At the 118th Rural Expo in Rafaela, governor Maximiliano Pullaro and deputy governor Gisela Scaglia highlighted the importance of strengthening Santa Fe's representation in Congress and defending its productive core. The closing event was attended by key officials including Minister Gustavo Puccini, Chamber president Clara García, senator Alcides Calvo, mayor Leonardo Viotti, and rural society president Leonardo Alassia.
"I take this moment to greet the families of the countryside who are here and who get up early every day to start up this productive machine that sustains Argentina," Pullaro opened in front of an auditorium full of producers. He added: "We are in the heart of the dairy basin, which provides the country with so many resources, and also in the heart of the industry, which generates work and employment. Because this is what Santa Fe is: it is the countryside, it is industry, and it is commerce".
Protecting the productive core
The governor underlined the difference that the productive interior makes. "If Buenos Aires would look more closely at the province of Santa Fe, Argentina would be doing much better," he said. For Pullaro, the reinvestment character of the sector is central: "When there is a resource left, the countryside invests it to produce more, the industry puts it in a new ship or production line. Nobody thinks about tax havens or cryptocurrencies; they think about generating work.
The governor placed a strong emphasis on the provincial government's investments in public works, which benefit all sectors: "When we took office, the province had a fiscal deficit and debts. By reducing the weight of the state, we began to invest in public works. We repaired 3,400 kilometres of roads and 1,200 kilometres of canals. The last rain showed the difference: in Santa Fe there were not the problems that Bahía Blanca suffered because here there was investment".
Pullaro also vindicated his stance against the national government: "When they wanted to increase withholding taxes, I was the first to stand up. Withholding taxes are the worst tax in Argentina. We want a tax reform, but above all we need to defend the productive interior that works and has always moved the country forward.
The governor argued that this defence should be expressed in legislative representation: "It cannot be that national projects created in the AMBA impose their legislators on us. We need deputies from Santa Fe to defend production, the countryside and industry.
When Argentina is more like Santa Fe, it will be a different country. Here you have a governor who is an ally of the countryside, willing to work alongside you". "Let us have national legislators who defend production. Let's have national legislators who defend the countryside. Let's have national legislators who defend industry. Let's have legislators who defend this productive interior that has always brought Argentina forward", encouraged the president.
Hard work
Scaglia highlighted Santa Fe's rural identity, describing her background as the daughter and granddaughter of producers accustomed to hard work. She noted that local families devote themselves fully to their establishments. Scaglia criticised national taxes like withholdings and fuel tax, arguing they do not benefit the province, which receives no returns in infrastructure or subsidies and must rely on its own resources.
Scaglia added that "defending our province means taking care of our land, with the responsibility of building a future that is more like ours and less like the Buenos Aires conurbation. We want an Argentina of effort and work, that leaves us the resources we produce. That is why we need voices from Santa Fe who represent us, who love this province and who carry in their blood what we are: a people of sacrifice, invincible and unstoppable.
