Buenos Aires provincial police chief accused of narco-trafficking

Felipe Solá, former Governor of Buenos Aires province 2002-2007 and currently a Congressional Deputy for the conservative-Peronist Frente Renovador, is claiming that Pablo Bressi was named as the current police chief of the province at the request of the US Embassy and the DEA.

Bressi was appointed last year by María Eugenia Vidal after she was elected Governor of Buenos Aires. She is part of Argentine President Mauricio Macri's electoral coalition Cambiemos. Elisa "Lilita" Carrió, head of the Foreign Relations Committee of the Chamber of Deputies, has accused Bressi of being involved in drug-trafficking. Carrió is part of Cambiemos, as well, and Solá's Frente Renovador supported Macri in last year's Presidential election. So it's not a purely opposition partisan play, whatever else is involved.

The Buenos Aires Herald reports (Pressure mounts on BA province’s police chief 07/13/2016):

Solá’s claim reflected the deepening political crisis in the BA province administration surrounding Bressi, further exacerbated when [left Peronist] Victory Front (FpV) provincial lawmaker Rodolfo Iriart claimed yesterday that Vidal’s Security Minister Cristian Ritondo was likely to investigate the accusations.

“I warned them about Bressi but I was told he had been asked for personally by the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA),” Solá told Radio Del Plata.

He added that ahead of Bressi’s appointment to Vidal’s provincial administration he had been asked of his opinion of the policeman’s record and stated that there were serious concerns about his background.

“Last November, Cristian Ritondo asked my opinion about the time I spent with Bressi and I told him that I remembered ... we had a great deal of suspicions of his involvement in a bribery issue,” he said.

Last week, Carrió sent an open letter to Vidal saying Bressi had demonstrable links to organized drug-trafficking — a key priority of Vidal’s government — and vowing to support her claims with “evidence.”

It's Sola's request that the United States pressed for Pablo Bressi's appointment. If only because it sounds like a typical twist in a narco-novela. It also makes you wonder just what kind of official friends the US government seeks out in Argentina!

Solá claims that he heard the claim that the US wanted Bressi in that position from the above-mentioned Cristian Ritondo. (“Lo pidieron la embajada y la DEA” Página/12 13.07.2016)

“Me asustó mucho cuando me contestó que lo pide la Embajada, la DEA”, reveló Solá sobre la conversación con Ritondo, a quien se encargó de desacreditar en combo con Vidal. “Si vos querés combatir el narcotráfico en los barrios del Gran Buenos Aires y pensás que los objetivos de un gobernador de Buenos Aires son los mismos que los de la DEA, o no entendiste nunca nada o sos un zonzo, elegí”, disparó.

“A la DEA no le importa el paco en los barrios”, siguió, porque “está enfocada en otras cosas más grandes”. Solá explicó que la DEA “se vale de infiltrarse” entre los jefes narcos, entre quienes recluta “buchones” que luego gozan de impunidad. Bressi, que se desempeñó como Superintendente de Investigaciones sobre el Tráfico de Drogas Ilícitas durante la gobernación de Daniel Scioli, siguió un curso de negociador en toma de rehenes con el Departamento de Estado.

["It bothered me a lot when he responded that the Embassy, the DEA, had requested him," he Solá revealed about the conversation with Ritondo, who he took it upon himself to discredit along with Vidal. "I you want to combat narco-trafficking in the barrios of Greater Buenos Aires and think that the objectives of a Governor of Buenos Aires are the same as those of the DEA, either you don't understand anything, or you're an idiot, you choose," he declared.

The DEA doesn't care about the pacas in the barrios," he continued, because "it's focused on other, much grander things." Solá explained that the DEA "considers it important to infiltrate themselves" among the narco bosses, among whom they recruit "stool pigeons" who later enjoy immunity. Bressi, who functcioned as Superintendent of Investigations for the Traffic in Illegal Drugs during the governorship of Daniel Scioli [Peronist Governor of Buenos Aires province 2007-2015], took a course for negotiating in {cases of} the taking of hostages with the State Department.]

No major international intrigue in evidence in this one so far. But an intriguing story nevertheless.

A Macri "shock doctrine" in Argentina?

Argentine President Mauricio Macri is applying his neoliberal economics doctrines rapidly, in what looks like a "shock doctrine" approach. As of Thursday, a week after his inauguration, Macri's government announced it would let the peso float, which represents in practice a sudden dose of inflation, possibly 30% or more. In the absence of corresponding increases in salaries, it will represent a significant reduction in real wages and salaries for a potentially large majority of the country.

This part of a larger move that also drops the de facto wage and price guidelines Cristina Fernández' government had maintained and a removal of controls on capital mobility into and out of the country. All this adds up to a boon for multinational banks and corporations at the expense of Argentine employment and some industries that had been protected under the previous controls.

Maximilian Heath and Hugh Bronstein report for Reuters (Argentina lifts currency controls, floats peso in bid to boost economy 12/16/2015)

Argentina said on Wednesday it was lifting its currency controls and would allow the peso to float when markets open, setting the stage for a sharp devaluation, following promises by President Mauricio Macri for reforms in order to increase exports and spur economic growth.

Macri, a free-market advocate who took office last week, has vowed to regain investor trust in Argentina, shattered by its 2002 record default, a lack of trustworthy official economic data and heavy state intervention.

Argentina's previous leader, Cristina Fernandez, used central bank reserves to prop up the peso.

By lifting controls, Macri also hopes to spark a wave of investment in an economy that is battling low foreign reserves and double digit inflation.

"He who wants to import will be able to do so, and he who wants to buy dollars will be able to buy them," said Finance Minister Alfonso Prat-Gay, adding that this government intended to normalize the economy, after eight years of interventionism under Fernandez.

A fresh new experiment in neoliberal (Herbert Hoover-style) economics is underway, this one in Argentina.

