Buenos Aires Province Governor Axel Kicillof met New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and holders of his province's debt in New York this week, capping a run of appearances in which he said openly that he is working to defeat President Milei in the 2027 election.
On Wednesday, Kicillof joined Mamdani and Sánchez at a breakfast at Gracie Mansion, the mayor's official residence, according to Infobae. Los Andes reported that the event was titled "Building an Economy for the Many" and that European Council President António Costa and Barbados Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley also attended.
The day before, Kicillof met ten investment funds that hold Buenos Aires provincial bonds, among them BlackRock, Vanguard, Eaton Vance and GoldenTree, along with executives from companies including Microsoft, Google and Mastercard, Infobae reported. He also met businessman José Luis Manzano, whose group recently closed the purchase of Raízen's Shell business in Argentina, and spoke at Columbia University, according to Los Andes.
His message abroad matched the one at home. Argentina is living through "not just an economic failure, but a catastrophe," he said, rejecting the government's description of an economic turnaround. The trip overlapped with Milei's own visit for the UN General Assembly, where the president called the United Nations "useless" over the Malvinas.
The New York trip followed a national gathering of Kicillof's Movimiento Derecho al Futuro (MDF) on September 19 at the National Technological University campus in Avellaneda, which the Buenos Aires Times said drew about 30,000 people. "Count on me so that next year Argentina has an alternative," Kicillof told the crowd. "A national alternative is not built from an office." He also said he was "not interested in anything built by remote control," a line Infobae read as aimed at rivals inside Peronism, and said former President Cristina Kirchner, whose conviction bars her from office, is "unjustly imprisoned."
Two days later, in an interview, he came closest yet to confirming a bid. "We're working on this, we're working to beat Milei, but we're also working to have a much broader proposal for all sectors," he said, according to the Buenos Aires Times.
Kicillof has not formally declared a candidacy, and Peronism has not settled on a standard-bearer. Quilmes Mayor Mayra Mendoza has accused him of dividing the party, according to Infobae.