Matías Lammens: "I was sure that Macri was going …

Already open to the political race, San Lorenzo president Matías Lammens told PáginaI12 that "you can beat Horacio Rodríguez Larreta". After meeting with the main opposition candidate, Alberto Fernandez, and his announcement that he was ready to play in a vast space that calls into question the policies of Larreta and his president Mauricio Macri, Lammens has said that "if Macri continues four more years, the country can be very difficult to reverse". "There are four more years in this government and that one of them has done nothing to avoid it, it will be valid for our children from us ask where we were while that happened, "Lammens said.

At 39 years and president of San Lorenzo for seven years, Lammens explained that many small and medium-sized companies had not closed their business "for lack of self-esteem", even though "you can not work with rates 75% ".

"Doing work is very good and many bridges are surely needed," said Lammens. "But emergencies are urgent: there are 20% of poor and 200,000 destitute in a city with the budget of Madrid and more than 20,000 children do not have places available in schools we need to know where we should go first. "

Sandra Cartbado

Without wall

Porteño was born April 5, 1980, lawyer, elected president of San Lorenzo for the first time in 2012 at 32, with the vice-president Marcelo Tinelli, the formula was reelected in 2016 with 88% of the votes.

-What does football and politics have to do with each other?

– They are closely related in the history of Argentina for nearly 100 years. Personally, San Lorenzo is one of the most important clubs in the country and plays a social role. This is decisive in the south of the city. It contains a lot of guys from Villa 1.11.14, where the court is located. And one of the leaders is a recognized figure whose voice is heard. More in this period of debate, which pushes the government, on anonymous companies in football. In football and outside football, what kind of society do we want?

-Anonymous?

No, I have been one of the first votes of strict opposition to convert clubs into stock companies. And in San Lorenzo, we put it in the law. I want an inclusive society. And in football, I do not want clubs that only generate profits for a few people living as in other parts of the world. They must play a social role. Clubs have large structures that could be used as non-state public structures, obviously linked to the state. They could be a way for boys to play sports or a much wider and more widespread cultural offer in all neighborhoods. Therefore, to propose or try to promote companies in a society like Argentina does not understand the history of the clubs.

– What is your personal story with San Lorenzo?

-I've been a fan of San Lorenzo since my birth and I have a personal story that goes through me emotionally. My father died when I was seven years old. My connection with San Lorenzo transcends football. For me, San Lorenzo is the permanent memory of my old man. Today, 32 years after his death, there is no day when I return to San Lorenzo and do not think about my father, what I would do or what I would feel when I was there. 39 would have ended up as club president of his life. The history of clubs as places of inclusion is not a myth. San Lorenzo was founded by a Salesian priest. One day, he saw that there were children playing in the street. One was injured with a tram. Then the priest gave them room to play inside the parish. The imprint is strong. This explains what we did with 1.11.14. When we badumed, they asked us to waltz the gym.

-They will beat Donald Trump with Mexico.

– And that we have raised a wall very high so that the boys of the city do not enter. As if it would give more security to the partners … But we reversed the paradigm. We opened the door for these guys to play football, tennis or hockey at the club. It was the way to get them away from the paco and help them feel integrated. Move this example throughout the city: you need to create a more friendly environment for everyday life. The neighborhood is much better than it was seven years ago. I'm talking about a result, not an idea.

– From there comes the decision of greater political protagonism, not only in the politics of a club, but in the general strategy?

– This comes from the very serious crisis that the country is going through. Social and economic, with more poor SMEs and more SMEs closing every day. And with more debt at the level of the national state and the city. I live in Palermo. Every day, I cross Buenos Aires to go to Bajo Flores. I know that in terms of budget, Buenos Aires is the number 16 city out of 151 in the world. But it's not a pleasant city to live. That's why I made the decision to actively participate in politics.

-The desire to lead the government is public.

-I want to help change this reality from where it touches me. When you come from the outside of politics, you must understand that you can not pose this type of challenge in terms of personal applications. I think I can help do things differently and people vote with hope. We must build a broad broad front, defying not only political sectors, but also civil society, so that it is able to challenge the city after 12 years of macrista management. If Cristina had the great audacity not to run for the presidency, how are we going to be selfish? She chose a guy like Alberto Fernández, who criticized her for years after leaving the government … It's a way out of the slot, which has led us on the wrong track. Without being a Kirchner, I greatly appreciate these gestures, as does the development of Cristina's civic rights and the reviving impulse of Néstor, or the creation of public universities in Conurbano to further diversify the life of the community. ;offer. Before I was alone at the UBA, where I was trained and I got a lawyer. Let's finish with these governments that cause so much damage to the country. Nor do we talk about weak purchasing power. You can hardly afford the electricity and gas in every house, or even that. And in the companies less.

– Does the business experience help?

-I have an SME that I created at 23 years old. We have done well, even though in recent years we have suffered a lot because we have been distributing wine.

It will not be because everyone has become sober.

-No money in the street.

-But the government promised that by voting for Macri, Larreta and Maria Eugenia Vidal, things would improve.

-We could believe in this speech if the data were different. But one must be very clear, very vehement and very energetic and say that, without falling into any subjective or arbitrary appreciation, at the end of the tunnel, there is no light. No economic indicator shows any positive signs. All are autumn, autumn and autumn. What is there to support? The first thing that Macri told Pergamino, the first week of its existence, was to remove the withholding tax on agricultural exports. It is clear who the government is asking for an effort. And it is clear what will happen if he wins because it is clear who governs Macri. I see how consumption is falling in supermarkets and neighborhood stores. Let the wine be superfluous. But sales of flour, noodles, meat and milk have fallen. In one year, 110 thousand less drugs have been sold! I know the reality. I come from a family of immigrants. My mother, aged 70, came after the Spanish Civil War. Here she went to a public school and was accepted as an accountant. My dad came from Santa Fe without having finished elementary school. I wanted to go to the National College of Buenos Aires …

-Decision on your part or mom?