Of course, Macri and his oligarchical supporters are pushing these as measure to boost the economy, which has entered a slowdown after a remarkable and sustained recovery since 2001 from the financial crash that ended the last long experiment in neoliberal economics there. This Financial Times report picks up on that framing (Daniel Politi, Argentine peso falls by almost a third as controls are lifted 12/17/2015):

The Argentine peso fell by as much as 30 per cent against the dollar on Thursday after Mauricio Macro, the country’s newly elected president, lifted capital controls late on Wednesday night. ...

... the unwinding of capital controls was understood by the market as a key — albeit painful — part of Mr Macri’s plan to open and reform Argentina’s ailing economy. [my emphasis]

As in the eurozone, "reform" in this context means neoliberal measures: deregulation of business, cutbacks in public services, weakening of labor unions, reduction of workers' and pensioners' incomes, subservience to international finance and business.

The move to undo what was popularly referred to as the “dollar clamp” is the biggest step taken yet by Mr Macri toward opening up Argentina’s economy since he was sworn-in as president on December 10.

The wholesale market closed at 13.4 pesos to the dollar, implying a devaluation of 27 per cent. The retail market closed at 14 pesos to the dollar, implying a devaluation of 30 per cent. But there were few operations, with most banks and foreign exchange houses not operating in the foreign currency market.

Not suprisingly, the new Finance Minister Alfonso Prat-Gay declared himself happy with the results on the first day.

Raúl Dellatorre (El país de la ciclovía financiera Página/12 18.12.2015) cautions about the large impact of the two measures of floating the currency and removal of capital controls, expected they are "destined to generate financial and exchange-rate instability" ("destinados a generar inestabilidad financiera y cambiaria"). He expects the effects will negatively impact a "large majority" of Argentinians.

The country's two most prominent union leaders, Hugo Yasky of the CTA (General de la Central de Trabajadores) and Hugo Moyano of the CGT (Confederación General del Trabajo), both rightly observed that without substantial salary increases, the result will be a major reduction in real wages. (Ajuste brutal con olor a los 90 Página/12 18.12.2015) Even though Mayano is party of the Peronist Partido Justilicialista (PT), he supported Macri in the election, while Yasky backed the Peronist candidate Daniel Scioli. Since Macri's margin of victory was 2%, Mayano's support and his hostility to Scioli's candidacy could well have been decisive for Macri's win.

Macri's government also dropped some export controls that were a key part of Cristina's government's plan to increase Argentina's domestic development. (Macri ditches wheat, corn, beef export taxes Buenos Aires Herald 12/14/2015)

Outside of the economy, Macri is also moving to modify the media law to allow more monopoly media concentration. He has taken a controversial step to start appointing judges by decree, bypassing the normal Congressional approval process. He is abrogating the memorandum of understanding with Iran that was put into place to facilitate the ongoing investigation of the AMIA Jewish Community Center bombing in Buenos Aires in 1994. And he's pushing for a closer association with Washington and promoting neoliberal "free trade" agreements that are mainly about reducing regulations and blocking labor and environmental protections.

Daniel Scioli and former Finance Minister Axel Kiciloff both participated in a large Peronist demonstration in front of the Congress Thursday to protest the changes to the media law, in particular. (Marcha del kirchnerismo frente al Congreso contra las primeras medidas de Mauricio Macri Infobae 17.12.2015)

Macri and his neoliberal experiment are not going to have a smooth ride politically the next four years.

Argentine Presidential election, the day after

It's a new political day in Argentina. A good one for the oligarchy. For the others, not so much.

Newly-elected President Mauricio Macri is already talking up neoliberal trade agreements and demanding that the Mercosur commercial alliance continue to exclude Venezuela, adding to the latter buzzwords in favor of the rightwing opposition to the government of Nicolás Maduro. (Excluir a Venezuela y converger en la Alianza del Pacífico Página/12 23.11.2015) He also says he wants to put more emphasis on the Alianza del Pacífico, a trade bloc that currently includes only Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru. This set of priorities signals a desire for friendlier relations with the US and Europe.

Macri also indicated he wants to end the agreement with Iran that Cristina Fernández's outgoing government negotiated in pursuit of the still-continuing investigation of the AMIA Jewish Community Center bombing of 1994. (Macri to request AMIA memorandum derogation Buenos Aires Herald 11/23/2015) This seems to be an indication that Macri will further stall that investigation, which has been stalled for far too long.

Macri's expressed desire to devaluate the Argentine peso will be closely watched and speculated about, mentally and financially. He will be inaugurated December 10.

Here are two reports from TV Pública argentina on Macri's electoral victory and his public signals so far about his direction in office.

Visión 7 - Un gabinete económico con seis ministros (1 de 2) 11/23/2015:

Visión 7 - Un gabinete económico con seis ministros (2 de 2) 11/23/2015:

Another interesting development is that Ernesto Sanz, the head of the Unión Cívica Radical (UCR), the main party backing Macri nationally, will not serve in Macri's government. He declined a cabinet position offered by Macri. (Sanz declines Justice minister position Buenos Aires Herald 11/23/2015)

One grim sign of the new times is that on Monday, the day after the election, La Nación, the traditional newspaper (and media group) of the Argentine oligarchy, is running this editorial calling for impunity from prosecution for those who committed crimes during the 1976-83 military dictatorship (murder, torture, kidnapping, etc.): No más venganza 23.11.2015

It says those were "unfortunate actions" but they were fighting TERRORISM aaa-iii-eeee!!! In Argentina, this would be called a "gorila" editorial, definitely not a compliment (also not to be confused with "guerrilla").

Some of the paper's own journalists publicly criticized the editorial. (No más venganza Buenos Aires Herald 11/23/2015)

Also, in a move that sounds a bit ominous to me, Macri said he was going to declare a security emergency, apparently on his first day in office, to "take control of our territory." That's a bit of Trump-like rhetoric, suggestion ludicrously that Argentina today is a failed state. That's just nuts.

