MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentine opposition to support Congressional approval of IMF deal

Pichetto warned, however, that the coalition would not endorse any tax raise stemming from IMF guidelines

Argentina's main opposition political coalition Together for Change (Juntos por el Cambio - JxC) Thursday announced it will support the agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) so as to never “push Argentina to default.”

After a meeting that lasted over five hours, leaders of former President Mauricio Macri's JxC reached an agreement after discrepancies had surfaced following the Government's latest negotiations with the IMF which seem to be leading to an agreement to be finalized shortly.

“We are never going to push Argentina to default,” PRO Chairwoman Patricia Bullrich told reporters after the encounter, which was also attended by Macri; Buenos Aires Mayor Horacio Rodríguez Larreta; Jujuy Governor Gerardo Morales; former Peronist Senator and vicepresidential candidate Miguel Ángel Pichetto and Civic Coalition Chairman Maximiliano Ferraro.

“It was a very good meeting, where we talked about the importance of unity and coherence, of working seriously on the agreement and programmatic coherence for 2023, without advancing any type of scenario,” Ferraro explained.

“We have taken a historic institutional step in what Cambiemos and Together for Change was. We have created a federal table made up of all the political parties that are in the Together for Change bloc. We have worked on the programmatic dimension and the foundations will work together piecework for the Together for Change program, which will be the guide of our proposal” in 2023, he added.

“Our way of working is going to be more as a team and not as individuals,” Bullrich also said in statements to the press.

Morales also announced the coalition would hold a seminar on drug trafficking to broaden the coalition's approach at the most urgent issues affecting the country. Dozens have died in recent days for using tainted cocaine, which made headlines globally.

Regarding the IMF deal, Pichetto explained that “We have ratified what we have said in other communiqués: that we see the principle of understanding between the Government and the IMF as positive. We support the 'No to default,' and that Argentina has to honor its debts.”

But he added the coalition would not endorse any tax raise stemming from IMF guidelines.

The fate of a potential understanding between Argentina and the IMF turned blurry days ago when Deputy Máximo Kirchner resigned as Lower House majority leader in what was interpreted as a sign of turmoil within the ruling Frente de Todos (FdT).