-Decision of mine. I studied, I did a very difficult test, I went in, I finished and I went to UBA. I am a son of the famous ascending social mobility. You must recover it. And in the city of Buenos Aires, it is possible. We can have a public education of excellence and countercyclical policies that create jobs when the business cycle records the existence of a crisis that destroys it. Sometimes I am surprised that Rodríguez Larreta's education department has a good press. The budget went from 25% to 17%. The lack of vacancies is a serious problem, and the problem is even more serious in terms of gender, as women are generally responsible for childcare. There are already young people who emigrate. And that makes sense, because the total number of unemployed is under 19 years old. What is the proposal of Larreta's management for science? What are you doing with SMEs in danger, when we all know they are closing 25 people a day in the city and 80 stores? Why is there no public agency dedicated to scientific research, articulated with Conicet, SMEs and universities? What does the City Bank do to promote employment? Does this finance someone who wants to buy a truck or a Clark to lift pellets in a warehouse? I talk to people everyday. Funding is cut and the rate is criminal. With 6 monthly rate points, there is no return possible. Subsidized prices are needed to buy machinery, to invest.

– Why not close those who have not closed?

-For the sake of self. The guy is waiting to see if things go wrong. From SME kiosks, we defend what he has created as if he were a child. He has affection. Think that he will overcome it. He does not live on the state. But he expects the state to take care of him and not let him be left to his fate. Expect people to have money in their pockets, that they are doing well, that they are part of a virtuous circle. Now, when time goes on and things get worse, it 's terrible, because if we went into debt, the salary was expensive.

– Is there a problem of national management of the state or Buenos Aires?

-Both. It's easy to govern when people have a lot of resources. But in the crisis, you can not give up people.

– Speaking of pockets, Rodríguez Larreta sells public lands for tricks.

-Access public space. Then, they have green spaces and the boulevards appear … Meanwhile, the payment of the debt increases and the expenses in education decrease. Macri did not keep the country's election promises and had never held them before in the city. When he badumed that he was saying that he was going to do 10 kilometers of subway a year. They will do 10 kilometers in 12 years. Less than one a year. Do not think of New York. Santiago de Chile did more. People live irritated. You have to help him.

-What does he show?

-In violence. There is even violence at traffic lights and in traffic, with increasingly dangerous situations. I do not doubt that they are due to people who live badly, who fail to make ends meet, who are excluded from the system, or who are inside but who are scared because They can not pay the bills and see that everything is getting worse. Traveling badly also generates episodes of violence. A potting soil is laid out so that people react before the minimal stimulus and get to work.

Sandra Cartbado

Life

The free time of Lammens is rare. Well, in the Argento way, the president of San Lorenzo and the politician in flames say that he likes to be with his friends and his family: Mariana, his wife, and Ana, his four-year-old daughter, in addition to his mother . They are suitable for cinema and theater (in San Martín, he saw "Petróleo" with Pilar Gamboa) and confesses that in music, he mixes Joan Manuel Serrat, Silvio Rodríguez and Jorge Drexler.

According to his own statements, a Lamenn would like to have more free time to play football. It's a five net, typical middle.

-Model?

-Pablo Michelini, who emerged champion with San Lorenzo. Very brave, brand and with a good aerial game.

– First memory of football itself?

-The San Lorenzo champion in 1995. I was in third grade and went to clbad with the jersey for a week. We were champions in Rosario after 21 years. It was awesome. Forty thousand people traveled.

-A sometimes has blurry images when I was a child.

-Yes, with my old man on the ground. I should have been four years old. I have been to the field since birth, but of course, I do not remember. Yes I remember a field match of Estudiantes. When they pbaded in front of an audience, they often shunned us. I think we lost. The team in Argentina constitutes us as people because we are fans and for the collective experience. In my case, I add what my old man. It's a feeling even stronger than seeing the San Lorenzo eleven on the pitch.

– Will you put the name of the pope, fan of San Lorenzo, in the new stadium?

-The board of directors made the decision to make a popular consultation and that the partners choose the name. I think the most democratic.

– We are talking about football memory. And the political memory?

Buenos Aires is a highly politicized school. The biggest activity I remember was when I was participating in a protest against the federal law on education.

-Government of Carlos Menem.

-The walk was impressive. There were more than 100,000 people in Plaza de Mayo and around the square. It was a very critical moment and most of us took a position against the law because we thought it would make education worse.

– And with Macri? Illusion or certainty?

-I am not disappointed because Macri never cheated on me. I thought this disaster was going to happen. I knew that they would do this policy. You have to change it.

– Does self love also play?

– Play and in my life I move a lot. Adversity does not scare me. It does not scare me. From a very young age, it was my turn to have difficulties because I lost my old man.

-And the fear of politics? Some are afraid of him.

-I am not afraid of politics. When I was about to enter San Lorenzo, my mother said: "Do not bad, in football, it's full of thieves, there are barrabravas … "But I came in because I wanted to do something and I did not become something I did not want. And that the moment was catastrophic, with a club on the brink of descent, a serious institutional crisis and a responsibility that seemed irremovable. But I felt that I was attached to my story and my old man. I do not like buying problems but I am not afraid of them. I like to solve them. The fact that the opposition wins in Buenos Aires will be a great opportunity. It is great to grow because of the effort, but if you do not have enough schools, the effort is not enough.

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