Renewal Front leader Sergio Massa dismissed claims that he would join forces with Buenos Aires Governor Daniel Scioli in a presidential campaign on the basis of the governor being “a Kirchnerite” while at the same time criticizing dissident Peronist Eduardo Duhalde for his political ideas. Massa said that “stereotypes must be broken” and called the 2015 presidential campaign “a crazy race for political positions — but society has other worries.”
The former Tigre mayor, however, rejected any possibility of joining with Scioli because of his affiliation with President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner’s party (Massa himself was part of the government’s Victory Front structure before creating his own electoral seal). Despite dismissing any possible alliance with the Kirchnerites they would start constructing a group with Peronists, Radicals, Independents, socialists and other sectors of civil society, he said.
With respect to Duhalde’s belief that he should join Scioli in the next presidential campaign, Massa criticized him saying that his political thinking “was a thing of the past.” According to Massa, the former president was focusing on spontaneous agreements between political leaders instead of thinking about the people’s opinion.
“I respect his role and participation in the political system, but I think we need to look to the future and that is to do politics on the people’s side, and not between four walls,” claimed Massa. He rejected the idea that he was the candidate pick for the establishment and the mass media, accusing those who had made these claims as being “part of the old way of doing politics by discrediting others.”
Massa also disregarded the possibility of campaigning for the Buenos Aires province governorship instead of running directly for president stating “the people and the Renewal Front will decide this… later we will see what role each will occupy.”
Drug trafficking
With regard to accusations of several drug traffickers living in Tigre, the former Tigre mayor downplayed its significance saying that drug-traffickers “lived in various parts, in all of Argentina.” He said that the reason that many chose to live in Tigre was because it was safe, shifting the blame on the national government which is responsible for “taking care of national borders, customs, immigration.” For Massa, these criticisms were just a political tactic by his political enemies.
Herald staff with DyN, Télam