The 15 'magnificent' of the internal war in Vox

Vox faces decisive weeks for the future of the party and its internal control. The formation celebrates its General Assembly this Saturday, in which the leadership proposes to reform the statutes to strengthen the power of the leadership against those who “damage the public image” of the party or who, in the case of municipal or regional groups, do not comply with the “instructions” marked as the road map by Bambú.

But in the Vox calendar, not only is Saturday highlighted. There is practically a month left for the party to look at the most crucial elections in which it has participated to date, and in which it hopes, as is happening in numerous territories and municipalities, to have the key to governance for the right.

Earlier, just this week, the deadline for the presentation of lists to Congress and the Senate closed, and both the absences and the presences evidenced the direction that Vox is taking, or at least the one that its leaders are taking a year after the symbolic ones. elections in Andalusia and at the gates of the elections in which Santiago Abascal and his people are risking the work of a decade, while they pressure the Popular Party to access as many regional and local governments as possible.

At this point, who is in charge at Vox? How many currents does the party have? How much do its historical leaders weigh in the organization chart today? Who advises Abascal in his hard core? Who and why disappears from the future plans of the training? What figures should you pay attention to next July 23? The following 15 faces will not be, perhaps, the best known or most decisive, nor the most popular in the Vox, but they will be the fundamental ones to know what has happened, what is happening and what 23-J will bring in the party that keeps the most silence on its doors inside our country.

SANTIAGO ABASCAL: THE LEADER WHO RECOVERS FOCUS

Less than 10 years ago, he broke with the PP by letter after two decades of militancy, founded Vox and managed to go from 40,000 votes to four million in four years. Santiago Abascal stands as the undisputed leader of the party and complies with the hyper-leadership traits that characterize the formations of the new politics. Anyone who knows him highlights his balance and middle ground between the various families that make up Vox's organic scheme, hence no one doubts his continuity. In recent times, it has significantly verticalized the structure of Vox and, in the short term, it has recovered a significant media presence to try to stop the rise of Alberto Núñez Feijóo.

IGNACIO GARRIGA: THE WINNER OF THE 28-M

Within the euphoria that shook Vox on the election night of May 28, there was a smile that stood out above the rest.. Ignacio Garriga, from Barcelona, premiered his management as general secretary of Vox in style after the change in November by Javier Ortega Smith after the Olona case. His arrival at the top of the party reinforced the hard wing of Vox and shielded the Catalan current with a man, a spokesman in Parliament but trained in Congress, who is now, in addition to Abascal's trusted person, the spearhead of the party in a territory as crucial as Catalonia.

JORGE BUXADÉ: THE CONTROL OF VOX IN THE SHADOW

His presence in Mérida this week destabilized to the point of breaking the negotiation with the PP of María Guardiola. Vox Vice President of Political Action and leader of the delegation in Brussels, Jorge Buxadé has become the man who controls the party in the shadows and who, indirectly, has gained organic power in recent times.. First with the rise of Ignacio Garriga and the weakening of Iván Espinosa de los Monteros and Rocío Monasterio; later with the departure of the most liberal profiles from the lists to 23-J. From a Falangist past, it was rumored with his candidacy for Congress. For the moment, he will remain as an MEP and as a spokesman for the formation, of whose hard core he is a part.

JAVIER ORTEGA SMITH: IN THE BACKGROUND AFTER THE 'OLONA CASE'

He was already the most pointed out for many charges, but the hurricane in which the departure of Macarena Olona led ended up knocking him down. Javier Ortega Smith, once one of Santiago Abascal's most trusted, was removed from party control last November and sent to a vice-presidency. He will continue as a councilor in the Madrid City Council and as a deputy, although he has also given up several positions on the list: he goes from two to four for Madrid, proof of the loss of power of one of the first great leaders of Vox.

IVÁN ESPINOSA DE LOS MONTEROS: GIVES POWER IN CONGRESS

The preparation of the lists, more due to absences than presences, denotes the important transfer of Iván Espinosa de los Monteros to other more conservative sectors of the party. The departure of various liberal deputies weakens the parliamentary group project led by Espinosa de los Monteros this legislature and strengthens the toughest sector of the party, which until now played a more testimonial role in the Lower House. Without great organic weight, the land controlled by Iván Espinosa de los Monteros runs the risk of shrinking. The polls also predict that the parliamentary group will lose some muscle on July 23.