This TV Pública argentina report discusses the editorial in La Nación at the first, Visión 7 Resumen - Parte 1 del 23-11-2015 11/23/2015:

The Congress still has a Peronist majority, so they should be able to restrain some of Macri's bad policies.

The TV Pública argentina also discusses the very significant and unusual political situation this election produced in that the same party will control the Presidency, the City of Buenos Aires and the Province of Buenos Aires.

Fernando Cibeira reports on Buenos Aires Province:

Histórico bastión del FpV, en las últimas dos elecciones la provincia de Buenos Aires resultó su talón de Aquiles, justo el distrito que el candidato Daniel Scioli gobernó durante los últimos ocho años.

[The historic bastion of the FpV {the Peronist electoral alliance}, in the last two elections the Province of Buenos Aires turned out to be their Achilles heel, precisely the district the {FpV} candidate Daniel Scioli governed the last eight years.]

Venezuela has national elections on December 6. We'll see if that shows a more conservative voting trend there at well. With Dilma Rousseff in Brazil the target of a serious impeachment drive by the opposition, it's shaping up to be a disappointing year for the left in parts of South America.

The Right wins the Argentine Presidency

The Kirchner era (2003-2015) is over. For the time being.

The oligopoly's candidate Mauricio Macri won the Presidential runoff against the Peroist candidate Daniel Scioli, who had served as Governor of Buenos Aires province. The City of Buenos Aires, is where Macri has served as Governor since 2007 with the PRO party, which he founded. He failed in his Presidential challenge to encumbent Cristina Fernández in 2011. But he succeeded this time.

Projections at the time of 51% of the ballots were counted showed a strong win for Macri with 54%, 46% for Scioli. (Macri mantiene la ventaja 22.11.2015)

That same Página/12 article included this Draculaesque photo of Macri:

The Buenos Aires Herald reports with 93% of the returns shows Macri with 52%, Scioli 48%. Cristina has called Macri with her congratulations (CFK calls Macri to congratulate him; they will meet on Tuesday Buenos Aires Herald 11/22/2015)

Scioli has also conceded: Jorge Otaola and Juliana Castilla, Opposition candidate Macri wins Argentina's presidential election Reuters 11/22/2015.

Página/12 profiled the two runoff candidates in Los candidatos en espejo 22.11.2015. The Buenos Aires Herald provides a list of the two candidates' positions in English, Main positions of each candidate 11/22/2015.

Macri is kind of an Argentinian Mitt Rommey, born on third base and thinks he hit a triple. A typical plutocrat, in other words, though the Peronists typically call them oligarchs. In American political vocabulary, underdeveloped countries have "oligarchs," we just have "the wealthy." Or, if you're a Republican, "job creators."

The Miami Herald carries a decent AP article on the election by Peter Prengman, Opposition wins Argentine election, ending ‘Kirchner era’ 11/22/2015 Prengman notes accurately that Cristina "along with her late husband dominated the country’s political scene for 12 years and rewrote its social contract." He doesn't mention that Scioli's defeat will very likely mean that Cristina will start immediately working toward a third term in 2019.

Prengman gives this brief summary of some of Macri's likely economic policies:

Macri, the mayor of Buenos Aires, promised to lift unpopular controls on the buying of U.S. dollars and thus eliminate a booming black market for currency exchange. Doing that would likely lead to a sharp devaluation of the Argentine peso. With low foreign reserves, the government would desperately need an immediate infusion of dollars. Those could come from many different places, but ultimately would require structural changes to a largely protectionist economy, solving the debt spat and developing warmer relations with other nations, including the United States.

In other words, the neoliberal prescription will get yet another test in Argentina.

María Esperanza Casullo describes the rise of the Macri/PRO/Cambiemos coalition in Argentina’s Cambiemos: A party from the elite, by the elite, for the elite? NACLA 11/06/2015:

Last week’s [October 25] election confirmed that there is now a strong center-right party in Argentina. The leadership of that party is decidedly “porteño” in origin, unapologetically pro-market in its ideological orientation, and led by members of the country’s economic elite. What’s more, Macri’s Cambiemos coalition has shown that it has the ability to win votes among the poor on its own.

The election [of October 25] was not good for Peronism. The Peronist candidate, Daniel Scioli, raked in the lowest share for the party since 1983 (37%), while the Cambiemos coalition surprised everyone, obtaining 34% of the national vote. The election in the province of Buenos Aires, which contains 38% of all Argentine voters, included even greater losses for Peronist candidates. Even though the province of Buenos Aires is historically a Peronist stronghold — a non-Peronist governor has not been elected there since 1983 — Cambiemos won the governorship of the province by four points (39% to 35%). In the cities of the province, voters rejected half of the Peronist mayoral incumbents. This included the defeat of a Peronist trade union leader and sitting mayor, Francisco “Barba” Gutiérrez, who lost in the city of Quilmes to a TV chef. Peronism even lost for the very first time in the town of Berisso, nicknamed “the cradle of Peronism.” The first protesters demanding Juan Domingo Perón’s liberation from prison famously marched from Berisso to Buenos Aires in 1945, a moment that is considered the birth of the Peronist movement.

... Both the new governor of Buenos Aires and the Buenos Aires mayor are close allies of Mauricio Macri, having risen to their current positions from within Macri’s own inner circle rather than holding positions of local leadership. Neither of them have their own loyal constituencies and would likely answer to Mauricio Macri in a very direct and vertical manner, should he be elected.

