On the coldest dawn of the year, Javier Milei’s government stepped on the gas to thaw the Cold Zone reform in the Senate. The new Chief of Cabinet, Diego Santilli, urgently summoned the top brass of La Libertad Avanza and its allies at the Casa Rosada, with Energy Secretary María Carmen Tettamanti as the main spokesperson for the project.
“The Government’s position was heard,” filtered a senator aware of the conversation. But the reality is that the initiative, which already has half-sanction from the Chamber of Deputies, is stalled in committees and does not even have a date for floor debate. The next session is scheduled for July 16, but no one bets that Cold Zone will be on the agenda.
The project is a time bomb: it repeals key articles of Law 27.637, the norm enacted in 2021 during Alberto Fernández’s administration that expanded benefits of the Trust Fund for Residential Gas Consumption Subsidies. In plain language, the government wants to eliminate the differentiated rate for the coldest areas of the country, including Patagonia, Mendoza, southern Buenos Aires province, much of Córdoba, San Luis, and Santa Fe.
“It seems they want to use what they put there to comply with the universities,” fired a parliamentary source, linking the move to the University Financing Law that Milei refused to comply with. The opposition is not far behind. Senator of Provincias Unidas, Alejandra Vigo, was blunt: “The project’s fundamental intention is to lower costs at the expense of the most vulnerable sectors.”
But the cracks are not only in the opposition. Within the ruling party itself, they acknowledge things are tough. “Cold Zone, even those from the south don’t want to vote for it, because by subsidizing consumption, not the bill, they see an increase. Insignificant, but an increase nonetheless,” confessed a source from the LLA bloc. The UCR of Mendoza, which responds to Governor Alfredo Cornejo, also shows reluctance, despite radical deputies having supported the half-sanction.
Senators from the north also complain: “We pay the most expensive energy than in Buenos Aires,” lamented those close to a legislator from that region. And Peronism, united in rejection, promises resistance. “Eliminating or weakening the Cold Zone is a deeply unfair decision. From the Senate we will propose stopping this unjust measure that only affects the people,” warned Ana Marks, senator of the Popular inter-bloc for Río Negro.
Meanwhile, winter tightens its grip and Argentines in the coldest areas prepare to pay for heating without the relief of subsidies. The tug-of-war in the Senate promises to be epic, and Milei’s government is betting all its chips not to freeze in the attempt.
Para mí estos fachos de Milei quieren congelar a los pibes patagónicos en pleno invierno solo para llenarle los bolsillos a sus amigos empresarios del gas. Me parece una forrada insensible, que se vayan a la mierda con su ajuste del orto. ¡No pasarán, carajo!
khe pelotudez me parece, zurdos de mierda llorando por sus subsidios mientras nos congelamos aca. viva la libertad carajo, para mi los patagonicos son unos vagos choreando con la zona fria. Milei dale para adelante a cagarlos a todos, basta de choreo digo yo