Kicillof: “It is my last session opening, or in any case the last of this first stage”

Axel KicillofGovernor of the Province of Buenos Aires, opened this Monday, March 6 in La Plata the 151st regular session of the Legislature Buenos Aires. Referring to a future second term, he expressed: “There are still many needs to be resolved in a society fragmented by intolerable inequalities. That is why we invite you to continue moving forward.”

The provincial president’s speech was scheduled for March 1 in the afternoon, after the opening of national sessions, but it was postponed due to the massive blackout It affected a large part of the country.

Kicillof arrived at the venue together with Lieutenant Governor Verónica Magario, who previously opened and established the special session. Next to them was also the president of the provincial Chamber of Deputies, Federico Otermín.

The main statements by Axel Kicillof at the opening of legislative sessions

After arriving at the venue and listening to the national anthem by singer Nahuel Pennisi, Kicillof began by naming everyone present at the event.

“TO alberto and Christina I want to thank the province of Buenos Aires for their accompaniment,” the president also said after recognizing the mayors. “I ask that the campaign not hinder laws this year,” he asked the legislators.

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Although he assured that this is his last opening as governor, he left the door open for a second term. “Today is my last opening of sessions or in any case the last of this first stage“he said. Applause and cheers thundered in the legislature after this statement.

The first point that Kicillof touched on was education, noting that for the fourth consecutive year classes began on March 1 in the province. “The only privileged ones are the boys and girls,” she said.

“Let’s remember that it was not the invisible hand of the market that vaccinated or the one that sustained food or SMEs. Problems are not solved with less state,” he expanded.

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Then he referred to the assassination attempt on Cristina Kirchner and said that “with some inexcusable exceptions,” the attack was repudiated by politics. “It has to hurt those of us who love Cristina but also those of us who love democracy,” she said.

“Added to the atrocious situation of attempted murder is the situation of proscription, which adds to the long persecution that Peronism has suffered for what it defends and questions.“, expected Kicillof in tune with Christianity. “This fact entails a worrying and inadmissible deterioration of the democratic quality,” he deepened.

Then he recorded the world title achieved in Qatar 2022: “Twelve of the National Team players are from Buenos Aires,” he remarked. In a more electoral pose, he agitated: “We are in an electoral year and society is going to have to decide which way to go. For us, governing consists of defending and expanding rights. The State is not here to defend privileges. The dilemma posed to us this year will be between the right and the rights“.

Kicillof spoke of co-participation and joint ventures

The governor dedicated several minutes to criticize the ruling of the Supreme Court of Justice that prolongs that the Buenos Aires government obtained the co-participation points that had been designated during the government of Mauricio Macri.

“It is an illegal ruling that takes the provinces to help the richest place“said Kicillof, who called on all the blocks to form a commission to request the resources that were granted to the City of Buenos Aires by this ruling.

On the other hand, he said that before arriving at the legislature he sealed a parity agreement “with almost all the public unions in the province.” “Thanks to that, wages are recovering” despite the pandemic, the war and the drought, he added.

The governor of Buenos Aires spoke about the numbers of his management

Kicillof thanked the legislature for the approval of the Budget 2023 and Tax laws but requested that other projects be discussed that are “fundamental for the structural transformations that the PBA needs.”

“In these 3 years, the Province obtained a record of disbursements from credit agencies for almost 750 million dollars. During the previous administration, disbursements for infrastructure works did not even reach 80 million from this source,” he compared.

He also highlighted that “more than 20,000 workers were reached by our employment regularization policies” and added that the decentralization of provincial spending through the municipalities was substantial. “From December 2019 to January 2023, the province transferred to the municipalities $56,593.2 between reimbursable and non-reimbursable assistance,” he explained.

Education, mental health and the economy: what Axel Kicillof said

After ratifying that education is an “absolute priority” of his management, the governor of Buenos Aires maintained that 148 school buildings were completed and 5,116 repairs were carried out.

“By 2023, with the implementation of the 25-hour weekday, around 70% of Buenos Aires schools will have a significant increase in their school hours. One more hour of class per day is equivalent to 40 more days of class per year“, he said about this year’s educational proposal. He also talked about the extension of the student ticket that favors 24 universities and promised to extend it to tertiary level students and professional training.

And he added: “In terms of mental health, after so much postponement, we are applying the National Mental Health Law, which implies closing those abandoned houses in which the mental hospitals of the province were filmed and we have already made 632 external ones,” he added.

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Regarding the province’s economy, Kicillof recalled the management of María Eugenia Vidal that preceded him and said that later “we suffered from the pandemic.” “During 2021 we were able to more than recover the fall of 2020 and in 2022, the provincial economic activity presented an accumulated growth of 4.3% in relation to the previous year,” he thought.

He also recognized that “it is insufficient” because income distribution has deteriorated and he spoke of deepening this action for the most vulnerable. “We implemented programs for the industrialization of agricultural production with which the construction of 18 municipal refrigerators was financed and with Mercados Buenos Aires 11,000 fairs were held in 103 municipalities,” he continued listing, in addition to highlighting programs that eradicated child labor in a total of 10,854 child cases.

Kicillof: “We are going through one of the stages with the greatest investment in infrastructure”

Putting the accent on the upcoming elections and the two political models exposed by the most representative coalitions in the country, Kicillof listed several works that were carried out during his administration.

According to the report read by the governor, “61 road works were carried out along 1,303 km, we are intervening 3,900 km of rural roads, works were carried out to transform routes into highways in 631 km, and until 2022 11,000 paved blocks”.

He also listed “504 works with an investment of $157,000 million” carried out “in the Salado basin, over 4 years, the previous government did 36 km.” “We financed an unprecedented amount of works for the 135 municipalities, regardless of whether they are governed by our political force or not. More than 1,400 projects for $127,000 were approved until 2022 and an investment of $45,000 is projected for 2023,” used.

Kicillof spoke of security

The governor recognized that insecurity is one of the fundamental problems of the territory and later gave figures on the policies that his administration carried out, headed by the minister of the area sergio berni.

“Security is one of the structures of our Province. The experience of the previous government broke the fact that there is no communication strategy that can replace the lack of a true security policy,” he questioned.

Then he gave way to the figures: “We bought 4,529 new patrol vehicles and 72,948 protection vests. In addition, our management increased the police force, with a decided improvement in their income.”

In the same vein, he criticized the “dire” state of the penitentiary system and said that 2,436 places have been inaugurated and 4,100 are being completed. “As a consequence of our prison policy, We reduced the recidivism rate, from 46% to 22% currently“, he explained.

Kicillof spoke about offshore exploration in Mar del Plata

After two hours of speech, Kicillof referred to the possibility of carrying out the exploration out to sea in Mar del Plata, where the decision of the local justice was to suspend it.

The president said that if the ruling is reversed, oil extraction would generate “self-sufficiency, promote economic and technological development, boost industry and employment for the people of Buenos Aires.”

On the other hand, he highlighted the Néstor Kirchner Gas Pipeline project that the National Government estimated to be completed this year and concluded that it would provide “energy availability” that will boost the petrochemical industry and allow the expansion of the gas network.

Finally, setting out a horizon for the future, he closed: “In Buenos Aires, and throughout our Argentina, there are still many needs to be resolved in a society fragmented by intolerable inequalities. That is why we invite you to continue moving forward.”