With meetings and whatsapp, Casa Rosada seeks to align businessmen with re-election

In groups of WhatsApp, in closed meetings, in meals with private individuals. The government is doing an ant work to align part of the business behind the reelection of

Mauricio Macri

and Maria Eugenia Vidal. The goal is to activate a "word of mouth" campaign that emanates from the "red circle".

Various officials went to meet groups of entrepreneurs in different fields to explain what was done in the management and allow the catharsis of businessmen. Government members tell them that this year is a "pivotal election" and then ask leaders and leaders to "pbad on" and "convince" their environment to vote for the party in power.

"If you do not want to go back to Kirchner, help us," summed up one of the officials who attended more than one meeting. At Casa Rosada, they want businessmen to be spokespersons for the reforms the ruling party wants to promote.

Transport Minister Guillermo Dietrich was among those sitting at the work tables; Housing Secretary Iván Kerr; the chief advisers, José Torello; Senator Esteban Bullrich; the general secretary of the province of Buenos Aires, Fabian Perechodnik, and the own Vidal.

The election of Miguel Pichetto as a candidate for the vice presidency and the principle of agreement reached between the European Union (EU) and Mercosur were two milestones that led some men to In government, accompanied by greater peace of mind. Businessmen recognize that the biggest computer was the possibility that polls show that Kirchnerism has returned. "Amnesia is gone," illustrated a businessman at
THE NATION.

All entrepreneurs are not in the same train. Bankers, the service sector, the
FinTech, startups and agribusiness are most aligned with Macri's continuity. They support labor and tax reforms and greater international openness. The industry and construction players, on the other hand, are more dissatisfied with the slowdown in activity and complain about the details of the deal with the EU.

"They are entrepreneurs of Mauricio's generation, Marcos [Peña] and Horacio [Rodríguez Larreta]. Contrary to what was the generation of the father of the president, "they have distinguished this week at Casa Rosada.

The relationship with the business world, however, has not always been so fluid. With the economic crisis inaugurated last year, many businessmen have moved away from Balcarce 50. At Casa Rosada, they indicated at the beginning of the year to the "red circle" the promoter of the "Plan V" and the candidacy of Roberto Lavagna.

For this reason, Peña and Macri launched a few months ago a "confinement operation" in which they invited groups of businessmen to Casa Rosada, Tuesdays and Thursdays, to "explain" the measures taken by the government. At the same time, various government officials approached the financial world – even when traveling to the United States and Uruguay – to ask for calm and prevent markets from moving if Kirchnerism performed well within PASO.

Meals and discussions

As he was able to rebuild
THE NATIONMeetings with business people take place in neutral spaces, such as foundations and institutions, but also in executive houses themselves, where dinners or lunches are offered. Vidal, for example, went to a member of Grupo Argentina Mejor (GAM) in the northern zone.

According to professional and official sources, the president of Santander Río, Enrique Cristofani, and the president of the YPF, Miguel Ángel Gutiérrez, a leader who has nevertheless made some tows with Casa Rosada in recent months, were also organizers.

"The" red circle "represents a low but influential vote percentage," acknowledged a contributor to the Pro Campaign team.

"We are organizing meetings with private sector leaders to generate an exchange, discuss upcoming country proposals and ask for help for the future," he said. he declared.
THE NATION Perechodnik, which works with the segment of large companies and SMEs.

The other arena of debate is WhatsApp. Businessmen gather in groups to exchange views on public policies and the electoral landscape. There are also variants in these groups. Because while some prefer to take refuge in the confidentiality of discussions, others have decided to position themselves publicly.

Although they are defined as "apolitical" and "non-partisan", the WhatsApp Nuestra Voz group, made up of 256 leaders and CEOs of all categories and ages, has played a very active role in recent days. We talk about everything, but the rule of coexistence is that when evaluating an open position statement, a "subgroup" is opened.

This is how several businessmen decided to publish on Twitter in unison a severe criticism of the unemployment of aerospace guilds. They tweeted Martín Migoya and Guibert Englebienne (Globant), Martín Cabrales (Café Cabrales), Javier Goñi (Ledesma), Marcos Galperín (Free Mercado) and Roberto Murchison (Murchison).

Although Nuestra Voz does not profess political activism, at Casa Rosada, cuts are communicated to entrepreneurs of the WhatsApp group: they learned in advance that the tweets would be broadcast and celebrated the departure of the entrepreneurs . Several members have a fluid dialogue with Macri, Peña and the Minister of Economy, Nicolás Dujovne.

"While the party was not electoral, they compared us to Switzerland and now that kirchnerists have chances, it seems we are not so bad," said a senior official. Closer to the polls, everyone is looking to join forces.