Let's see what happens this year. I'm going to make contact now with my colleague María Laura Morales, who is already in the Eva Perón Hall, which is a very important place because many protagonists of the day pass through there.
That's right, Sofi. Well, as we know, this step is key, as you said, every year in the Eva Perón Hall because ambassadors, several diplomats from the diplomatic corps, and special guests pass through. Well, directors of the House are also circulating, in addition to the senators, of course, who are already heading to the Chamber of Deputies sector to find a spot, because it's a day that brings together a lot of people.
And well, we were also talking a bit about expectations, just now waiting with Senator Ávila, well, about all the expectations placed on what President Javier Milei will say regarding the announcements he will make, because well, important announcements are expected. It was spoken of, at least in journalistic leaks, about 50 laws. Let's see what it's about, if it's 50 as well. And well, within that, right? Regarding the reform of the Penal Code, for example, what will happen, the economy which always centers and monopolizes the attention, you were just commenting with Milly, the international scenario, well, the International Monetary Fund, right? Because we also know that Milei is about to start an important tour of the United States with provincial leaders. It's spoken of 10 provincial leaders who will surely be here today, closely watching the Legislative Assembly, because well, it obviously has to do with investments and above all, it's an important summit on mining there in the United States. So, well, many expectations, especially from the governors of the mining provinces. We know that, as Milly also said, one of the topics in the extraordinary sessions was the glaciers law for the important modification regarding minimum budgets for glacier and periglacial protection. And in this, it's also important to highlight precisely the presence of the governors of the hydrocarbon and mining provinces who will be, in some way, trying to negotiate investments that through the RIGI, which was approved in the bases law that was announced in the first Legislative Assembly of Milei here in the National Congress.
Exactly. We were saying that at least 10 governors are confirmed. Jorge Macri, Leandro Zdero of Chaco, Rogelio Frigerio of Entre Ríos, Martín Llaryora of Córdoba, Alfredo Cornejo, also Marcelo Orrego of San Juan, Claudio Poggi of San Luis, Maximiliano Puerto of Santa Fe, and Gerardo Zamora of Santiago del Estero, along with Juan Carlos Vivaldi of Corrientes. Those are the provincial leaders who are there and will be, who confirmed their presence today in the Lower House. And I have the opportunity to see here in a close-up how the Chamber of Deputies chamber is gradually filling up. There's still time, it must be said, but there are several deputies and senators approaching. A few minutes ago, the La Libertad Avanza bloc took a photograph, a selfie there in their seats. They are present. It was leaked that some members of Peronism from the Chamber of Deputies will also be present today listening to President Javier Milei's speech. Let's remember, we are waiting very attentively for the projects he plans to send to the National Congress. We have to keep in mind that, for example, last year he mentioned the trade agreement with the United States. This was on March 1st, 2025. Finally, this agreement was signed in February of this year. Obviously, the National Congress has to approve it, but that agreement with the United States is already done. Well, the European Union-Mercosur agreement was also signed and approved this week, which with its promulgation, exactly, Argentina finally, which was something the ruling party wanted, managed to do it before Uruguay, right?
Ah, well, I was talking... sorry, I'm not listening here. Well, we're going to interview now, Sofi, Senator Paltroni. Thank you for being with Senado TV. Good expectations for Javier Milei's speech at the Legislative Assembly.
Yes, of course. We all eagerly await the president's message. I think it will be a stage with many reforms and with a lot of work from Congress, as hasn't been seen in a long time, right?
That's right. Senator, well, a detailed balance is also expected regarding the memory, well, especially the extraordinary sessions that were approved, the projects sent by the executive branch.
Yes, clearly I haven't looked at the history, but it must have been the most productive in Argentine history, right? In extraordinary sessions, and what laws we were able to pass, right? Laws that had been delayed for so many years in our country. And obviously, if you don't change anything, nothing will change, and this is the goal of these changes, to achieve these reforms so that we definitively get on the path to development.
What project would you like President Javier Milei to announce today, or what do you expect, or what do you know, or what would you like?
