Kicillof Vows Peronism Will Govern Again as Rivals Rally

“Peronism will govern Argentina again.” Buenos Aires Province Governor Axel Kicillof delivered that message to a large crowd in La Matanza on Saturday, October 17, 2026, as rival factions held separate Loyalty Day rallies. He aimed his words squarely at President Javier Milei’s government and next year’s elections.

Kicillof urged the movement to reorganise and build a political alternative. He promised to take on whatever the moment demanded. “I have said it before and I say it today: count on me to put myself on the line, to travel the country and to assume the responsibilities that this moment in the country’s history demands,” he said.

The 55-year-old hasn’t formally entered the race. Still, many expect him to become the nominee of the Partido Justicialista (Justicialist Party, PJ), the movement’s main party. “Peronism faces no challenge that is too great for it,” he told supporters. “Our task is to build an alternative, represent our people and recover Argentina for Argentines.”

A Call to Look Outward

Kicillof asked the crowd to focus on the government, not internal feuds. “We have a powerful adversary, with international resources, who wants to establish a return to absolute dependence in Argentina,” he said. He cited one of Peronism’s 20 truths: “the adversary is over there; they are the ones we must fight.”

His sharpest words targeted Milei’s close alignment with Washington. Argentina, Kicillof said, shouldn’t take orders from another country. “We cannot have someone who is not a president but a gofer running errands for the president of the United States,” he said, referring to Milei’s relationship with US President Donald Trump.

A Movement Divided on Stage

The day offered little sign of the unity Kicillof called for. National deputy Máximo Kirchner, leader of La Cámpora and son of ex-president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, spoke at a separate rally in Resistencia, the capital of Chaco Province. Senator and former governor Jorge Capitanich joined him.

Kirchner criticised politicians who talk tough, then back down. “There are many who like to grab the microphone and climb onto platforms to deliver nice speeches and promise a fight, only to run away at the first sign of trouble,” he said. Unity alone, he argued, won’t rebuild the opposition. “We must go door to door and go out and fight to put Argentina back on its feet,” he said, calling on activists to organise at the grassroots and break with complacent leadership.

Both men spoke about Fernández de Kirchner, who is serving a corruption conviction under house arrest. Máximo Kirchner said her political support was growing because Argentines remembered her record and saw a strong woman who wouldn’t abandon her supporters, even when imprisoned. Kicillof spoke more bluntly. “Today, Cristina is unjustly imprisoned for defending our causes,” he said.

A Day With Deep Roots

Loyalty Day commemorates the mass mobilisation of October 17, 1945, which secured Perón’s release from detention. The event, 81 years ago, became a foundational chapter in Peronist history. Supporters planned to gather later outside the San José 1111 apartment building in Buenos Aires, where Fernández de Kirchner is serving her sentence, hoping she would appear on her balcony to greet them.

Why This Matters:

Argentina’s main opposition movement is searching for direction a year before voters choose their next president. Two rallies in two provinces, each with a different pitch, show just how unsettled that effort remains. Kicillof is framing the contest around national sovereignty and a government he says leans too heavily on foreign power. Kirchner is pushing door-to-door organising instead of speeches. For voters who depend on public institutions and want a credible counterweight to the Milei administration, the question is whether the factions can turn a shared history into a shared plan. The movement’s own loyalty tests, including its stance on a jailed former president, will shape the answer.