Rodrigo de Loredo couldn't avoid the competition, and a dispute is emerging between Mestre's sector and Ferrer's sector
Rodrigo de Loredo, one of the main architects of that failed unity, was betting on keeping radicalism united to face the upcoming national elections with strength. Thus, the decision to hold internal elections represents a setback for his political strategy. This scenario reveals internal rifts that could impact the opposition’s structure.
There will finally be internal elections in the Unión Cívica Radical of Córdoba following the closing of candidate lists this Friday. Contrary to what many expected, the party's internal factions did not reach a unity list and will compete for provincial leadership. The political agreement promoted by Rodrigo de Loredo's faction did not succeed, and the presentation of opposing lists between the mestristas and negristas has been confirmed.
The official list will be headed by Marcos Ferrer, current mayor of Río Tercero and a leader close to De Loredo. Meanwhile, the opposition faction within Córdoba's radicalism will be represented by Javier Bee Sellares, backed by former mayor Ramón Mestre. This way, the internal election scheduled for June 23 will pit the party's two main factions against each other in a contest that will redefine leadership.
The process will be supervised by the party's Electoral Board, which must now formally approve the submitted lists. Both factions have territorial representation, although with marked differences between the capital and the interior. The contest will serve as a barometer for future positioning within Juntos por el Cambio in Córdoba.
Ferrer’s inner circle stated that his candidacy represents the renewal of provincial radicalism and an opening toward the party’s younger sectors. The mayor of Río Tercero seeks to position himself as a consensus figure to lead a more modern and competitive UCR. Thus, Ferrer focuses on management and political dialogue.
However, the lack of agreement with other internal factions, especially with leaders from the capital, exposed the limitations of his leadership and triggered an internal contest that his faction was trying to avoid. In previous weeks, there were intense negotiations to reach a single list that included Mestre’s faction, but they did not succeed.
The faction led by Ramón Mestre managed to present a competitive list headed by Bee Sellares, former Secretary of Government in the radical municipal administration. This faction claims Mestre’s party trajectory and seeks to regain prominence in the provincial arena after several years of electoral decline.
The return of mestrismo to the party contest not only reshapes the internal landscape, but also openly challenges the current leadership. Mestrismo keeps that its proposal seeks to restore UCR’s historic role of political leadership and its ability to influence decisions within Juntos por el Cambio.
The internal election on June 23 will be a turning point that will determine which faction prevails within the party looking ahead to 2025. Both factions agree on the need to strengthen radical identity, but they do so from clearly differentiated strategies and leaderships.
