Gabriel Delgado, Domínguez’s former political partner who would succeed him in agriculture

Julián Domínguez and Gabriel Delgado have a lot in common, and some important differences. they had a strong disagreement. But at the end of this edition, history brought them together again, this time for a possible succession in Agriculture, within the new ministry that Sergio Massa will lead in the national government.

The protagonists are three Buenos Aires. After the indeclinable resignation of the lawyer from Chacabuco, the economist of Coronel Suárez was the first option that the Tigrense has thought of to guide agricultural policies in the super-ministry which he will formally lead from Tuesday.

A thirty-year-old Delgado, then promised among the technical officials of INTA, was part of the Domínguez team of collaborators between 2009 and 2011when Kirchnerism tried to bring positions closer to the campaigns after the conflict on resolution 125 on mobile withholdings.

Then, between 2013 and 2015, Delgado became the right arm of Minister Carlos Casamiquela, who came from the presidency of the INTA, in the last section of the government of Cristina Kirchner. that management positioned it as a technical political reference of the field in Peronismso much so that when Anibal Fernández ran for the post of governor of the province of Buenos Aires, he delegated the creation of an agricultural policy plan.

That was the rupture of the relationship between Delgado and Domínguez, who was also a candidate for the post of governor of Buenos Aires. Finally, this justicialist dispersal – which included Felipe Solá’s candidacy to the Massist Renewal Front – led to the victory of María Eugenia Vidal in Buenos Aires, which in turn was a key impetus for Mauricio Macri to achieve the presidency of the Nation.

After that defeat, Julián and Aníbal did not speak to each other for years, and Delgado was in the middle of that crossfire.

When Alberto Fernández campaigned as president, Delgado was his main advisor for agricultural matters, but in the final phase of the nominations, the position was entrusted to Luis Basterra of Formosa.

Almost as a consolation prize, when the government believed it had a virtuous leading role in the market of corn served on the plate, and promoted the intervention of the agro-exporting company Vicentín, Delgado was presented as the operating engine of that project. That story is best known for the political upheaval it generated in various cities and towns, although not so much that the designated controller was one of those who expressed the opinion to the president that the idea would not have been viable.

After that earthquake, Delgado was appointed director in Brazil of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation in Agriculture (IICA) and he warned that he would only agree to return to government if they gave him full support to develop his ideaswho is convinced it can positively transform the countryside without neglecting social emergencies.

Among others alternative candidates Delgado is mentioned to two other people from Buenos Aires. On the one hand there is the Pergaminense Jorge Solmi, long militancy in the Argentine Agricultural Federation and for a decade one of the references in agricultural matters in Massa. In 2021 he spent a few months as deputy minister of Luis Basterra and Domínguez transferred him as secretary of institutional relations.

his successor, Matias Lestani, of General Rodríguez, he could continue as Secretary of Agriculture if Massa recognizes the dialogue with the entities of the sector, as Domínguez meditates. Lestani was an economic advisor to the Argentine Rural Confederations (CRA), one of the entities of the Mesa de Enlace.

Although Delgado is the one who appears to be the strongest to take the lead in Agriculture, the greatest strength is not his identity, but the ideas he represents. At least as far as the expectations of the agro-industrial sector are concerned. The sector does not want to talk about names but about changing policies, the profile of openness to exports and technological development promoted by the former INTA places it as the privileged one for a change of substance.

However, the last word would be inside La Cámpora and the Instituto Patria, From where it would not allow a profound transformation of the relationship between the countryside and the government. No one knows yet if Massa wants to leave that history behind and bet on Delgado, or if he would focus on a profile less opposed by Kirchnerism.

Even without definitions, the repercussions among the agro-industrial leaders go in the same direction. Nicola Pino, president of the Argentine Rural Society, said that “beyond the names, what matters to us are the policies that will be implemented by this new ministry. And we expect that the degree downgrading will bring with it a reduction in public spending ”.

Alike, Jorge Chemes, president of the Argentine Rural Confederations (CRA), stressed that the change of person does not guarantee that the government changes course with regard to the agro-industrial sector. “What we need is a change in policies and vision, in the way the government views the campaign. This is fundamental: if the political objectives are not changed, the change of person does not guarantee that this path will be seen, ”he said.

At the same time, Carlos Iannizzotto, head of Coninagro, said that Massa must assume and establish the foundations of an economic plan. “We have to produce, export, support SMEs. We need the culture of work to return. It is hoped that the new minister will firmly guide his administration towards that culture ”.

Y Carlos Achatoni, head of the Agrarian Federation, considered Massa’s appointment to be the government’s silver bullet. But he agreed that “beyond proper names, a plan is needed to restore trust.”