Everyone plays their own game in Peronism and the farewell to the ambassador without diplomacy

Diego Ramiro Guelar was one of the political protagonists of the week, after he delivered a tremendous outburst ("reverend son of a b***h") to former president Mauricio Macri, accusing him of the current debacle of the PRO.

The political world was greatly surprised when this Argentine lawyer and politician became the Macri administration's ambassador to China, having previously served as PRO's Secretary of International Relations.

Guelar didn't enter politics under the Macri administration. Instead, after a family stint at the controversial Banco del Oeste, he served under Carlos Saúl Menem and Carlos Ruckauf in the province of Buenos Aires. The film "December 2001"—booked by Mario Segade and directed by Benjamín Ávila— depicts a Diego Guelar who was very close to then-governor Eduardo Duhalde and the Peronist movements that undermined the government of Fernando de la Rúa.

But this week, Guelar's comments about Mauricio Macri stirred up a diplomatic chat room that began as a purely PRO party, but whose recent political alignments have meant its protagonists now belong to various sectors.

The scandal that triggered the diplomat's departure from that group was not only the outburst against Macri, but also Guelar's own denial that he was participating in it: everyone remembers that on August 5 (less than 10 days ago) he had sent a tweet of his own about Spain , Vox, and the Popular Party of that country.

Several members of the group had already complained that Guelar used the chat only to send his tweets, a space where opinions were exchanged and not for personal communication by any of its members. Finally, after Guelar insulted him on Romina Manguel's radio show, one of the participants proposed expelling him from the group for being "rude and violent." That message reached phones as diverse as those of Federico Pinedo, Jorge Faurie (former foreign minister), Eduardo Amadeo, Paula Bertol, Fulvio Pompeo, and Fernando Iglesias , who is currently the Congressional representative responsible for international affairs under the government of Javier Gerardo Milei.

The decision to expel Guelar was supported by more than 50 people in that chat , where many thanked the former president of Cambiemos for the start and development of their political and diplomatic careers.

The final finger of the "Leave the Group" was that of Norberto Pontiroli, a former official in the Chief of Staff's Office during Marcos Peña's reign and now Chief of Staff of the General Secretariat of the City of Buenos Aires. It was beautiful while it lasted...

The chats are also raging within Peronism, as there are very different interpretations of the outcome that awaits them, both in the Buenos Aires elections for deputies and senators, which are scheduled separately from the national elections.

In the Justicialist Party's suburban district, everyone generally anticipates that the September 7 election could be complicated for the national government: this time, the mayors will be playing hardball , trying to defend their numbers in their city councils and also to secure their own men and women in the provincial parliament.

The Peronist party is hoping for a significant lead in the Third Electoral Section (despite the ongoing issues with key polling places like La Matanza) and that the mayors of the First Section (such as Escobar, Pilar, Malvinas Argentinas, or Merlo) can even the odds against Diego Valenzuela , the candidate for La Libertad Avanza. "The First Section is tense," describes a Peronist mayor who is putting his neck on the line in this provincial election.

In the Second and Fourth Sections, both sectors would be affected by the local splits of the Passaglia brothers—from San Nicolás—and the Radical mayors , respectively; and in the Eighth Section, Axel Kicillof was certain he would win until the surname Adorni appeared (Francisco, the brother of the presidential spokesman ), which could attract votes to the La Libertad Avanza list in La Plata. Meanwhile, the government would win in the Fifth and Sixth Sections, calculations shared by the different Peronist tribes.

In any case, the "Fuerza Patria" bosses are alarmed by the lack of a unified campaign command, the lack of a centralized strategy, and the fact that each group "does what it wants" in its municipality: some speak of "Cristina Libre" while others paint the local mayor's name on walls, as if that would win the election. This means that, depending on the internal sectors in each area, there can be two or even three simultaneous campaigns within each section.

"Even so, we have a chance of winning because what lies ahead is a nightmare," says a Camporista leader, who analyzes that on September 7, there won't be just one election, but rather eight simultaneous ones, due to the diverse reality of each of the electoral districts into which the largest province is divided.

Added to this is the fact that the Buenos Aires elections are being conducted using old-fashioned paper ballots (nationally, they are elected using the Single Paper Ballot), and the only thing left to do is organize the printing and distribution of the ballots, where the Peronist establishment has mastered the mechanics of distributing ballots door-to-door. Vintage Peronism...

The tension this week within what is currently the main opposition force will extend until the last minute, when the list of candidates for national deputies for the Province is defined. The person who will have the final say is spending the night at San José 1111 in the Constitución neighborhood: "The first candidate on the list will be Máximo, a mayor, or a union leader: but it will be the one Cristina decides," a Kicillofist minister resigns himself , as the governor has not contested the national ballots but is instead betting his entire political future on the Buenos Aires elections on September 7. To be continued...