Nineteen provincial Peronist and allied leaders released a statement backing Unión por la Patria (UxP) presidential candidate Sergio Massa in the upcoming November 19 run-off against Javier Milei of La Libertad Avanza, calling for “national unity” and an end to poliarization. 

“We offer our full support for Sergio Massa,” they wrote, adding that the economy minister “has expressed the political will to end the polarization that divides us by promoting a federal government of national unity.”

“We are convinced that Sergio Massa is the president we need to achieve macroeconomic stability, growth, and development for our economy with more industrial production and quality jobs to achieve better wages and a fair distribution of wealth,” the governors and governors-elect said in a press statement released after holding a meeting with Massa Thursday afternoon.

Present at the meeting were governors Axel Kicillof (Buenos Aires), Raúl Jalil (Catamarca), Mariano Arcioni (Chubut), Oscar Herrera Ahuad (Misiones), Ricardo Quintela (La Rioja), Sergio Ziliotto (La Pampa), Gildo Insfrán (Formosa), Juan Manzur (Tucumán), Gustavo Bordet (Entre Ríos), Jorge Capitanich (Chaco), Alicia Kirchner (Santa Cruz), Gustavo Melella (Tierra del Fuego), Sergio Uñac (San Juan), Alberto Rodríguez Sáa (San Luis), Omar Gutiérrez (Neuquén), Arabela Carreras (Río Negro), Gustavo Sáenz (Salta), and Gerardo Zamora (Santiago del Estero). Deputy governor of Santa Fe Alejandra Rodenas and Río Negro governor-elect Alberto Weretilneck were also present. 

The governors highlighted that the challenges Argentina is facing “can only be solved by a political leader with experience, capacity, and conviction.”

“We join this call to promote national union, strengthen justice, promote education, guarantee security and general well being. The Argentina that is coming needs us to be united in solidarity, guaranteeing rights and defending our sovereignty, while also promoting social justice,” they wrote in the communiqué.

The meeting took place at the headquarters of the Federal Investment Council (CFI) in Buenos Aires City. In addition to discussing the electoral strategy for the run-off, Massa, who was accompanied by Interior Minister Eduardo “Wado” de Pedro, and his running mate, Agustín Rossi, also talked about some of his proposals were he to become president.

Among them were the need to discuss a new fiscal pact, the expansion of the railway network, a simplification of the taxation system, and an analysis of the plan for provincial infrastructure works.

After the meeting, Massa told press he made no distinction between political forces. “Every Argentine who considers themselves to be a good person and wants our country to be among the developing countries of the world can become part of [this project] starting December 10,” he said, referring to the date the new president will be inaugurated.

“Party differences are part of an old discussion and Argentina is starting a new era,” he said.

– with information from Télam