No, I don't have information. I'm like the rest of the citizens waiting for the president's message. Of course, I have a particular interest in three projects I've presented, apart from the entire agenda we've been pushing from La Libertad Avanza and everything dictated in the May Pact, but personally, the South America Railways project, energy freedom for Argentines, which is to free the energy source so that any citizen can sell energy. And the other, of course, the intervention of my province. Thank you very much. Good afternoon.
Well, Sofi, we were talking with Senator Francisco Paltroni from the province of Formosa.
Exactly. President of the Foreign Relations and Worship Commission, which obviously was the commission that worked on the European Union-Mercosur agreement. The announcer is already asking those present in the Chamber of Deputies to take their seats, to turn off their cell phones, because in just minutes the Legislative Assembly will begin. I didn't hear well. Perfect. We return to Eva Perón.
Thank you, Sofi. We are here with Senator Flavia Royón, representative for the province of Salta. Thank you, Senator. Well, we were talking with my colleague Sofía Pica about the important balance that Milei's projects can bring, right? What are your expectations?
Well, my expectation is the tax reform, that we discuss the tax reform, the pension reform, which I think are central axes, and also, well, the projects that affect each sector, right? Also, in particular, the projects needed to definitively boost the biofuels sector, renewable energies, and also the issue of mine closure needs to be rediscussed, the projects we had pending in the mining sector. Well, and the truth is there is an agenda of many pending issues in Argentina and with a Congress and a Senate that, well, went years with practically very little activity, so let's hope that this activity we had in the extraordinary sessions is replicated throughout the year.
I was going to ask about the balance of the extraordinary sessions. Well, the Glaciers Law was also modified, and this allows, in some way, investments to arrive, right? For the provinces, both lithium and copper and mining.
Let's see, there is no lithium project today that needs the glaciers law, there is no conflict there. The modification of the glaciers law was precisely to allow environmental impact studies to determine in the periglacial area if there is a relevant hydrological function or not. That was the object, and as the Constitution states, provinces can manage their natural resources. I would like to clarify this because this topic is always discussed and it's not like that. In fact, in the plenary, something everyone agreed on was that the law needed clarification. And the balance of the extraordinary sessions, well, a very intense work where the executive accepted many suggestions, both in the labor reform project and the other projects we discussed, and I think that is the way to work, right? With dialogue, with consensus as much as possible, but with listening.
Regarding regional economies, is any project expected to be sent on regional economies?
We are discussing projects. Yes, indeed, but today my greatest expectation with the president is whether a tax reform is really discussed, because in fact we treated a labor reform without having treated the pension reform. In the labor reform, I don't agree, but the fund that is created directly affects the resources of our pension system. So, let's treat our pension system because we are affecting it this way, and because part of labor informality, a major cause is informality in the economy. So let's hope to also discuss a tax reform and address evasion issues.
Very well, thank you very much, Senator. Have a good night, see you later. Thank you. Well, Sofi, Flavia Royón, who was passing through here at the Eva Perón Hall, representative for the province of Salta. Well, we just heard Senator Royón who mentioned a point where she disagreed and expressed it in the debate regarding the Labor Assistance Fund, that point that was sanctioned, obviously, that this labor modernization project creates, this 1% fund for large companies and 2.5% for SMEs, which is precisely this fund for assistance when indemnifying a worker, right? This is the fund where those contributions, those points stop going to the pension system to create this fund. And they were telling me that the president is expected to arrive here at the National Congress at 8:40 PM, and was already arriving at the Casa Rosada. Remember, he will make the journey from the Casa Rosada here to the National Congress. You can see in the images how everything is prepared to receive the head of state, and I also understand that governors are arriving through the Rivadavia entrance. Let's go with Shilda.
When governors... the governor of Chaco, Leandro Zdero, has just arrived. Thank you very much for coming over. Well, what a nice staircase. Since he doesn't have to wait to look for a seat because he has a reserved place, we're going to ask for a minute of your time. What expectations do you bring to this Legislative Assembly to hear a presidential speech?
Well, many, like every Argentine, because the country is undergoing great, transcendental changes for Argentina, and of course, in that ratification, what we always hope is that the future will be better, that it must be done with courage, and that this courage allows us to see a different Argentina, an Argentina where we leave behind pettiness, and this year, which is not an electoral year, we can also find coincidences to work all together from wherever we are.
Well, and what do you think about how the new composition in Congress will be, and also about these deputies and senators who are responding to their governors' request?
