LA PLATA.- Buenos Aires Peronism showed its most rotten seams in the first ordinary session of the provincial Senate, marked by crossfire, reproaches, and jabs among its own. The internal rift between Axel Kicillof’s faction and the hardline Kirchnerism moved to the chamber, exposing a crisis that has paralyzed the upper house for seven months.
The first to break ranks was Sergio Berni, head of the Fuerza Patria bloc and former Security Minister under Kicillof, who directly targeted Lieutenant Governor Verónica Magario, president of the Senate. “I’m dizzy, I no longer know how many senators we are,” Berni fired, questioning the “disorder” in handling the extraordinary leaves of senators Florencia Saintout and Gabriel Katopodis, who are provincial officials. “It seems to me that Saintout hasn’t had her leave voted on for six months. We voted on Valenzuela and Katopodis in an extraordinary session where the senators were not legitimated to vote because the ordinary period had expired,” he added, in a clear challenge to Magario’s authority.
The senator also criticized the appointment of committees, which had already sparked a previous scandal when Magario signed a decree rejected by La Cámpora. A month later, the lieutenant governor had to issue another decree to modify 12 of the 27 committees, yielding to pressure from Kirchnerism and the opposition.
Mario Ishii, senator from José C. Paz, joined the criticism with a damning diagnosis: “The suburbs are burning. Hospitals are saturated, and there are community soup kitchens across districts.” In that context, he targeted Governor Kicillof: “We are representatives of the people, not of the Executive Branch,” he emphasized, and accused him of blocking his projects.
The Peronist internal feud left the Senate paralyzed for the first seven months of the year, a luxury costing taxpayers billions. The upper house, presided over by Magario, consumes a budget of 428 million pesos per day, according to the allocation approved in December. The last ordinary session had been on December 4, 2025, and since then the ruling bloc has been locked in a power struggle between those close to Cristina Kirchner, Kicillof’s allies, and representatives of Sergio Massa.
“Today it became very clear the serious problems the ruling party has in its internal disputes,” mocked the head of the libertarian bloc, Carlos Curestis. “They aired their dirty laundry. Now we have to wait and see if they don’t wait until December to call us to another session,” he added.
During the session, it was resolved that Berni, Fernando Coronel, and María Luz Bambaci will join the provincial Judicial Council, a gesture that was not enough to cover up the internal scandal.
che pero estos forros del PJ se pelean entre ellos mientras el pueblo se caga de hambre para mi berni magario todos unos vendidos y ishii dice que el conurbano se incendia no jodas kicillof es un tibio que no hace una mierda basta de caretas la izquierda tiene que tomar el poder ya 🇻🇳
para mi estos peronchos de mierda siempre lo mismo berni tiene razon magario es una inutil ishii dice la posta el conurbano es un ollon hirviendo kicillof no hace nada un vago vuelva macri carajo firme el comandante