In Salta a part of kirchnerism joined the former deputy and political leader alfredo olmedo in an attempt to accommodate the Frente de Todos in the province, where not only is it not strong, but formulas prevailed in the last elections that escaped the national rift. In this way, the space sought to regroup to define the candidacies that would allow it to wrest power from Gustavo Saenza Peronist distant from the national ruling party who will go for re-election.
It’s all about the front”Let’s keep going” launched in January 2023. Its formula for the governorship of Salta is made up of emiliano estradaformer minister of Eduardo “Wado” de Pedro, and Carlos Zapataformer Larretista and current deputy for “Ahora Patria”, the space that Olmedo founded after leaving his seat in Congress when he still belonged to the ranks of Together for Change.
Split elections and “anti-crack” in Salta
National and subnational politics follow different paths in various provinces, especially in the Argentine Northwest (NOA). Although the Justicialista Party is the predominant force in Salta, the politicians who were in charge of the Executive branch did not necessarily align themselves ideologically with the national referents, but instead marked their own imprint.
This was demonstrated by Gustavo Sáenz, the successful political setter who succeeded the era of Juan Manuel Urtubey after twelve years in power. His career has a Peronist stamp loaded with a pragmatism that allowed him at one point to include even the PRO in his alliances, in a province where neither the Frente de Todos nor Juntos por el Cambio as such do not exist.
The former candidate for vice president of Sergio Massa reached the provincial executive in 2019 from a heterogeneous front with slogans such as “Do not mix the national with the provincial” y “let go of the crack”, proposing in this way a kind of third way to Cristina Kirchner and Mauricio Macri.
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In this way, with 54% of the votes, the current governor of Salta demonstrated that the crack, understood as an exclusively national concept -and even Buenos Aires-, was not a good business in the NOA province. This was how he arranged in October 2022 split the provincial elections, just as Jujuy, Tucumán and Río Negro had done, to avoid being stuck to the national course in the framework of the polarization between the Frente de Todos and Juntos por el Cambio.
The multifaceted front let’s keep going
In this context, the leaders of the opposition in Salta were weaving inter-party alliances for the early elections on May 14. Especially after the Victory Party, close to the figure of Cristina Kirchner, refused to join the ruling alliance of Gustavo Sáenz.
This is how the multifaceted Avancemos emerged, led by a part of Salta’s Kirchnerism and leaders of Olmedism that will offer themselves as part of the opposition to the current governor. The formula is headed by emiliano estrada, former Minister of Economy of Urtubey (in 2017); candidate for lieutenant governor with Sergio Leavy (in 2019). In 2021 he left the position of Undersecretary of Provincial Relations of the Ministry of the Interior of the Nation, a portfolio led by the camporista “Wado” de Pedro to assume as a national deputy of the Frente de Todos bloc, something that -coincidentally- he does not specify in his Twitter bio.
“We decided by majority to be part of the Avancemos Front, Emiliano Gobernador”, announced the provincial deputy Ramon Villa on March 10, who, in the face of criticism, emphasized that it is “a provincial project” that has nothing to do with the national. “There should be no doubt that Emiliano is a Peronist and at a national level he will play for Cristina“, he assured.
Meanwhile, Estrada does not skimp on his criticism of President Alberto Fernández in the framework of internal discussions of the ruling coalition. At the local level, this is mixed with his role as “opposition” to the Peronist governor of Salta, whom he knew to be close to Sergio Massathe third leg of the official coalition.
On the other hand, the formula is completed Carlos Zapata, from the Now Homeland front of former deputy Alfredo Olmedo. The businessman, a follower of Donald Trump and Jair Bolsonaro, gained notoriety in his time as a deputy for his “anti-rights” positions, for defending the “strong hand” and for having been the only legislator to vote against the limitation of the 2×1 benefit against the repressors of the dictatorship.
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The election of Zapata as a candidate for lieutenant governor caused a split between the provincial referents of Kirchnerism, such as Veronica Calivaa referent of the Evita Movement and the local Classist and Combative Current (CCC) that anticipated that it will not participate in the formula integrated by those who say they have “many coincidences” with Javier Milei.
In Salta capital, the candidate for mayor will be Felipe Biella, of Salta Independiente, the third link of Avancemos.
Javier Milei ruled out an alliance with Kirchnerism
Beyond local politics, a curious detail is the name chosen for the front, which seems to allude to the deputy from Freedom Advances, Javier Milei, who in 2017 was close to Olmedo. In radio statements, the former representative of Juntos por el Cambio affirmed that Milei’s space could be added to Avancemos.
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However, the libertarian referent has nothing to do with Avancemos, despite the rumors that have circulated in recent days. “There is no alliance with Kirchnerism. Libertad Avanza and Milei do not support any candidate for governor in Salta. Javier Milei is not going to play in Salta“, a source close to the libertarian deputy confirmed to PROFILE.
Meanwhile, the libertarian deputy has not yet confirmed whether he will opt for a subnational army in the NOA region to support his candidacy for president. The only one who for the moment will support as governor is Ricardo Bussi of Fuerza Republicana in Tucumán, who will seek to oust the Peronism that has governed since 1983.
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