Although Macri's team advocates assistance for the poor and Macri himself made a show of respect for classic Peronism, we can expect a neoliberal/Washington Consensus set of economic policies from his government:

The policy implications of a possible Cambiemos presidency remain difficult to parse. There is no question that most of the economic and policy advisers that the coalition has recruited advocate what political scientists Steven Levitsky and Kenneth Roberts have called “social liberalism” — that is, support for maximum freedom for economic markets and a reduction of state intervention, with the exception of some anti-poverty initiatives. In matters of foreign policy, leaders of Cambiemos have also suggested that they would re-align Argentina toward the United States, and away from Brazil and other South American nations.

Macri has criticized Cristina's governments policy of resisting the ludicrous demands of American vulture funds for repayment of defaulted debt: "a Macri government would almost certainly return Argentina to the capital markets, both settling the bill with the foreign “vulture funds” and using foreign-issued debt as a mechanism to offset the costs of liberalizing the dollar and eliminating soybean export taxes."

Settling on terms favorable to the vultures would in itself be a devastating blow for Argentina's economy. Running up large debts that bring healthy profits to foreign lenders and opportunities for vulture funds has been a hallmark of neoliberal policies in Latin America and elsewhere.

The main face of the vulture funds in the dispute with Argentina has been hedge-fund billionaire Paul Singer, who recently endorsed Mario Rubio for the American Presidency.

I'm thinking I'm hearing from somewhere a song to the tune of the Louvin Brothers' "The Angels Rejoiced Last Night":

Oh, the vulture funds rejoiced in New York last night
I heard Paul Singer praying, Maricio make it right
They were laughing and drinking, with tears in their eyes
'Cause Macri won the vote in Argentina last night

Here's Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell doing the original song:

Shoot, it such a great song, here's another version, Rhonda Vincent and Rebecca Lynn Howard - The Angel's Rejoiced:

Scioli vs. Macri in the Argentine Presidential election

Argentina's Presidential runoff election between Peronist Daniel Scioli and oligopolist Mauricio Macri takes place this Sunday, November 22.

This past Sunday, the two candidates debated. Here are the Spanish-language videos of the debates from TV Pública Argentina.

#ElDebateEnTVP - Tema: Desarrollo económico y humano - 15-11-15 (16:20):

#ElDebateEnTVP - Tema: Educación e infancia - 15-11-15 (14:56):

#ElDebateEnTVP - Tema: Seguridad y DD HH - 15-11-15 (13:58):

#ElDebateEnTVP - Tema: Fortalecimiento democrático - 15-11-15 (14:35):

#ElDebateEnTVP - Palabras finales - 15-11-15 (5:24):

The news team of TV Pública Argentina evaluated the debate afterwards. It's safe to say they were more favorably impressed by Scioli's performance. Visión 7 - Balances después del debate entre Scioli y Macri (45:03)

One of Scioli's main arguments is in favor of continuing the capital controls with which Cristina Fernández' government has managed price controls and promoted the development of domestic industry. Another is that he wants to continue resisting the blackmail being conducted by American vulture funds against Argentina. Macri has tried to avoid specifics. But it seems pretty clear that he will try to come to terms with the vulture funds that will be unfavorable to his country. And that he will push for a devaluation against the dollar that would produce a level of inflation that would reverse many of the gains that the previous two "kirchnerist" governments have achieved.

The Argentine Sub-Secretary for External Commerce, Paula Español, warns in an interview about the negative consequences of the kind of trade liberalization advocated by Macri's economic advisers, i.e., dropping import controls, along with devaluation. (“Pone en riesgo la industria” Página/12 18.11.2015) Macri wants to go back to the kind of neoliberal/Washington Consensus model that predominated in the 1990s and led to the financial crisis of 2001, which produced a major governmental crisis, as well. Español told Página/12 that the sectors she expected to be most adversely affected would be "textiles, autos, auto parts, wood and furniture, footware and toys."

The Buenos Aires Herald reports (‘There is a triangle of regression: IMF, vultures and the alliance candidate’ 11/18/2015)

From the province of Santa Fe, where he is campaigning ahead of Sunday presidential runoff, the Victor Front candidate Daniel Scioli insisted he is the guarantee of the “exchange rate stability” and was confident that “many are analyzing their vote.”

He continued: “There is a triangle of regression: IMF, vultures and the alliance candidate,” he said, referring to his contender from the Let’s Change [Cambiemos] coalition, Mauricio Macri.

Scioli on Macri (Argentine elections)

A week from today is the final round of the Argentine Presidential election pitting Peronist candidate Daniel Scioli against the oligopoly's favorite, Mauricio Macri, who is kind of like an Argentine version of Mitt Romney.

Scioli's electoral alliance is called Frente para la Victoria (FpV). Macri's is called Cambiemos.

Página/12 Scioli: "Hay muchos que están arrepentidos de haber votado a Macri" 09.11.2015 gives an example of the kind of criticism Scioli is directing against Macri in the runoff:

... el candidato del oficialismo señaló que "las propuestas económicas y energéticas" de su rival de Cambiemos, Mauricio Macri, "dan miedo". "Si vamos a dejarnos guiar en el tema energético por un gerente de Shell, así nos va a ir; si vamos a dejarnos guiar por un gerente de Monsanto en la agenda agrícola, así nos va a ir; si vamos a dejarnos guiar por un gerente de Lan Chile, cómo va Aerolíneas a terminar despegando", advirtió.

Por eso, el postulante por el FpV agregó que "cuando Macri habla de lo que va a hacer en materia de Energía, despierta una inmediata reacción porque ya nadie piensa en volver atrás con YPF, porque eso es soberanía".

[... the candidate of the encumbent part signaled that "the economic and energy proposals" of his rival of Cambiemos, Mauricio Macri, "are scary." "If we are going to turn over the direction of our energy team to a manager of Shell, that's how things will go for us {i.e., things will go the way Shell wants}; If we are going to turn over the direction of our agricultural agenda to a Monsanto manager, that's how things will go for us; if we are going to turn over the direction to a LAN Chile manager, how is Aerolíneas going to get off the ground," he warned.

