Karina Milei Opens LLA Headquarters in San Telmo and Accelerates PRO Alliance for 2027

A New Home for Libertarian Activism

La Libertad Avanza (LLA), Argentina's ruling libertarian party, has taken a major step in its strategy to compete in the province of Buenos Aires, the country's most important electoral district. On Thursday, August 13, 2026, Karina Milei—sister of President Javier Milei and the party's top political operator—inaugurated the new party headquarters for the Buenos Aires regional branch, located at Avenida Caseros 514, between the Barracas and San Telmo neighborhoods in the capital city.

During the event, Karina Milei toured the building's photo exhibition and recalled the early days of the movement alongside Javier Milei and Martín Menem. "We are just steps from Parque Lezama. This is where Javier closed his 2021 campaign, and two years ago we held the first LLA rally as a nationally constituted party. Being close to Lezama reminds us where we come from," she said.

The opening is part of the ruling party's broader effort to strengthen its presence in Buenos Aires province, where it aims to build a competitive structure for the 2027 presidential elections. "The goal of this space is to meet, train, work, and form leaders capable of bringing the ideas of freedom to every corner of the province and improving every square meter of each Buenos Aires resident," Karina Milei added.

Negotiations with PRO: A Broad Alliance in the Making

The inauguration came just one day after LLA and PRO—Argentina's main center-right opposition party, founded by former President Mauricio Macri—resumed talks about electoral alliances for next year's elections. Representatives from both forces met on Wednesday, August 12 at Casa Rosada (the presidential palace), in a meeting convened by Diego Santilli, a key PRO leader and former Buenos Aires mayoral candidate. Attendees included Cristian Ritondo, head of the PRO bloc in the Chamber of Deputies; Fernando de Andreis, PRO's secretary general; Martín Menem, vice president of LLA and nephew of former President Carlos Menem; and Eduardo "Lule" Menem, Karina Milei's second-in-command.

Sources at Casa Rosada consider the agreement between the parties all but sealed, with the strategy being to replicate the successful 2025 legislative election model, keeping the libertarian party's purple color dominant on the ballot. The complexity of Buenos Aires province—historically a Peronist stronghold—pushes both forces toward a broad alliance.

"What matters is adding up and defeating Kirchnerism. That's the most important thing. PRO has a lot to contribute to this construction: structure, electoral oversight, and leaders who already govern," Cristian Ritondo wrote on his X (formerly Twitter) account.

Diego Santilli: The Natural Candidate

While it's still early for formal definitions, ruling party officials are optimistic and say Diego Santilli leads the race to become the alliance's candidate for governor of Buenos Aires province. A senior source in the alliance revealed that Sebastián Pareja—a close aide to Karina Milei—could join the ticket as lieutenant governor candidate in the 2027 provincial race.

However, the final decision will open a debate that must include the positions of PRO allies and the Radical Civic Union (UCR), Argentina's oldest political party, with which libertarians seek broad agreements that also incorporate various neighborhood parties. With that goal, Pareja met with Ritondo on Tuesday and plans to contact Maximiliano Abad, a prominent UCR leader.

Peronist Infighting: A Key Factor

Another factor closely monitored by the ruling party is the internal struggle within Peronism, Argentina's dominant political movement for decades. LLA strategists hope that differences between Buenos Aires Governor Axel Kicillof and the faction led by former President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner will persist through next year. "It depends a lot on who the candidate is. If it's a Máximo (Kirchner) profile, we've already won. But if it's a mayor who's not so Kirchnerite, that's a different scenario," said an official source.

The party is closely watching two key decisions Kicillof must make: whether to allow mayors to seek re-election and whether to split provincial elections from national ones. "If mayors can't be re-elected, it might suit Kicillof to split the elections, but until the Peronist internal is resolved, they don't know whether splitting is convenient or not," said a libertarian leader.

Goal: 67 Municipalities

In the Buenos Aires camp, there is optimism about the alliance's performance in the province, with some calculating the possibility of winning 67 of the 135 municipalities. Some potential candidacies are already emerging, such as Soledad Martínez in Vicente López, who could seek another term, and former River Plate footballer Oscar Ahumada in Zárate.

The prevailing criterion seems to be that the distribution of candidacies will be defined by polling numbers—the space with the most support will lead the lists. "We'll see who's doing better; yesterday we started reviewing who the best-positioned candidates are," said a PRO source.

A Rapprochement from the Top

The new contact is part of PRO leader Mauricio Macri's decision to resume dialogue with Karina Milei to bring positions closer and repair the relationship with the government ahead of 2027. A 30-minute phone call between Macri and Karina Milei on Monday, August 10 enabled Wednesday's meeting at Casa Rosada, where both sides agreed to create a permanent coordination table.

Santilli's absence from the meeting at Ritondo's offices did not go unnoticed. Despite his expressed desire to run for governor, a sector of the ruling party leans toward him competing for the Buenos Aires City mayorship instead, arguing his profile fits what the capital's electorate demands. His inner circle rejects that possibility, saying he "has his mind on governance."

With her focus on the goal, Karina Milei inaugurated the Buenos Aires regional headquarters in San Telmo on Thursday—a gesture that reinforces the party's territorial presence and marks the beginning of a new stage in the ruling party's political construction toward 2027.