White flag in JxC: Larreta and Bullrich to wait for primary results together

After months of ongoing tension, they decided to share a campaign house on August 13

Buenos Aires city mayor Horacio Rodríguez Larreta and former security minister Patricia Bullrich will expect the primary election results that’ll determine who will be the presidential candidate for Juntos por el Cambio (JxC) in the same headquarters. The decision comes after months of escalating tensions between the two PRO members set to face off August 13.

Sources from both factions of the opposition coalition confirmed the decision to the Herald, although where the actual headquarters will be has not yet been determined.

Two possible locations are Costa Salguero, a convention center in the Palermo neighborhood built in 1993, and Palacio San Miguel, an event center in Monserrat, originally built as an upholstery store in 1857.

Tensions between the two JxC candidates have been growing in the months leading up to the primaries, as hinted allusions to each other have become increasingly explicit. Although they share a common government program, during the campaign Bullrich has presented herself as a hardliner, while Larreta says he believes in dialogue.

On Wednesday, Juan Pablo Arenza, head of Bullrich’s campaign, called national deputy María Eugenia Vidal “employee of the month” after she publicly backed Larreta for the first time. Even PRO founder and ex-President Mauricio Macri chimed in, saying he understood others’ “disappointment” with Vidal for her remarks.

Two weeks ago, Larreta strongly criticized Bullrich after she proposed “shielding” the Central Bank with another loan from the International Monetary Fund. “The shielding program was something [former President Fernando] De la Rúa did, and we’re not going to repeat that,” Larreta said, referencing Fernando de la Rúa, who resigned in 2001 in the midst of heavy protests that left 39 dead and more than 500 wounded in the entire country. Bullrich was De la Rúa’s Labor Minister.

“Let’s take a look at the history of Argentina, how did that government end after the loan was signed? Is that how we are going to start a government term?” Larreta asked.

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