Neoliberals replace Kirchner's rule in Argentina.
| Autor | Gaudin, Andres |
Argentina is changing its government. Moreover, within a week, on Dec. 10, a new conservative president affiliated with neoliberalism will take office with plans to make a break from three consecutive administrations--the first, Nestor Kirchner's (2003-2007) and two more led by his wife, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner (2007-2015)--characterized by distributive economic policies that favored stabilizing the buying power of wages and the creation of real jobs (NotiSur, May 31, 2013, and Aug. 21, 2015).
Official results show that Mauricio Macri, leader of the Cambiemos (Let's Change) alliance that united nearly all of the opposition, beat the candidate of the party in power, Daniel Scioli of the Frente para la Victoria (FPV, a redefinition of the old Partido Justicialista, the "peronismo" created in the late 1940s by three-term president Juan Domingo Peron [1946-1955, 1973-74]). The meager 2.8% margin will force the new head of state to moderate the adjustment program he had proposed during the campaign. (This lead will likely shrink once the final tally is in--although, to be clear, the lead will become smaller but will not challenge the Cambiemos victory.)
Two things stand out from the balloting held Nov. 22: It was Argentina's first presidential runoff election, and it set a record as the eighth consecutive election in a country where, since its origin, the military has regularly interrupted the democratic processes.
Victory by narrow margin
After Dec. 10, nothing will be the same as it was during 12 years of "Kirchnerism." However, the slight advantage with which Macri will take office forced the president-elect, in a matter of just a few hours, to at least revise the wording of his proposals. Now, in addition to maintaining the policy of human rights based on the triumvirate "Memory, Truth and Justice," a hallmark of the three Kirchner administrations--and a policy Macri always criticized--he will hold off on applying the drastic and immediate monetary devaluation he had proposed, and on revising the current tax scheme.
Of course, this moderate approach is clearly temporary and determined by the fact that Macri doesn't have a majority in either branch of Congress. Moreover, the Senate, which is the entryway for projects requiring a special majority, will be controlled by the FPV. In addition--and this points to a serious situation that will become clearer once the celebrations are over--Senator Ernesto Sanz, a founder of Cambiemos, left...
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