For this reason, the FpV candidate added that "when Macri talks about what's going to happen in matters of the Energy Department, he awakes an immediate reaction because really no one is thinking about going backwards with YPF, because that is sovereignty."]

Scioli's references to the national airline Aerolíneas and the energy compnay YPF, he's naming the two most significant enterprises that were privatized under neoliberal practices and re-nationalized during Cristina Fernandez' Presidency as measures to defend Argentina's sovereignty and prosperity.

Scioli and Macri have a debate tonight. The Buenos Aires Herald reports (Scioli seeks to turn the tables with debate 11/15/2015):

Regarding economic issues, Scioli and Macri will be asked to debate over inflation, employment and social security as well as subsidies and foreign currency restrictions.

The two candidates will also have to refer to security and human rights, explaining their proposals on sensitive areas such as drug-trafficking — a topic that was brought into the political spotlight by the Supreme Court with the creation of a judicial commission to fight narcotics, human-trafficking, gender and what they should do with the security forces and the secret services — which were reformed earlier this year by the Kirchnerite [FpV] administration after the mysterious death of former AMIA special prosecutor Alberto Nisman.

The future of the trials for dictatorship-era crimes can be among the topics that the two nominees will discuss, with human rights groups preparing to endorse Scioli’s presidential bid ahead of the runoff with Macri.

Argentina's elections

Javier Lewkowicz reports on the current Argentine Presidential election in Argentina’s runoff to be determined by a penalty shoot-out democraciaAbierta 10/27/2015.

Left-Peronist incumbent President Cristina Fernández is termed out after two consecutive terms, though she could run against in 2019. And she has said she plans to stay active in the politics of the Partido Justicialista (PJ), the main Peronist party.

The big contest in the current election is between Argentina's current version of Mitt Romney, Mauricio Macri, and the PJ candidate, Daniel Scioli. The final round of the election comes in two weeks, November 22.

There was a preliminary round on October 25. Argentina now has a law that forces a runoff in the Presidential election so that a candidate has to get a majority to be elected. National campaigns in Argentina tend to run as part of coalition parties. Scioli's alliance is the Frente para la Victoria (FPV).

Macri previously served as the Governor of Buenos Aires City, where he headed his own party, the PRO (Propuesta Republicana). The main opposition party, called the party of the oligarchy by the Peronists, is the Union Civica Radical (UCR). The Radicals are backing Macri under the electoral alliance called Cambiemos. Consistent with the name of Macri's party, anti-Peronists are starting to identify themselves as "republicans." The association with the US party of the same name is not lost on the Peronists. The UCR is an official party of the Socialist International. So is the smaller Partido Socialist (PS), currently headed by Hermes Binner. Since the days of Juan Perón's first Presidency, the PS has largely acted as an ally of UCR in national politics, including supporting the 1955 coup against Perón's elected government. The supporters of that so-called "Revolution Libertadora" in 1955 also identified themselves as "republicans," though their political practice was very different that what most people think of as a representative republican form of government.

For the November 22 election, the PS is officially neutral between Macri and Scioli. (Ni Macri ni Scioli para el socialismo) Página/12 29.10.2015. They backed a minor candidate, Margarita Stolbizer, in the October 25 round. Her electoral alliance is called Frente Amplio Progresista (FAP), of which the PS is a part. But since the PS largely supports the neoliberal policies of the Washington Consensus, as does Macri but not the PJ, it's unlikely that their voters would necessarily support Scioli over Macri in the final round. Their not a major force nationally. Their electoral alliance received on 3% of the votes on October 25. But in a very close race, those votes could be decisive. Stolbizer has also taken a neutral position for November 22 while making it clear that she's closer to Macri's pro-oligarchy positions than to Scioli's more genuinely social-democratic ones.

To further illustrate the complexity of the partisan and ideological alignments, there is a group of Congressional deputies who call themselves Unidad Socialista para la Victoria (USpV) and are aligned with the Peronist-led FpV currently headed by Scioli. (En búsqueda de coincidencias Página/12 31.10.2015) The USpV includes the deputies Jorge Rivas y Oscar González.

In the October 25 round, Scioli came out with 36%, Macri with 35%. Sergio Massa came in third with 21%. Massa had split from the PJ and was basically running as a conservative Peronist with an electoral alliance called Unidos por una Nueva Alternativa (UNA). Massa's own party is called the Frente Renovador. Massa opposed the main PJ and the left Peronists. But the Frente Renovador is still part of the larger Peronist movement. (Peronism as a political concept is exceptionally complicated!) So it's uncertain where his October 25 voters are likely go on November 22. But it's reasonable to expect that more would go to Scioli than to Macri, whatever Massa's personal leanings. He's been publicly neutral on the November 22 runoff, though some of his prominent allies have indicated a lean to Macri. (Miguel Jorquera, Massa, sin definición para el ballottage Página/12 26.10.2015; Fernando Cibeira, Scioli ganó por poco y va al ballottage con Macri Página/12 26.10.2015; Argentina Presidential Challenger Mauricio Macri Seeks Common Ground With Sergio Massa NDTVReuters 10/28/2015; Richard Lough and Maximilian Heath, Massa allies lean toward opposition challenger in presidential run-off Reuters 10/208/2015)

One of the wild cards is the Province of Buenos Aires, where Scioli has been the Governor since 2007. Macri beat him there in the October 25 round. Buenos Aires province, even with the City of Buenos Aires which is its own separate province, has around 40% of the Argentine population. That's why the affairs of the capital city and Buenos Aires Province figure so very prominently in national politics. Peter Prengaman and Almudena Calatrava report that various issues are important in the province, with crime being particularly prominent at the moment. (Sprawling BA province key to runoff AP/Buenos Aires Herald 11/08/2015) It can sometimes be a challenge for non-Argentines to keep up with what is meant exactly by "Buenos Aires," i.e., Buenos Aires City, Greater Buenos Aires (the city plus the suburbs in the province), and Buenos Aires Province.

