Kicillof accuses Milei of using 'state policy extortion' for re-election bid

Buenos Aires Governor Axel Kicillof has accused President Javier Milei of employing "extortion as state policy" to pave the way for his potential re-election in 2027. Kicillof, in an opinion piece published in the Cordoba newspaper La Voz del Interior, alleged a deliberate strategy of "financial asphyxiation" against the provinces, advocating for a "deeply national federalism."

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Today all their efforts are focused on getting the necessary votes in Congress to suspend the PASO, a new maneuver with which he seeks to improve his electoral possibilities. It is not a reform designed to save resources, strengthen democracy or improve the quality of the electoral system. It is simply about changing the rules of the game for his own political convenience.

Kicillof's central argument posits that Milei is using public funds as a tool for "political disciplining." He contends that the government's current focus is on securing votes in Congress to suspend the PASO (Open, Simultaneous, and Compulsory Primary elections), a move Kicillof views not as a reform for efficiency or democratic improvement, but as a manipulation of electoral rules for political convenience.

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The method resembles that of someone who first suffocates a patient and then administers oxygen in minimal doses to decide how much longer they can resist.

"The method resembles that of someone who first suffocates a patient and then administers oxygen in minimal doses to decide how much longer they can resist," Kicillof wrote. He detailed how the official party is allegedly defunding provinces through cuts to non-automatic transfers and the paralysis of public works. Once financial hardship is created, partial relief becomes a "bargaining chip" for congressional support on key reforms.

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He turns the partial relief from that asphyxiation into a bargaining chip: a transfer of funds, an authorization, a transfer or a work, always in exchange for political support.

This mechanism of "extortion," according to Kicillof, replaces federalism with a "survival of the fittest" logic, fostering "dependency and punishment relationships." He argued that this approach undermines the concept of a shared national project where the growth of one province benefits the entire country and national growth should be balanced. Kicillof accused the executive branch of establishing a "rewards and punishments" system based on political expediency, leading to catastrophic financial strain on the provinces. He estimated that Milei's economic policies since 2023 have caused a cumulative loss exceeding 47 trillion Argentine pesos (at constant prices) for all 24 jurisdictions, equivalent to 4% of GDP, representing a real-term cut of 13.4%.

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It breaks the very idea of a shared national project, where the growth of one province strengthens all of Argentina and where the country's growth must be balanced.