At Club Atenas in La Plata, before a large group of supporters and amid a strategy aimed at transferring prominence to provincial candidates, President Javier Milei closed the Buenos Aires campaign for La Libertad Avanza. The event, initiated by Sebastián Pareja—the main provincial organizer of the group—was designed to give visibility to the eight lists that will compete in the elections on September 7 and to encourage participation in a scenario of electoral apathy that, according to the organizers, harms the opposition.
Milei began his speech by highlighting the polarization with Governor Axel Kicillof and directing a series of epithets at him: he accused the provincial leader of "psychologically manipulating the population" and described him as "the dwarf communist Kicillof." "Few remember a time when the Province was worse off than now," he stated, and added: "We have the added problem of the constant denial and indifference of a provincial government that seems to believe what their paid journalists repeat like parrots. Buenos Aires residents are so used to it that many have given up and stopped believing in a better future."
The president focused his analysis on the provincial administration and what he described as a decadent "populism": "Four decades of populism have turned Buenos Aires Province into a national disgrace," he said. In that vein, he argued that Peronism carried out "a plan of planned human misery" and pointed to issues related to insecurity as an example: "The province's crime statistics keep rising, with La Matanza having the highest homicide rate in the country, almost six times higher than Rosario's," he stated.
Milei combined his criticism of the governor with attacks on figures from Kirchnerism. In several veiled and direct references, he alluded to former president Cristina Kirchner with irony: "We're already starting with the boss of the gang," he said from the stage; and in another intervention he stated: "What can we discuss with people who set up a VIP vaccination center for their friends" and "What can we expect from people who stole so much and so shamelessly that now they can only go out on the balcony to greet the two people who come to visit them." He also linked the fentanyl scandal to "cover-up" and questioned: "Do you think it's a coincidence that the judge handling the case is precisely the brother of Kicillof's health minister?"
Before the President's speech, which was scheduled for 7:30 p.m., the Buenos Aires candidates spoke. The mayor of Tres de Febrero and candidate for the First section, Diego Valenzuela, stated: "Argentines already know, thanks to President Milei, that fewer taxes mean more jobs. The State must be reformed and the accounts put in order. We already did it in Tres de Febrero and we want to do it in many more places." Valenzuela emphasized measures on security and tax reduction: "To overcome neglect, we're going for more security. Those who commit crimes will pay. Always on the side of the victims. We're going for more jobs. We must eliminate the absurd taxes that exist in Buenos Aires Province."
The full list of slate leaders mentioned at the event was as follows: Diego Valenzuela (First section), Natalia Blanco (Second), Maximiliano Bondarenko (Third), Gonzalo Cabezas (Fourth), Guillermo Montenegro (Fifth), Oscar Liberman (Sixth), Alejandro Speroni (Seventh), and Francisco Adorni (Eighth). Each of them participated in the event and took turns speaking before the national closing.
