For almost three years he stayed out of the spotlight, waiting for the right moment to return. And just as he was beginning to take the first steps in that direction, with next year’s presidential elections already on the horizon, the spotlight fell on him for reasons he would not have wished. Sergio Massa, the Peronist candidate defeated by Javier Milei in 2023, starred last week in a luxurious trip to the Caribbean with his partner and friends, on a private plane owned by a powerful businessman in the country.
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According to local press, the former Minister of Economy and his wife, legislator Malena Galmarini, traveled to Barbados to celebrate the 30th anniversary of their marriage, accompanied by five other people.
On Thursday, August 13, they went from Buenos Aires to Montevideo, Uruguay, and from there flew to Bridgetown airport on a jet belonging to the De Narváez Group, headed by Francisco de Narváez. The return was this Wednesday, via Asunción, Paraguay, and again the Uruguayan capital. According to informal estimates, the cost of the flights involved would be around 400,000 dollars and would have been a gift from De Narváez, who maintains a long-standing friendship with Massa. A decade ago, both were political allies, opposing Kirchnerism.
After the electoral defeat to Milei at the end of 2023, Massa chose silence and minimized his public exposure. In recent weeks, he had begun to reappear and show his interest in participating in negotiations within Peronism to define candidates and proposals for the 2027 elections. When 15 days ago Milei’s government failed in the Senate in its attempt to modify the land law, spokespeople for the Renewal Front, the group led by Massa, assured that the former minister had been key, as a shadow operator, in consolidating the opposition vote.
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Hours before leaving for the Caribbean, Massa had participated in a meeting that, after multiple internal disputes, once again showed different sectors of Peronism together. The meeting included the presence of deputy Máximo Kirchner, son of former president Cristina Kirchner; the governor of Buenos Aires, Axel Kicillof, other Peronist provincial governors, and the heads of the national legislators’ caucuses, as well as Massa himself. Although no progress was made in discussing possible candidates, it was agreed to oppose Milei’s project to suspend the primary elections, an initiative that aims to weaken the opposition offer.
In a scenario similar to that of 2023, Massa’s name was again being positioned as a possible unity candidate within the Peronist party, the PJ, someone who could gather support from Kirchnerism and those opposing the sector led by the former president. The disclosure of the trip to the Caribbean beaches damages his image, when Argentines are concerned about low wages, lack of employment, and the growing indebtedness of families, and when Milei’s administration is gaining support.