ARGENTINA: PRESIDENT NESTOR KIRCHNER ORDERS MILITARY AND FEDERAL POLICE OVERHAUL.
Nestor Kirchner took office May 25, Argentina's sixth president in 18 months. With ten days, he had set in motion one of the most extensive overhauls of the leadership of the armed forces and the Federal Police in recent Argentine history.
"I have a dream to propose to you," said Kirchner in his inaugural address. "It is the construction of truth and justice, of once again having an Argentina with all and for all." Kirchner promised to attack corruption, work for social inclusion, and bring justice to the poor, who are 60% of the population. "We have to make sure the state brings equality where the market excludes and abandons," he said.
In a reference to the 1976-1983 military dictatorship, Kirchner urged Argentines to remember the ideals of "our generation, which gave all and did all, hoping to create a nation of equals."
"I am part of a generation that was decimated and castigated by painful absences," he said, recalling the estimated 30,000 people who disappeared during the dictatorship. "I joined the political struggle believing in values and convictions that I don't intend to leave at the door of the presidential palace," he said, adding, "We arrive without rancor but with memory."
Kirchner criticized the policies of former President Carlos Saul Menem (1989-1999), who withdrew from the May 18 runoff election against Kirchner (see NotiSur, 2003-05-23). He said Menem's policies had concentrated wealth in the hands of the few, and Kirchner promised a "national capitalism" that offers opportunities for social mobility.
The new president pledged to return growth to an economy that shrank by almost 12% last year, and he said that Argentina would not repay its creditors at the expense of needed social spending for the poor.
"They will only be able to collect if things go well for Argentina," Kirchner said. "We are not supporters of default. But we will not pay if it means Argentines giving up their right to decent housing, a secure job, and health care."
Such comments foreshadow a rocky relationship between the Kirchner administration and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Earlier, Kirchner said he would not veto a recently approved bill protecting homeowners from foreclosures, a measure the IMF opposes.
While most regional presidents attended the ceremony, the administration of US President George W. Bush sent no high- ranking representative. The Bush administration has been unhappy with what it says is Argentina's unwillingness to...
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