Conducting La Matanza, the construction of political leadership from the municipal government (1999-2019)

This article aims to reconstruct the production of Fernando Espinoza as << conductor >> of La Matanza, considering the << cierre >> [closure] as the central mechanism through which local actors account for his permanence in government. We are interested in questioning a paradox that runs through analyzes of his figure: they consider that the question of his permanence does not need to be formulated, while they continually predict his defeat. We will show that the images that exclusively derive his power from the endorsement of Balestrini or from the resources of Kirchnerism are insufficient. We will return to the analyzes about the Partido Justicialista as a << disorganized organization >> to account for the changes that have occurred over the last decades. To do this, we will resort to a corpus of interviews with leaders, militants and officials, and we will consult the written press.