Global Courant
In an election marked by the disappearance of Cecilia Strzyzowski, a young woman married to the son of the powerful piquetero Emerenciano Sena, an ally of Jorge Capitanich, the result of the PASO in this province yields a result that was not in the official calculations before the event. that transcended the borders of the district and shocked the country.
The Chaqueño Front, led by Capitanich, started at the top in the slow provisional scrutiny but late at night the election turned around and Together for Change prevailed by more than two points. In an even internal fight that had not yet been defined, the radical Juan Carlos Polini had a slight advantage over his co-religionist Leandro Zdero and between them they exceeded 43% of the votes.
Capitanich easily surpassed Ismael Espinoza, a sort of sparring partner, within the official front, and the total space was below 42%, with 35% of the tables scrutinized.
Behind was Gustavo Martínez, mayor of the capital, with 6%, and then five other candidates with fewer votes. Already with the first data, tension was noticed between the leaders of Peronism in the official bunker.
“Our primaries are absolutely defined. Secondly, we have been the most voted list. Each election is a message, that message must be pondered on our part to improve ”, assured Capitanich after 11:00 p.m.
“We have been viciously attacked, but there is no problem. Freedom of expression must exist, but not aggression because that is not constructive, ”warned the governor ahead of the general elections on September 17. In the 2019 elections, Capitanich had taken 18 points from the radical Carim Peche: 49% to 31%.
“Society is accompanying us. Today is going to be a historic day in the province. We are going to wait for the count to finish, but we have already made a great choice”, Polini celebrated before midnight.
From early on in the command of Together for Change they were confident of a good result, especially in the city of Resistencia, which concentrates 60% of the census, due to the impact of the alleged murder of Cecilia, which hits many social sectors that they previously aligned with Capitanich.
The opponents denounced the theft of ballots in some polling places and warned about the slowness of the counting and the loading of data, a process that is in the hands of Ecom Chaco, an organization led by Guillermina Capitanich, the daughter of the governor who in the morning had accompanied to vote.
The elections, as Clarín was able to verify in Resistencia, were decidedly marked by the case of Cecilia, but also by a previous satiety in politics. The disappearance of the young woman, with a key social leader in the Capitanich structure involved in the event, strengthened this nonconformity.
Clarín was able to speak with historic Capitanich voters who commented that this time they were not going to accompany the governor: some were inclined towards other opposition options and others were going to be absent from these STEP.
Gloria Romero, Cecilia’s mother, had expressly asked that the people of Chaco go to vote and that they do so for “anyone except corruption,” without mentioning the pro-government governor. Those words intersected with reasons for absenteeism to increase. This Sunday was Father’s Day and also part of a long weekend, which generated criticism from the opposition to the governor for the date chosen for the election.
It was unknown how these factors would affect the result, but by late afternoon it was estimated that the turnout would be very low and then it was confirmed that only 53.5% of the voters voted, according to data provided by Capitanich himself. In addition, according to the first trend of official data, blank, null and contested votes reached almost 10%.
Cecilia’s disappearance shook the campaign towards the primaries in its final stretch. The 28-year-old was in a relationship with César Sena (19), son of the most powerful local piquetero, Emerenciano Sena, himself an ally of Capitanich. Due to the disappearance of the young woman, the two Senas plus Marcela Acuña, wife of Emerenciano and mother of César, among other people, are in custody.
The family’s political ties with Capitanich are public and deep: Acuña and Sena Sr. were candidates – for mayor and provincial deputy – on one of the lists that the governor takes for his re-election. In addition, with his piquetero group and a related foundation, he has been receiving millionaire funds from the province. As Clarín revealed, the twists were maintained even with the young woman already missing.
“Political power is involved, just look at the ballot. They are provinces that function as fiefs,” said Horacio Rodríguez Larreta this Sunday night on LN+.
Although the body had not yet been found as of this Sunday afternoon, the main hypothesis of the prosecutor investigating the case is that Strzyzowski was murdered by one of the family members and the rest helped try to cover up the crime.
Predictably, when he went to vote, Capitanich tried to distance himself from the case and spoke of a “police incident.” Silence is also heard from Buenos Aires: from Cristina Kirchner to the National Government’s Ministry of Gender they avoided speaking out on the case that shakes a beloved ally.