ROCÍO MONASTERIO: IN THE AIR FOR A LONG TIME

The figure of Rocío Monasterio is key to understanding the history of Vox and its success to date, but the different internal struggles and the recent electoral results lead the party leader in the Madrid Assembly to an uncomfortable scenario.. After the absolute majority of Isabel Díaz Ayuso, with whom she staged a loud break after not supporting her budgets, the continuity of Monasterio was left up in the air. It was speculated that a jump to Congress has not arrived and, like Ortega Smith, has been overshadowed and in no man's land.

ENRIQUE CABANAS: THE DISCREET RIGHT HAND OF ABASCAL

The very small hard core of Santiago Abascal has familiar faces, such as Jorge Buxadé, and other unrecognizable but deeply influential ones, such as Enrique Cabanas. He has accompanied Abascal since the founding of Vox and is his right hand in making organic decisions. It was he, for example, who recently transferred by telephone several deputies who would not continue the next legislature in Vox.

KIKO MÉNDEZ-MONASTERIO: THE STRONG BAMBOO NEGOTIATOR

In Bambú, the headquarters of Vox, everyone points to the same person when the negotiations arrive: Kiko Méndez-Monasterio (in the image, on the right).. It is the other shadow of Abascal in his cabinet. He was in charge of personally negotiating with the Mazón PP the only pact that Vox has managed to forge with the popular after 28-M, and he coordinates the talks with other territories. He opted for Juan-García Gallardo and created the party model that Vox is today.

MARÍA RUIZ: THE NEW 'NUMBER TWO' FOR MADRID

The more than symbolic second place for Madrid on the lists has gone to the current party organization secretary, María Ruiz, who came to this position after the organic crisis that separated Tomás Fernández, Javier Ortega Smith's right-hand man, who also passed from secretary general to vice president. Ruiz electorally replaces, by the way, Ortega Smith, who falls to number four on the list for Madrid.

IGNACIO HOCES: The incipient adviser to the vox leadership

Extremadura has had an unexpected protagonist in recent days: Ignacio Hoces has not only closely supervised the failed negotiations between the PP and Vox to reach the Junta, but has also become the head of the list for Badajoz to Congress, replacing the historic Victor Sanchez del Real. Hoces, very close to Abascal, whom he regularly advises, occupies the vice-secretary for Institutions of the party.

RUBÉN MANSO: The liberal who created the economic plan

Vox's economic discourse, especially from its beginnings until 2020, had the seal of Rubén Manso, inspector of the Bank of Spain and deputy for Malaga this past legislature. Of a liberal nature, he became Abascal's economic spokesman during the takeoff years of the formation, and passed to a second row after the conservative turn of the party. “Committing an injustice is worse than suffering it,” he said after failing to appear on the lists.

AGUSTÍN ROSETY: Destined for the foundation of Vox

He was one of Vox's most veteran parliamentarians and one of the first to announce that he would not repeat 23-J on the lists. Agustín Rosety, a retired Marine Infantry general, is no longer the head of the list for Cádiz, although the party has found a place for him in the Vox foundation, Disenso, of which he will be an honorary patron. Another former Vox soldier, Manuel Mestre, until now a deputy for Alicante, will not repeat his candidacy either.

VÍCTOR SÁNCHEZ DEL REAL: THE IDEOLOGIST WHO LOST TRUST

The absence of Víctor Sánchez del Real, deputy for Badajoz, on the lists has been the most striking. Ideologue of the Andalusian campaign that in 2018 raised Vox to national success and an expert in political communication, he was one of the most trusted people in the leadership but in recent times he lost the support of the leadership. He is part of the group of parliamentarians from the most liberal side of Vox who will not repeat in these elections.

MIREIA BORRÁS: THE DISAPPEARANCE OF ONE OF THE BETS

The departure of Macarena Olona from Congress opened the way for other deputies to gain weight in Congress. One of them was Mireia Borrás, who was in seventh place on the Madrid list and ended up being one of the most media-ready parliamentarians. Of the highest confidence of Iván Espinosa de los Monteros, he was spokesman for energy matters in the Lower House. Vox relegates her to eleventh place on the list for the capital, which significantly complicates her getting a seat.

MACARENA OLONA: THE SHADOW THAT CHASES VOX

Just one year has passed since the Andalusian elections that led, a month later, to the departure of Macarena Olona from Vox and her subsequent confrontation with the party leadership. His goodbye is today the most traumatic crisis that the formation has experienced, and the current structure of the Vox executive responds to the changes that were made after his accusations of lack of internal democracy and even alleged irregularities.. Now he plans to appear in Granada with his new political formation, Caminando Juntos. He hopes to steal votes from Vox, although in the party they are calm although sorry, they tell in private, due to the drift of what was one day one of the main faces of Vox. His successor on the lists for Granada, coincidentally, will be one of the ideologues of his campaign in Andalusia, Coco Robatto.