Is opposition unity in Córdoba at risk?: the uncertainty over candidacies and the proposal that reached the Casa Rosada

Gabriel Bornoroni is Javier Milei's point man in Córdoba, but there are rumors of a supposed deal with Martín Llaryora The negotiating table that periodically brings together PRO and La Libertad Avanza has added a new front of dispute: the candidacy for governor of Córdoba. According to what Infobae was able to learn, Mauricio Macri would have proposed Rodrigo de Loredo to face off against Martín Llaryora. The proposal contrasts with the statements Macri himself made a few days ago, when he acknowledged that "no progress has been made" on the electoral strategy or a possible alliance between the yellow party and the Casa Rosada. Meanwhile, in the Mediterranean province, the opposition is advancing its campaign and analyzing possible alternatives to settle the internal race without primaries (PASO). There is one piece of data that all Córdoba politicians are watching, and it could serve as an organizing factor for next year's election. In the most libertarian province in the country, Javier Milei went from registering support of more than 70 points in the polls to dropping to 40. "It's still high, but we don't know how he'll arrive at 2027 with this economy," sources told this outlet. The speculation has a root: the ghost still exists that the Casa Rosada will make a non-aggression pact with Llaryora so that he is reelected in the province and Milei at the national level. In Gabriel Bornoroni's team they categorically deny this and assure that La Libertad Avanza will have a pure candidate in Córdoba. "What could be better for the President than arriving at the election with a governor of his own in one of the most libertarian provinces in the country," the libertarians argue. Members of Alianza por la Libertad de Córdoba, including Gabriel Bornoroni, Luis Juez and Soledad Carrizo Members of La Libertad Avanza ask not to be underestimated. They recall that in the last legislative elections there was talk of a 15-point defeat against Juan Schiaretti, the former governor who led all the polls by a wide margin against Gonzalo Roca, Córdoba's outsider. "We ended up winning by 15 points, we're talking about some 30 points more than what was predicted for us," they recall. Bornoroni is the main libertarian figure in Córdoba, but he has not yet been blessed by the Casa Rosada as a candidate. However, he has already formed an alliance with Luis Juez and with a sector of the UCR represented by Soledad Carrizo, an ally of Alfredo Cornejo. However, most of the century-old party is under the orbit of De Loredo, who has just resolved the party's internal dispute, which threatened to leave him out of the competition, and has already obtained the approval of his fellow party members to move forward with the electoral negotiations for 2027. De Loredo dreams of being the governor of a united opposition. In 2023, Juez won the fight for the candidacy, and he hopes the same doesn't happen to him next year with Bornoroni. For that contest, the UCR has in its favor that the head of the libertarian bloc in the Chamber of Deputies has a high level of anonymity among Córdoba residents, but the La Libertad Avanza brand wins in all scenarios. De Loredo received several malicious comments for wanting to erase the Radical insignias from his campaign. They said he changed the red and white berets for a pastel lilac color and trap music. Rodrigo de Loredo maintains a good relationship with Mauricio Macri, who would have expressed his support to the Government for him to be the candidate for governor in Córdoba The former Radical deputy regained strength with the resolution of the party's internal dispute and the swearing-in of the new authorities. He even downplays the supposed defection of Radical mayors to the forces of heaven. "There were only three council members. Nobody here is stepping out of line," they say in the UCR, referring to a group of mayors who in January switched to the libertarian ranks. There are two important issues that must be defined in the coming weeks: the date for next year's election and the Casa Rosada's decision on its candidate to compete against the local Peronism. Some believe the electoral calendar will finally be known when Pope Leo XIV's visit concludes, and that between December and January Milei will give his verdict. As far as the national government is concerned, the administration finds itself at a crossroads: who has more power to do damage? A defeated governor or a spurned ally? "We can lose the local contest but still retain the power to do damage to frustrate Milei's reelection project," they offer as an example. That warning coincides with Patricia Bullrich's flirtation with the Presidency — she has a long list of allies in Córdoba — and with the possibility of a third way, which resurfaces with the Government's drop in the polls and the defeat of Flávio Bolsonaro in Brazil.