Guido Sandleris, who served as head of the Central Bank under former president Mauricio Macri, told the Herald on Thursday that he will support La Libertad Avanza (LLA)’s Javier Milei’s candidacy in the next presidential run-off. 

The Argentine political map is being redrawn following Sunday’s elections. Macri and former presidential candidate Patricia Bullrich have sent shockwaves within the opposition coalition Juntos por el Cambio (JxC) in giving their support to Milei. 

After that move, JxC’s main figures began to express their individual positions. Sandleris is an economist who first joined the Economy Ministry during Macri’s presidency and later became president of the Central Bank of Argentina to lead negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 2018. He sat down with the Herald and answered questions about his position regarding the upcoming run-off on November 19. 

Was there an offer from Mauricio Macri for economists from Juntos por el Cambio to join Milei’s economic teams?

I did not have meetings with Milei or his team, nor did I receive any offers from Macri to participate in meetings in that sense. Moreover, as far as I know, there is no joint work between Milei’s and JxC’s economic teams at the moment.

What will be your position in the ballotage?

Every person is the owner of their own vote and in the [JxC party] PRO we agreed that leaders within the coalition have total freedom to act as they wish. In my case, my support will be for Milei. I do not like many of his proposals as I do not like Massa’s either, but I am more worried about the continuity of Kirchnerism via Massa than a Milei who is showing more moderation.

In case you were offered to join Milei’s teams, would you accept? 

I’m OK in Juntos por el Cambio. 

Unification rumors

Bullrich announced on Wednesday that she would personally support Milei’s candidacy in the ballotage. This decision was taken after a meeting during the early morning in which Macri, Milei and herself were present. 

“We decided to forgive each other,” said Bullrich about Milei when asked by the Herald. 

In an interview on television later that evening, Bullrich said that there was an agreement, but the content was not yet revealed. However, during the afternoon there was a rumor that there had been an offer from Macri to join Milei’s teams with some economists from JxC. 

Neither Sandleris nor sources in LLA confirmed that an agreement was reached, although such a pact could generate tension within Milei’s team.

Milei’s main economic proposal is to dollarize the Argentine economy and close the Central Bank. More than 170 economists from all political sectors rejected this proposal as a “mirage.”

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