It's also a bad sign that the pro-Macri opposition won the Governorship in Buenos Aires Province. "El impactante triunfo de María Eugenia Vidal en Buenos Aires marca el fin de la hegemonía del peronismo en el distrito más importante del país desde hace 28 años" ["The impressive victory " of María Eugenia Vidal in Buenos Aires {Province} marks and end to the hegemony of Peronism {that has held} for 28 years in the most important district of the country."] (Página/12 26.10.2015) But Scioli's Presidential ticket won significantly more votes than the provincial ticket of the FpV headed by Anibal Fernández.

Javier Lewkowicz characterizes the situation as follows. I wouldn't characterize the differences between the political groupings exactly the way he does. But this gives a good general idea of the situation:

But he did not pronounce them on Monday October 26, 2015, after his huge electoral performance the day before. Macri was evaluating his electoral victory on December 5, 1995, his first step into politics. At that moment, the runoff, Daniel Scioli, the alliance with the Unión Cívica Radical, his three successive victories as Buenos Aires City mayor, and the constitution of his own political party, the Republican Proposal (PRO), all belonged to an unpredictable future. By the end of 1995, Macri also won the elections to become president of the Boca Juniors football club. Popular sport magazines ran front page headlines saying: “Argentina’s Berlusconi”.

Last Sunday, the Macri-led Cambiemos (Lets’ change) alliance achieved what not even the most optimist militants would have dared to imagine. He got himself into the second round of the presidential election with a close-to-technical draw with Daniel Scioli, the candidate for the Front for Victory, the party in power in Argentina since 2003. Macri even managed to defeat Peronism in the elections for governor of the Buenos Aires Province, something that had not happened since 1983. The size of the electoral results, whatever happens in the second round, is gigantic. Kirchnerism’s political hegemony since the country’s way out of the 2000/2012 crisis is now hampered, and a bipolar scheme emerges.

Macri can be located in what is now called the new right, economically liberal but not fully anti-popular, democratic and sensible to changes in the public mood. Henrique Capriles, Aecio Neves and Sebastián Piñera, in Venezuela, Brasil and Chile respectively, also belong to this category. Scioli and Peronism, on their side, represent a relatively light version of Kirchnerism [Cristina Fernández' policies], with no great expectations and willing to mend broken bounds, from the IMF to the local corporate media.

Elections in Argentina

Another round of voting is taking place today in Argentina nationwide in primaries known as the PASO (Primarias, Abiertas, Simultáneas y Obligatorias) that were established by the Congress in 2009. Thirty-two million voters are eligible to participate in the election. (Los resultados oficiales estarán desde las 22 Página/12 09.08.2015)

Cristina Kirchner votó en Río Gallegos, from the President's YouTube channel, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner 08/09/25015:

Horacio Verbitsky writes that whatever the outcome of today's PASO, it's pretty obvious that there is still massive public support for the general direction established by the left-Peronist governments of Cristina and her late husband Néstor Kirchner since 2003. (Un paso más Página/12 09.08.2015)

The standard-bearers for the Frente para la Victoria (FpV), which is the electoral alliance led by Cristina's Partido Justicialista, are Daniel Scioli for President and Carlos Zannini. Scioli is presently the governor of Buenos Aires Province. The are campaigning for a continuation of the policies of kirchnerismo. Zannini is probably closer to Cristina's policies and style of politics than Scioli (Carlos Zannini, a man of great confidence for the Kirchners Buenos Aires Herald 06/16/2015):

Zannini is also known as the legal architect of all the key bills and decrees formulated by kirchnerites.

A low-profile official, his appearances have come at times when kirchnerism needed strong support for a bill or act. The tight links he enjoyed with Néstor were maintained with Cristina when the former head of state passed away. Zannini also forms the top table, with Máximo Kirchner, of the K universe and has strong connections with La Cámpora [the kirchernist youth group].

Today's election also include a vote for delegates to Parlasur, the parliamentary body for the Mercosur alliance (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela, with Bolivia in the official process of accession).

The next round of elections will be in October.

New President elected in Uruguay, Argentine politicians welcome the choice

Tabaré Vázquez has just elected the new President of Uruguay as the candidate of the current President José Mujica's left-leaning reformist Frente Amplio. Vázquez previously served as President 2005-2010. The Uruguayan Presidential term begins in March, so his new term is for the 2015-2020 period.

Here is a Spanish-language video report from Visión 7 - Uruguay: Tabaré es el nuevo presidente TV Pública argentina 12/01/2014

BBC News reports (Tabare Vazquez wins Uruguay's run-off election 12/01/2014):

Uruguay's leftist candidate Tabare Vazquez has easily beaten rival Luis Lacalle Pou in a presidential run-off.

Final results gave Mr Vazquez, from the governing Broad Party, 52.8%, compared with 41% for Mr Lacalle Pou, of the right-wing National Party.

Mr Vazquez, 74, is a cancer doctor who served as president from 2005-10. ...

Mr Vazquez has pledged to boost social spending and keep the economy in its current good shape.

He also wants to reform the education system and fight crime - two of the weakest points of Mr Mujica's government, the BBC's Ignacio de los Reyes in Montevideo reports.

Outgoing Uruguayan President José Mujica was noted for his austere lifestyle as well as for his popular-democratic politics. Here is a 2012 interview with him, Entrevista exclusiva al Presidente de la República José Mujica Daniel Castro YouTube Channel 11/23/2012:

BBC News provides a Uruguay profile of Mujica 12/01/2014:

Like his predecessor, Tabare Vazquez, Mr Mujica belongs to the left-wing Broad Front (Frente Amplio) coalition, and promised to continue President Vazquez's policies.

