Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Train disaster in Buenos Aires, the aftermath and the Great God Free Market

Buenos Aires last week had one of the worst train accidents in Argentina's history, with 51 muertos y 703 heridos, according to the text accompanying this Spanish-language report from TV Publica Argentina, Visión Siete: Tragedia de Once: la investigación judicial YouTube date 02/29/2012



That report discusses part of what the judge Caludio Banadío is investigating on this case, whether the company was negligent in its maintenance of the line. And, in connection with that, in what else the company and its subsidiaries may have been investing their money instead of in the railroad lines.

Tomás Lukin writes about the state of the investigation in Cambio de maquinista para la marcha de TBA Página 12 29.02.2012:

El Gobierno dispuso la intervención administrativa, técnica y operativa de la empresa Trenes de Buenos Aires (TBA), del Grupo Cirigliano. La medida alcanza a la concesión de la línea Sarmiento, donde sucedió el accidente de la semana pasada, y también afecta al ramal Mitre, que opera la misma empresa. La decisión permitirá realizar nuevas “auditorías, inspecciones y verificaciones” sobre las condiciones del servicio y la infraestructura con el objetivo de garantizar la continuidad y seguridad en el funcionamiento de los recorridos que explota TBA desde su privatización en 1995. Cuando se encuentren irregularidades, los vagones serán desafectados del servicio hasta su completa reparación. El Ministerio de Planificación ya contactó a la empresa Toshiba, fabricante de los coches que utilizan los ramales, para que colabore con esas tareas. Las nuevas demoras que puedan surgir como consecuencia de esas medidas serán paliadas a través del refuerzo en el servicio de colectivos.

[The Government is making available the administrative, technical and operating intervention of the Group Girigliano to the firm Trenes de Buenos Aires (TBA). The measure affects the concession of the Sarmiento line, where the accident occurred last week, and also affects the Mitre branch, which is operated by the same firm. The decision wil allow new "audits, inspections and verifications" to be made on the conditions of the service and the infrastructure, with the objective of guaranteeing the continuity and safety of the functioning of the routes that TBA has run since their privitization in 1995. When irregularities are found, the cars will be taken out of service until they are completely repaired. The Ministerio de Planificación has already contacted the Toshiba company, manufacturer of the car utilized on the routes, so that they will collaborate on these tasks. New delays that may occur as a consequence of these measures will be alleviated by the increase in bus service.]

The Sarmiento and Mitre lines were run by the state until 1995, when the government of Carlos Menem, which was completely committed to the neoliberal/Washington Consensus program of deregulation and privitization, sold the concessions for those two lines to TBA. Although Cristina Fernández is from the same party as Menem, her politics are very different. She rejects the neoliberal faith in the Great God Free Market. So it will be interesting to see how she handles this. Much of the program she and her late husband, Néstor Kirchner, who was her predecessor as President, have been doing is to clean up the messes made by Menem's model privitization program.

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