the ministers’ conversation burns and the government enters a maze

“Please, Carla, tell us something.

Aerolineas Argentinas flight AR 1062 to Moscow had been postponed for several days. The last part, the one which now seemed final, announced that the ship would take off on Monday evening and that it would bring 600,000 Sputnik V vaccines. But the same day, over the hours, the versions multiply in the corridors of the Casa Rosada and rumors spread to governorates across the country.

News portals and television channel outlets began to anticipate information that many governors did not know. Did the media lie? Have they exaggerated? Or did a major source disclose information? We will know later, to the chagrin of those who consider journalists as the axis of evil, that it was the third option. On the cell phone of Carla Vizzotti, the Deputy Minister of National Health, the messages were piling up.

Vizzotti shares with his boss, Ginés González García, a WhatsApp group that brings together the ministers of health from the 23 provinces and the autonomous city of Buenos Aires. It is she who informs, the one who provides the logistical details of the vaccination route in real time, the one who pulls the shots. It is also the one who sometimes succumbs to long silences. These silences are often revealing. They were last week: Ministers assume that when this happens, it’s best to turn on the screens to find out what’s going on.

Ginés hardly interacts in the group. His second has earned the respect of the majority of chat participants, not just those leading the efforts of the same political sign. Always respond in a good tone and, if necessary, open a private conversation with one of the ministers. Since the end of last week, however, provincial officials have repeatedly failed to find quick answers. The questions were repeated. Several ministers were exasperated. The governors asked them for explanations that they could not give them.

“We are waiting for answers.” As soon as we know something I’ll tell you Vizzotti promised.

The worries did not stop. They became more tense on Monday evening, when the postponement of the flight was again announced, which was finally due to take off 24 hours later. Governors relegated their health ministers and began asking Olivos for answers. More than one said they exchanged messages with Alberto Fernández and Ginés. They were also unable to give strong answers. Simply, in a moment, from Russia, they stopped answering calls.

The ministers were still standing online with Vizzotti. The questions were all along the same lines and varied as the news arrived: “What is happening with the Aerolineas plane that does not leave? Why is it taking so long? What is happening? Is it true that the 600,000 doses are not coming? Qu will it happen to my province if only 200,000 arrive? Promised … How many will affect me? ”.

Vizzotti, González García and informal spokespersons (one of them functioning almost like a minister in the shadows, with grim but very precise information, according to a central governor of the country) repeated explanations. They said the vaccine supply has been blocked worldwide and Argentina cannot be left behind. They didn’t tell the whole truth. Not in all countries he got stuck like in Argentina. Not to go too far: Chile, with a population of less than 19 million, has just received two million doses from China.

From Olivos, they urged not to lose calm with the laboratories and, even less, with international political ties. Among the arguments they made, they cited the fact that thermal boxes from the company DHL are rare. You have to get used to the idea that just as at one time there was no glass for light bulbs and the companies that made them couldn’t cope, now so with others. vital elements for packaging and shipping. That the manufacturing operations and transfers are too complex, in short. No longer in reserve, they spoke an all out war between laboratories and the most powerful countries, which are planted with higher demands at the expense of developing ones.

“We don’t know if they are lying to the government or if the government is lying to us,” one of the leaders of Together for Change said midweek. It is true that the government’s promises are often blurred. That the accumulation of communication accidents does not help. On November 6, Alberto Fernández assured that in December the country would be able to vaccinate 10 million people. A few days later, it had to be corrected. He said that figure would be reached between January and February. Gines then whitewashed that they had misdiagnosed and hoped 5 million people would receive the vaccine in January. Until today, the last day of the month, and according to official figures, less than 400,000 Argentines have been vaccinated.

The provincial vaccination schedule enters a bewitching rhythm. Some examples. The province of Buenos Aires already has 1,549,652 registered wishing to be vaccinated and Axel Kicillof estimates that there are 5,800,000 people at risk in his district, out of a total of 12 million in Buenos Aires who should receive the doses. As of Friday, they had vaccinated 111,517 people. Córdoba has 1,200,000 people at risk and 22,084 vaccinated. Santa Fe has the same target as Córdoba and has vaccinated 22,008 people from Santa Fe. The same number is being handled in the city of Buenos Aires, where 24,300 porteños received the first dose.

The ruling party’s injuries from handling and information about the vaccine coincided with complaints shaking Gildo Insfrán, one of the President’s favorite governors, whom he considered in May last year to be “the one of the best politicians and human beings “.

Horacio Pietragalla’s provincial tour only deepened the contradictions in Kirchner’s story. For the secretary for human rights, it is “almost a joke” that is denounced. The unchallenged referents of the Front de tous, even those who have made human rights policy their main flag, are conspicuous by their absence. Callan. They let Pietragalla’s position run like the only truth, despite the images and testimonies. And that Amnesty International has warned against “de facto deprivation of liberty” in Formosa.

Insfrán has already gone through several crises during his 25 years as governor. What he didn’t expect was that after securing very comfortable victories in the election, many Formosa residents would rebel and organize marches under their noses. For several weeks now, he has housed in his house in the Emilio Tomás neighborhood, 30 blocks from the city center, a mansion painted in white and closely guarded 24 hours a day. It is known as “Gildo’s bunker”. Hardly anyone enters.

Little is known about the governor’s private life. He is a man of simple tastes. In recent times, his state of health has also become a mystery. Very recently, he suffered a pressure surge. There are those who suspect he had something else. His collaborators treated it as a question that could not transcend.

Until the last complaints, Insfrán was seen on Sunday afternoon in a Toyota Land Cruiser. He directs it. He likes to walk in the center and lower his windows to greet the neighbors. Sometimes he parks to take photos in the main square. They say it’s a weird routine. That he will take it back when the storm passes.

It will be soon, they say in their environment, and there is no reason to think otherwise.