Argentine politics never ceases to surprise, and the recent session in the Chamber of Deputies for labor reform left an image that is difficult to digest for many sectors of Peronism. Among the votes that allowed the ruling party to move forward with the project, that of Salta native Pablo Outes (Federal Innovation) stood out, who despite his party membership, decided to support the initiative of Javier Milei’s government.
The justification of the «lesser evil»
In an interview that sparked strong criticism, Outes tried to balance his political identity and his vote. «At the end of my speech I clarified it: I am not a liberal,» apologized the legislator, who responds to Governor Gustavo Sáenz. However, his main argument focused on the economic reality of his province, Salta, marking a gap with the business structure of Buenos Aires.
According to Outes, the current legal framework does not adjust to the reality of the northern provinces, where microbusinesses predominate and labor informality reaches 50%. «In Salta we do not have businessmen with assets of 1.5 billion dollars; «You cannot pay the salaries that companies pay in Buenos Aires,» he stated, justifying the reduction in labor costs as a tool to promote employment in his region.
Criticism of the model, but support at the ballot box
The most striking thing about Outes’s position is the discursive contradiction. During the same session, the deputy did not spare criticism of Milei’s management, ensuring that the current model «is leading us to poverty» and that the President came to power «as a result of our mistakes» (in reference to Peronism).
Despite this gloomy diagnosis, Outes decided to vote in favor, arguing that the law does not affect rights retroactively and that it is necessary to «correct the legislation.» This position places him in the group of legislators who, sent by governors such as Raúl Jalil (Catamarca) and Osvaldo Jaldo (Tucumán), have become the unexpected «oxygen» that the ruling party needs to approve its key laws.
Pragmatism or betrayal?
For the toughest sectors of the opposition, the movement of Outes and other Peronist deputies from the interior is seen as a «betrayal» of the bases of the labor movement. However, from those around the «dialogue» governors there is talk of pragmatism: the need to negotiate resources and works for their provinces in a context of financial asphyxiation by the National Government.
The labor reform, which is now headed to the Senate, continues to generate cracks not only between the ruling party and the opposition, but also within the Peronist bloc itself, which sees its ideological borders becoming increasingly blurred due to the pressure of the treasury and regional needs.
While in the City of Buenos Aires the CGT and social movements prepare judicial presentations against the law because they consider it unconstitutional, in Congress the debate is won vote by vote, often with support that seems to defy traditional party logic.