He was a co-founder of the left-wing Tupamaros urban guerrilla movement during the 1960s, and was imprisoned during the 1973-1985 military dictatorship.

Mr Mujica played a key role in transforming the Tupamaros group into a legitimate political party. Though he is popular with working-class Uruguayans, his rebel background alarmed conservatives, and while running for the presidency he was at pains to stress that he had left his militant past behind.

On being inaugurated as president, he said it was important to look to the future, and insisted that he bore no grudge against Uruguay's armed forces. [my emphasis]

Reaction from Argentine President Cristina Fernández and her Peronist Partido Justicialista was favorable. This is notable, because Cristina's predecessor, husband and political partner Néstor Kirchner had fairly tense relations with Uruguay when the now Vázquez' previous presidency in Uruguay overlapped with Néstor's in Argentina. The main dispute was over Uruguay's authorization on the construction of two paper factories (pasteras) in binational waters of the Uruguay river shared by Uruguay and Argentina. Néstor's government took Uruguay to the International Court of Justice over the dispute, which had to do with the pollution the plants could produce. It was eventually resolved by a bilateral agreement for pollution monitoring. But the dispite did spill over into Cristina's first Presidential term.

Página/12 reported in 2012 (Uruguay suma otra pastera 02.09.2014) that the dispute over the pasteras was "uno de los mayores conflictos diplomáticos de la historia entre Uruguay y Argentina" ("one of the biggest diplomatic conflicts in history between Uruguay and Argentina").

Here is a TV Pública argentina report on Cristina's congratulations to Vázquez, Visión 7 - Cristina felicitó a Tabaré, presidente electo de Uruguay 12/01/2014:

Jorge Capitanich, the head of Cristina's Cabinet and often a public spokesperson for her government said, "La presidenta Crtistina [sic] Kirchner) se comunicó con Tabaré Vázquez para felicitarlo por las elecciones en la República Oriental del Uruguay y, en la exposición, el mismo Tabaré Vázquez manifestó que el tema de las pasteras es una cuestión del pasado." ("President Christina [sic] Kirchner communicated with Tabaré Vázquez to congratulate him on the elections in the Western Republic of Uruguay and, in the discussion, Tabaré Vázquez himself put forward that the theme of the pasteras is a question of the past.") ("La relación bilateral será auspiciosa" Página/12 01.12.2014)

La Nación, traditionally the main press organ of the anti-Peronist oligarchía and bitterly anti-Cristina, reports that two possible 2015 Argentine Presidential candidates, the Peronist Governor of Buenos Aires province, Daniel Scioli, and the neoliberal Socialist Party leader Hermes Binner, were present at Vázquez' headquaters on Sunday as the votes were coming in. (Daniel Scioli y Hermes Binner, presentes en el bunker de Tabaré Vázquez 01.12.2014) Another potential 2015 Argentine Presidential candidate, the Peronist Jorge Enrique Taiana, a Buenos Aires legislator who served as Foreign Minister in both Nésto's and Cristina's cabinets, was also present in Montevideo. (“Un nuevo triunfo democrático” Página/12 01.12.2014)

Taiana resigned as Foreign Minister (Canciller is the official title) after a reported dispute with Cristina over how the Uruguayan pasteras would be montiored, which his supporters apparently claimed was all a big misunderstanding. (Fernando Cibeira, Cambio de mando en el Palacio San Martín Página/12 19.06.2010) His father, Jorge Alberto Taiana, served in Juan Perón's Cabinet during his Presidency of 1973-4 and also served as Perón's doctor. (Taiana, un "hombre del Presidente" La Nación 28.11.2005)

Another possible Peronist candidate for 2015, Defense Minister Agustín Rossi, hailed Vázquez' win as one in a recent string including the re-elections this year of Presidents Dilma Roussief's in Brasil and Evo Morales' in Bolivia as a progressive reform trend which he predicts will be repeated in 2015 with the Peronist electoral alliance, the Frente para la Victoria (FpV).

Cristina will be attending a meeting of the South American alliance UNASUR this week in Guayaquil, Ecuador. Vázquez is likely to show up there, though his actual Presidential term doesn't begin for three months.

Campaigning over Néstor Kirchner in Argentina

The next Presidential election in Argentina is in 2015, with incumbent President Cristina Fernández stepping down after two terms. There are several potential candidates lining up to be nominated by the Partido Justicialista (PJ), the Peronist party of which Cristina and her late husband and predecessor as President, Néstor Kirchner, are a part. It's not unusual in Argentina now for parties to make electoral coalitions on which they run and organize their voting blocs in Congress. The Peronist party is currently running as the lead party of the Frente para la Victoria (FpV).

Página/12 asked seven leading potential candidates, which they call "precandidates," for the FpV nomination to talk about the legacy of Néstor Kirchner, who died four years ago. (El Néstor Kirchner que yo conocí 26.10.2014)

It's an interesting way to get them to state their general outlook by asking them to focus on a symbolic figure, whose image is in some ways a more important symbol for Peronists now that the party founder Juan Perón or even Evita.

The candidates who contributed to the tributes are Julián Domínguez (President of the Cámara de Diputados, the lower House of Congress), Aníbal Fernández (Senator and former head of Cristina's Cabinet), Florencio Randazzo (Minster of the Interior and Transportation), Agustín Rossi (Defense Minister), Daniel Scioli (Governor of Buenos Aires province), Jorge Taiana (Legislator for Buenos Aires City) and Sergio Urribarri (Governor of Entre Ríos).

