Martín Insaurralde is battered. That is how leaders and executives who frequent him see him. The release of the video that Jesica Cirio recorded with suitcases and dollars in the dressing room was not only devastating for the former mayor of Lomas de Zamora, but also a setback in terms of image. Since the photos with Sofía Clerici in the Mediterranean, that episode that exonerated him in 2023 and forever from public office, he had imposed a low profile on himself.
But Insaurralde is still a relevant actor within Buenos Aires Peronism. He maintains a good relationship with mayors of the third electoral section, significant power in the Chamber of Deputies, and ties with companies and officials of the Kicillof administration, such as Carlos Alberto Gallo, provincial director of Lottery and Casinos. His longtime private secretary, María Victoria Bourio, still holds a position and relevant responsibilities in the municipality now led by Federico Otermín. Everything was kept quiet since that scandal that surprised the then chief of staff of Kicillof aboard the Bandido.
In the PJ, they still value that reaction. As soon as the bomb exploded, he submitted his resignation to the governor, never gave another interview, and made sure to warn within the party that he was willing to go into seclusion and encapsulate that poisonous stain that, without a doubt, if it were thoroughly investigated with all its ramifications, would dirty quite a few. In his own way, he preserved a system.
That is why it is understandable that the images of his San Vicente wardrobe, published by Diego Cabot, shook not only him but all of Peronism. Just at a time when the most combative opposition was trying to capitalize on the Adorni case. At first glance, a distracted observer might have thought this week that the simple contrast between the two episodes somehow favored the government: Insaurralde’s wardrobe multiplies by twenty the dollars Adorni must justify, and there is nothing that outrages a society in the midst of adjustment as much as seeing suitcases live and direct. That is how a businessman close to the libertarian project, Marcos Galperin, understood it that Saturday of revelations: «Between $20 and $40 million…, but Adorni had a ‘cascade’…», he posted on Twitter.
But the magnitudes being incomparable does not exempt from costs, and keeping his official as the investigation by prosecutor Pollicita progressed caused Milei infinitely more damage than initially assumed. And even within his own space. «What are you going to do with Adorni?» a dialoguing deputy asked a Ministry of Economy official days ago, who replied with the same question: «And what are you going to do with Adorni?» He wanted to know the fate of the request for interpellation in Congress, and also admitted that the situation of the owner of Indio Cua was affecting the economic team because, among other reasons, it prevented celebrating positive news like the drop in country risk. Yesterday, upon reading that the President said in Spain he was willing to fire him if the courts declared him guilty, in an officialist deputy chat they celebrated the phrase. «Insaurralde doesn’t cover anything,» one of them summarized.
The government tried but could never turn the page. With enormous effort, it managed to limit the legislative effect this week: it got three laws approved, obtained a half-sanction, and resisted the interpellation and censure motion. But it was a daily, painstaking task. «How can you not be here?» Martín Menem reacted by phone upon hearing that deputy Beltrán Benedit, from Entre Ríos, told him not to count on him Wednesday to vote on the Super RIGI because he had a seed congress in the United States. «I won’t make it,» the legislator replied. «You knew 15 days ago you had to come back,» he insisted. He had called one by one and noticed resistance over Adorni. «We are part of a government whose Executive Branch has made a decision that we must go out and defend. You have to play,» he rallied. He himself knew that the first thing people asked him lately in La Rioja, his province, was about Adorni.
Milei this week celebrated that the interpellation had been postponed. He even expressed it with euphoria in private. It had been a show of power against a «red circle» that mainly includes the media. But he has nothing less than a presidential campaign ahead, and that counts. He needs to pass relevant laws for that goal, such as electoral reform.
That is why in the Casa Rosada itself they admit that another stage is coming, something easily deduced from the appointments these days: Fabián Fernández, the new Secretary of Communication, has a good relationship with the media, and Adrián Raiver, the new spokesperson, has an infinitely more conciliatory discourse than Adorni. In the libertarian space, where there was specific training for both, they project less confrontational press conferences for the future. Comparable, they say, to those of the White House in scenography and formality. Was Sandra Pettovello, one of those who had long proposed repairing the relationship with journalism, finally heard? It will have to be verified on site: Santiago Caputo himself often says that his communication strategies adapt primarily to the President’s personal style. It’s hard for Milei not to be Milei.
The bet now is for the government to regain a prominence it lost with the Adorni case. It is a necessary but not sufficient condition, requiring other achievements without which Milei will be constrained. Exchange rate stability, for now. «Elections in Argentina will be held in October 2027, but they are already becoming a key factor for the market,» JP Morgan’s mid-year global report anticipated this week.
The government has fiscal balance and arrives this time better prepared for the second half of the year, when harvest liquidations are supposed to fall. Luis Caputo, Minister of Economy, says he is calm about the dollar. He intends to take advantage of the recent rise, encouraged by Federal Reserve projections and dollar purchases for vacations in Argentina, to ease industrial activity a bit and is confident that these movements will not pass through to prices.
At bottom, Milei’s bet is almost 100% economic. On that result depends, for example, the support he has from the middle class and, consequently, what happens within Pro. Is there room for a third force in 2027 if the government succeeds? That is the question in that space. That is why it was so difficult for the Macri supporters, from the start, to agree on a legislative strategy around the Adorni case. «I don’t plan to go to any TV channel anymore,» they heard Fernando de Andreis say this week, and Cristian Ritondo is in a similar mood.
It will depend once again on the economy. As Macri knows, he keeps quiet and for now keeps his distance. Not only from Milei: last week, at the Kansas stadium, where Argentina defeated Algeria, he almost crossed paths with Claudio Tapia in the VIP area. He is sure the AFA leader sought to greet him. «I dodged him,» he admitted in front of friends. It would have been another strong image. History teaches what to do with a vote-killer: if you cannot do without him, you hide him. Leaving him in the front row is equivalent to immolating yourself, and almost no one immolates themselves, not even Insaurralde.
Para mí este Insaurralde es un parasito que vive de la joda mientras los laburantes se parten el lomo. Escandaloso que siga manganeando poder en las sombras. Con Milei los vamos a barrer a todos estos mafiosos, viva la libertad carajo.
para mí Insaurralde es un cagón que chorea en dólares mientras lxs laburantes nos rompemos el lomo Kicillof se hace el boludo es todo el mismo circo de la mafia peroncha Milei es un mogólico pero estos giles son peores caretas que venden patria por valijas de guita afuera todos carajo