Chivilcoys. That is, where we have 100 cities that have managed to unleash all their productive, urban and employment potential,” he said.
Social plans, economy and security
Larreta also left definitions of what his government plan in case of winning and was blunt about social plans. “A comprehensive rethinking of social policy is needed. The plans have to be direct, without social organizations who act as intermediaries and who in many cases seek to get political gain to poverty“.
“Second, they have to be temporary and promote work, not as it happens today that people do not take a job so as not to lose the plan. They have to have a trade-off, like training in a trade or sending the kids to school,” he said.
In addition, he pointed to the need to “converge to fiscal balance.” “We can’t keep spending more than we have. The next government is going to be ‘lucky’ in not having an option, since no one is going to lend us“, he ironized.
“It is necessary to advance in a deep micro reform, to remove obstacles from each sector of the economy,” he continued.
In addition, he was hypercritical of the lack of federalism in Argentina. “Today we are a unitary country. There are provinces that have more than 70% of public employment. In those cases, the governors are delegates of the national government more than governors,” he questioned.
“The provinces have to assert their autonomy, be respected by the national government and make their own decisions according to their needs. They are going to know much better than the national government what they have to do“, said.