Scioli and Urribarri have previously emphasized their adherence to the political direction of kirchnerismo, the term used to describe the social-democratic policies of Néstor and Cristina. (Contra el frente derogador Página/12 20.10.2014)

In this current piece, Scioli makes particular mention of his approval of the economic policies of kirchnerismo that defy the neoliberal orthodoxy. "Sigamos sus políticas de desendeudamiento e inclusión," he says. ("We will continue to follow his policies of debt reduction and inclusion.")

Urribarri goes light on policy, light as in not mentioning any. He focuses instead on an anecdote about Néstor and declares that he won the confidence of both Kirchners.

Dominguez praises Néstor for sticking to his policies in his Presidency in dealing with "un default irresponsablemente generado por las tropelías de los noventa" ("a default irresponsibly generated by the outrages of the 90s"). He also praises Néstor for politicizing young people across the political spectrum, which may a condescending way of dismissing La Campora, the Peronist youth organization that is a pillar of support for kirchnerista policies. But Dominguez also praises Néstor at the end for his promotion of the organization of South American nations UNASUR, for his assertive policy in defending the Malvinas Islands as Argentine territory, and his policy of judicial accountability for criminals of the military dictatorship of 1976-83.

Fernández calls Néstor "el Perón de mi época" ("the Perón of my era"), in politician's style putting the phrase into the mouth of an anonymous young person he heard talking about Néstor's death. And he tells what in America the blogger Digby would call a "Tipnronnie" story, referring to the favorite tale of our Pod Pundits about how Reagan and Democratic House Speaker Tip O'Neill and President St. Reagan would argue over policy during the day and then get together and have a friendly beer in the evening. Fernández' message here to the PJ base seems to be: don't hate because I may oppose some favorite policies of kirchnerismo.

Randazzo recounts Néstor's support against the economic cartels.

Rossi praises Néstor in a grandly symbolic way: he made a lot of young people enthusiastic about politics, he was "el dirigente político más importante de la primera década del siglo XXI en la Argentina" ("the most important political leader of the first decade of the 21st century in Argentina"). The latter comes off like a not-too-subtle dig at Cristina. His contribution sounds like a carefully-parsed press release from a politician trying not to irritate the PJ base while avoiding signalling a clear direction.

Taiana emphasizes his participation with Néstor in negotiations with Colombia to get Argentine prisoners of the guerrilla group FARC released, emphasizing Néstor's priority on building regional alliances, which Cristina has continued.

Argentine's fight with the vulture funds; President Cristina Fernández UN speech with English subtitles

This is the fifth and final part of an Argentine documentary on sovereign debt and the vulture funds, Deuda: Historia de una extorsión (5 de 5) TV Pública argentina 20.09.2014. This segment features an interview with Argentine Economics Minister Axel Kicillof.

See previous posts for Parts 1-4.

The Télam news service has made available Argentine President Cristina Fernández' speech of last Wednesday, September 24, with English subtitles. It's an impressive statement of Argentina's position in their current fight with the vulture funds trying to shove them into national bankruptcy. And of her confidence in the success of the economic policies Argentina has pursued since 2003, policies that were considered unconventional and heretical by Establishment economics as represented by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, which promoted and still promote the neoliberal Washington Consensus approach of deregulation and privatization.

Cristina also addressed the Security Council on Wednesday. This a video in Spanish of her statements there, both from Télam. Cristina Fernandez Consejo de Seguridad Discurso Completo 24.09.2014:

In both statements, she also addresses Argentina's continuing investigation of the AMIA Jewish Community Center bombing in 1994. The vulture funds' lobbying efforts have included efforts to smear Cristina and her government because her government made an agreement with Iran to facilitate the investigation of the AMIA bombing. Argentina's official theory of the case assumes Iran was involved, though that has never been definitely established in the courts. There are substantial reasons to question that version, but that is the official theory.

Télam also reports on how the leader of the Argentine Socialist Party, Hermes Binner, criticizes Cristina for her stand against the vulture funds and the rogue Nixon-appointed zombie judge that partnered with them in creating the current confrontation. (Binner aseguró que, si fuera presidente, "sería respetuoso de la primera economía del mundo" 28.09.2014) The Argentine Socialist Party is a member party of the Socialist International, along with the main party of the Argentine oligarchy, the UCR (Unión Cívica Radical). Both parties are committed to neoliberal economic policies, as too many of their sister parties in Europe are, notably the German SPD and the French Socialist Party.

The story of how social-democratic parties could wind up responding to the Crisis of 2008 and its aftermath with Herbert Hoover economic policies is an interesting and very sad one.

Kirchnerismo in Argentina, the approach of Cristina and her late husband and predecessor as President, Néstor Kirchner, is actually an assertive social-democratic approach in the more traditional sense. Kirchnerismo is the currently dominant doctrine of the Peronist left. The Peronist Partido Justicialista (PJ) is Cristina's party, the party founded by Juan Perón.

The most prominent representative of Peronist rightwing is Sergio Massa a parliamentary deputy from Buenos Aires province who is positioning himself for a Presidential run in next year's election, when Cristina's Presidency ends.

Buenos Aires Governor and former national Vice President Daniel Scioli looks at the moment to be the leading kirchnerista candidate in 2015, though whether he has the transformative perspective of the Kirchners Néstor and Cristina is a big question.

Córdoba provincial Governor José Manuel de la Sota is positioning himself programatically between Scioli and Massa. De la Sota is considered a major national opposition figure to kirchnerismo and Cristina within the Peronist party and a possible 2015 Presidential candidate.

The primary anti-Peronist, pro-oligarch candidate for 2015 currently looks to be Mauricio Macri, Governor in the City of Buenos Aires, who will likely be the candidate the Radical party (UCR) in 2015. Macri and Massa are both posturing as friends of the United States, opposing Cristina's positions that criticize the US over the vulture funds or other issues. (Juntos en favor de EE.UU. Página/12 28.09.2014)

Binner will also likely run as the candidate of the Socialist Party, effectively a loyal ally of Macri and the UCR.