Buenos Aires Herald 
Former Buenos Aires City Mayor Horacio Rodríguez Larreta announced he will run for city lawmaker in the May 18 local elections. This will mark his return to politics after his presidential aspirations were cut short in the 2023 primary elections.
Larreta made the announcement through a post on X in which he questioned the current state of the city under PRO member and current Mayor Jorge Macri, evidencing his distance from the party he co-founded in 2007.
“For the city we built together. Because Buenos Aires is not okay, and nobody listens to you,” he wrote in his post. “Because it’s dirty, it’s sad. Because there are no public works. Because it smells like piss.”
He confirmed his candidacy in an interview with LN+ channel on Monday night. He also hinted that he will not be part of a PRO ballot but didn’t specify what his new party or coalition will be. “The Legislature has a very important role. I want to continue helping my city,” he said.
Larreta ran for president against Patricia Bullrich in the PRO primaries in 2023. While the former mayor embodied a more centrist position, the current Security Minister represented the party’s more hawkish sectors. Bullrich, who was PRO party president at the time, defeated Larreta and ended up coming in third in the general election in October. She would later announce her support for Javier Milei, who was elected president in the November runoff.
Larreta described the transition from being a favored presidential candidate to running for city lawmaker as “part of a lesson,” adding that losing to Bullrich was “a great blow.”
He also addressed rumors that PRO wants to expel both him and Bullrich from the party. “I uphold PRO’s values like the first day,” he said. However, he admitted he is “very distant” from current PRO head and former President Mauricio Macri, who used to be a close friend of his.
“I don’t have a relationship with him.”
Mauricio Macri is leading the party’s political strategy ahead of the 2025 election. Although he is President Milei’s ally, their relationship runs hot and cold. Macri recently questioned the president’s decision to approve an International Monetary Fund deal and to appoint two Supreme Court Justices through presidential decrees. However, he is also negotiating a political alliance with ruling party La Libertad Avanza (LLA) for some districts in the country.
On Monday, Milei met with PRO national deputies Cristian Ritondo and Diego Santilli to discuss a formal alliance in Buenos Aires province, a key electoral district. Presidency Secretary and LLA president Karina Milei was also present. In a picture of the gathering, she is seen sitting at the end of the table, seemingly spearheading the meeting.
“We are focused on eradicating populism from our country, and Buenos Aires province takes all the attention,” presidential spokesman Manuel Adorni wrote in an X post along with the photo of the meeting.
“To get there, we are aiming to work together with the goal of joining our initiatives and giving the people in Buenos Aires province a better future.”