Well, in principle, I don't know if it's about the governors' request, it's about a logic that is really thought out, that Argentina cannot repeat the same recipes. For more than 10 or 15 years, no jobs have been generated in the province and in the country. Why keep repeating the same recipes? I believe that the labor reform can really induce that to be possible. Of course, we have to work, we have to bring investments. Today, coincidentally, at the opening of sessions, we proposed a constitutional reform to guarantee all investments for more than 30 years, that no new taxes are generated, that we don't change the rules of the game. Well, each of the provinces, each of the municipalities will have to generate alternatives as well. That's why I come with many expectations, and of course, hopefully, the country, our Argentina, and each of the provinces will do much better.
Well, and at the regional level, what do the provinces expect to be announced by the president regarding the projects to be discussed this year?
Well, first, we had an extraordinary announcement and magnificent news, which was the Mercosur agreement with the European Union. I'm actually coming from a trip because important doors are opening. We want to continue exporting honey, charcoal, leather, grains, oil, as we are doing, opening other alternatives, like for example now a great project we're doing that has to do with small livestock, so that our indigenous communities, our Creole communities from the northern Chaco region, who today are raising their goats, their sheep, can sell to this slaughterhouse that opened its doors, and in that way, I believe in five or six days we will be exporting to Arab countries and in that way begin to change the matrix. The expectation is that there are investments, that jobs are generated, that Argentina moves forward, and that people are owners of their own effort and don't have to depend on a political boss, a political leader who tells them, 'This is the scholarship and this is the future of frustration you have.'
Thank you very much, Governor. Thank you.
Very well. We had the word of Leandro Zdero from the province of Chaco. Let's go with you, Sofi.
Yes. One of the 10 provincial leaders who confirmed their presence today. Remember, we are just minutes away from the Legislative Assembly beginning, presided over by the President of the Senate, Victoria Villarruel. We were saying, right? Once the Legislative Assembly begins, the interior and exterior commissions will be designated to receive the president of the nation, who we said will probably arrive around 9:20 PM to give his speech on national broadcast at 9 PM and open the new period of ordinary sessions, the 144th. I'm going to make contact with my colleague Milly Violetti, who is also there in the Hall of Lost Steps, where there are several members of the press, because deputies and senators are gradually entering the Lower House chamber.
That's right, Sofi. We're seeing it here on screen and also, well, to our sides they are entering, the chamber is gradually filling up with senators, deputies, as we said, as in each Legislative Assembly. Remember, Sofi, that what each president does when there is an opening of ordinary sessions is to make a synthesis, a message that is a synthesis of a larger document which is the memory of the State, let's say, the State of the Nation, which is a document that is then circulated among the legislators. During the last two years it was also available through a QR on the senators' seats. Previously it was also printed on each of the seats, but that document is not only the executive guide of public policies that proactively, let's say, pushes the executive branch, but also the legislative agenda, let's say, what matters here in this house, let's say, in this house of laws. So what we see from Javier Milei's speech will be a synthesis of something larger that we will surely be discussing later and analyzing in more detail.
Exactly. Part of President Javier Milei's speech. Now we go back to the Eva Perón Hall.
Thank you, Sofi. Thank you, girls. Well, here we are with Martín Lousteau, national senator. Thank you for being with us. Well, expectations about Javier Milei's speech.
Well, an important day, I don't think it's just an opening of sessions, it always generates expectation for the president to tell us what the roadmap is, what he wants to do from here on, and what projects he wants to send to Congress. We haven't learned of any in particular yet, so well, we're going to listen attentively, right?
Well, what is said regarding what has been circulating about a reform to the Penal Code, supposedly that he could talk about that related to the justice system, because it also covers different areas or the economy. He is now leading a tour to the United States, right? For a very important mining summit.
Well, let's see, all reforms that Argentina has needed for many years, I think, are welcome, and I think we have to push, we have to support, right? All structural reforms, I think it's the moment when there is a Congress that is going to push and help. I would also like to hear and hope that he also announces the issue of regional economies that are suffering a lot from the economic reactivation, concrete measures. So let's see what the president tells us today.
Hopefully. I think Argentina needs to reform its system, simplify and lower taxes.
