It took less than a week for Argentina’s political map to shift after the ruling party’s electoral victory. Congress is still digesting the results, but the first major realignment has already shaken the opposition: seven deputies loyal to ex-PRO chair Patricia Bullrich have announced they are leaving the party to formally join La Libertad Avanza, echoing in their boss’ footsteps.
Those making the move are Damián Arabia, Sabrina Ajmechet, Laura Rodríguez Machado, Silvana Giudici, Patricia Vázquez, and newly elected members María Luisa González Estevarena and Carlos Almena. The departure weakens the PRO caucus still nominally led by Cristian Ritondo, who had already anticipated the split.
The move is not in soliation; it has the full backing of Security Minister Patricia Bullrich. In fact, according to reports, Bullrich is frustrated with her former boss Mauricio Macri over what she sees as “strategic mistakes,” including Arabia’s expulsion from the party and a lack of support for her candidates in Buenos Aires City during the campaign. “They follow me and the national project – Mauricio Macri doesn’t lead them,” the minister is said to repeat in private.
Bullrich’s circle defended the decision. “Society has decided who leads the path of change,” they explained. Arabia, who first pushed for the move, had already spoken of the need to make the alliance public.
Their main argument is that La Libertad Avanza “is now a consolidated national party.” The task of strengthening that space now falls on Bullrich’s deputies, whose mandates run until 2027.
Tres de Febrero Mayor Diego Valenzuela, had already predicted this “moment of honesty.” Valenzuela recalled the recent expulsion of Arabia and Pablo Walter from PRO, noting that “they no longer feel represented by the party.”
The split stems from two points of conflict. The first was the expulsion of Damián Arabia and Pablo Walter on August 30. The decision was signed by Macri. While the formal reason was “repeated absences,” the real motive was their evident closeness to the libertarians. As one Bullrich ally put it bluntly: “It was a strategic mistake by Macri to kick them out ... and now he can’t count on them for negotiations.”
The rupture comes just as the former president was resuming dialogue with Milei – albeit with caveats. Macri, already focused on 2027, insists that PRO “is more alive than ever,” but says the current priority is to support ideas like Milei’s. However, he reminded those close to him that in previous meetings he had been “highly critical” of the President for not moving forward with the closure of “more than forty companies that waste public funds every year.”
– TIMES/PERFIL
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