With harsh criticism of the governments of Javier Milei and Jorge Macri, the Buenos Aires branch of the Radical Civic Union (UCR) held a programmatic congress this Saturday at the headquarters of the city's party committee. After nearly nine hours of debate, the day produced clear definitions: with an eye on the 2027 elections, the party must work on its own candidacies for the Presidency and for Mayor of Buenos Aires, and then form broad coalitions that stay away from La Libertad Avanza (LLA) and hard-line Kirchnerism. The four central speakers of the day laid out, with nuances, this horizon: national deputies Martín Lousteau and Mariela Coletta; Leonel Chiarella, head of the national UCR and mayor of Venado Tuerto; and Hernán Rossi, president of the Buenos Aires branch of the party.
For Lousteau, Pope Leo XIV's visit to Argentina sparked a "collective awakening." As he argued in his closing remarks, society is beginning to understand what it had been "endorsing" and is no longer tolerating a model that "punishes" the most "vulnerable" with cuts to resources and insults. Among them, he mentioned people with disabilities, teachers, and workers.
Martín Lousteau at the Buenos Aires UCR programmatic congress — UCR CABA
The deputy of the Provincias Unidas bloc described a discouraging economic outlook: "If there had been no Vaca Muerta, which is not the national government's doing, and no rescue by the US Treasury [before the 2025 legislative elections], this would be over, for the worse: we would all be downcast, hurt, in the middle of a crisis [...] If you see shops closed everywhere, there is something monumental that is not working."
He also launched a strong criticism of Buenos Aires Mayor Jorge Macri, though without naming him. He expressed his rejection of the publicity given to operations to evict people living on the streets: "I believe something very deep is awakening. This kind of anger with the past that made us grit our teeth... I don't even want to look when a mayor tweets that he is cleaning [people off] the street... I don't even want to look because it makes me want to go after him. That is what society has done."
Lousteau competed against Jorge Macri in the 2023 Juntos por el Cambio primaries. "He lost by only 28,000 votes. Nothing," they recall in the Buenos Aires UCR.
The deputy's speech ended with a curious comparison that gave hope to Radical militants: Lousteau noted that Raúl Alfonsín became president at the same age he will be next year (56). "Let's go for the coincidences!" one attendee exclaimed, and the crowd responded with applause, enthusiastic about a possible presidential candidacy.
Buenos Aires UCR programmatic congress — UCR CABA
Before Lousteau's speech, his ally Mariela Coletta also gave him a nod in this regard: "We would have liked you to be mayor in '23, and I don't rule out that it happens someday. But I think Argentina cannot miss the opportunity for you to contribute to the State."
In turn, the national legislator criticized the Milei government on numerous fronts: the "violence" exercised against pensioners, the attacks on journalists, the drop in real wages, the closure of businesses, household indebtedness, the $LIBRA case, the level of teachers' salaries, and the defunding of gender policies. She also took aim at Jorge Macri over the eviction operations targeting people living on the streets.
"Our crucial role going into next year is to accompany that feeling of awakening. Awakening is not a sufficient condition to change course. If we do not offer a good alternative, nothing will change," she said, looking toward the 2027 elections.
In this vein, Chiarella, a mayor aligned with Governor Maximiliano Pullaro (Santa Fe), pushes for building an alternative to Milei-ism and Kirchnerism, and for choosing a Radical candidate to succeed Milei in the Casa Rosada. At the opening of the congress, the young mayor argued that the party must work so that the City has a Radical mayor.
"The future we are building is a country without useless rifts," Chiarella affirmed, and raised the need for "a country with dialogue, with respect for those who think differently, and without violence of any kind."
Leonel Chiarella at the Buenos Aires UCR programmatic congress — UCR CABA
For his part, in dialogue with LA NACION, Hernán Rossi, aligned with Lousteau, outlined the Buenos Aires landscape in which the UCR operates. The party, unlike the previous Pro administrations, has "important differences" with Jorge Macri's government. The space is willing to settle these disagreements in a primary, provided that Macrismo does not join forces with LLA in the district.
"I increasingly see it as unlikely that we will share a political coalition in the city with Pro, by Pro's decision and also because of the message, the rightward shift of the discourse. We are increasingly uncomfortable with that message," he said. Faced with the possibility that Macrismo seals an agreement with the libertarians, Rossi weighed the chance of forming an opposition front with various sectors, including the Civic Coalition, the Socialist Party, Confianza Pública, and the GEN. Maximiliano Ferraro, deputy and head of the national Civic Coalition, and Roy Cortina, head of the local Socialist Party, took part in Saturday's Radical gathering.
Hernán Rossi, head of the Buenos Aires UCR — UCR CABA
Rossi also considered adding former mayor Horacio Rodríguez Larreta, though probably without submitting to his candidacy, but rather competing against him in a primary, and even Peronism. He praised the figure of legislator Leandro Santoro, while clarifying that it would be "difficult" for Radicalism to "defend [the call for] Cristina Kirchner's freedom."
"I don't close the door on Peronism," he said.
Angelici, with a foot on each side
Also taking part in the day were legislators and party leaders from the sector of gambling businessman and judicial operator Daniel Angelici, a man of Jorge Macri's inner circle. Among them were Inés Parry, vice president of the Buenos Aires UCR; local deputies Francisco Loupias and Aldana Crucitta; and the City's attorney general, Martín Ocampo.
Opening of the Buenos Aires UCR programmatic congress — UCR CABA
Crucitta and Ocampo shared a panel with Alejandra García, president of the Public Bar Association of the Federal Capital and candidate for the Buenos Aires Magistracy Council on the list backed by Angelici.
By Denise Chmois