As misery grows unbearable
Argentine workers seek to shake off IMF
By Alicia Jrapko
Argentina is on an economic death row. Latin America's
third-largest economy was put there not by judges, but by
International Monetary Fund and World Bank bankers and
financiers.
Despite concession after concession, the only hope for a
stay of execution for the government-by-default of President
Eduardo Duhalde is an economic bailout by the very robber
barons that put them $141 billion into debt in the first place.
It has been months since Argentina has been able to make any
payments on the debt due to the economic collapse that began in
December.
The financial pages in the U.S. corporate media have been
conspicuously silent as the situation for millions of Argentine
workers grows worse daily. Some Argentines are now charging
that the strategy of the Wall Street vultures is to do nothing
until the crisis is so great that they can come in and take
over the vast resources of Argentina for virtually nothing.
Selling off the country--literally?
Juan Gabriel Labak, a former union leader and member of
Duhalde's Justicialist Party, presented a complaint this month
in a Buenos Aires court alleging that some lenders were raising
the possibility of exchanging Argentine territories to pay off
the foreign debt. He charges that the IMF, the World Bank and
the U.S. government want to collect or retrieve their debt this
way.
The text of the complaint alleges the existence of a
campaign initiated by the U.S. Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill
to allow the crisis to continue with the purpose of making the
"Argentines believe that they are incapable of governing
themselves." He charged the "permanent insinuation of methods
that will allow to pay off the foreign debt in exchange for
territories and ecological reserves," including the province of
Chabut and areas of Antarctica currently part of Argentina.
Residents in the Patagonia region recently protested a
survey being circulated by the consulting firm Giacobbe and
Associates in Chubut and three other provinces. The survey
polled people's willingness to pay the Argentine foreign debt
with some of the country's territories.
The president of the company was vague when asked who hired
his firm. The questionnaire not only asked about paying the
foreign debt with sovereign land, but also probed people's
reaction to a suggestion that Argentina be administered
economically by a functionary of the IMF or other international
institution.
At the same time, the IMF is demanding that the Argentine
government mod ify the Bankruptcy Law and eliminate the
Economic Subversion Law as a condition for disbursing millions
of dollars in loan payments.
The international bank ers are demanding that the Bankruptcy
Law include a mechanism known as "cram down" that allows a
lender or a third person to appropriate a bankrupt enterprise
or business to pay their debt. According to local experts, this
maneuver will allow U.S. capital to take advantage of the
depreciation of the Argentine currency to take over national
and European enterprises.
To protest this law, legislator Alicia Castro in mid-May
planted a U.S. flag over the table of the legislature's
presidency.
The Economic Subversion Law, which the IMF wants to see
repealed, was created under popular pressure in the wake of the
December collapse to punish owners of enterprises, executives,
managers and administrators who were responsible for
wrongdoing. It was particularly aimed at the banks, under
suspicion for having shipped millions of dollars out of the
country before the implementation of the freeze on bank
accounts known as the "corralito."
A number of former government officials were arrested under
this law. Its elimination could lead to their release,
including that of former economy minister Domingo Cavallo. His
name has become synonymous with the massive corruption of
previous governments, beginning with the regime of Carlos Menem
in the 1990s.
Deepening misery
The Bush administration advises the Argentine government to
bow down to IMF demands, which have brought an ever-increasing
desperation for the workers and unemployed, who make up the
great majority of Argentines.
Half of the 36 million Argentines now live under the poverty
level. The percent of poor people grew faster than ever before
in April, when the cost of goods increased by almost 18
percent. The crisis is greatest in the north of the country, in
provinces like Corrientes, Formosa, Misiones and Chaco, where
two of every three inhabitants are poor.
While the consumption of food and medicine is decreasing,
unemployment has spiraled to an official rate of 30
percent.
Malnutrition and hunger are rampant, with six of 10 children
in Argentina living in poverty. These children were born in a
country with great natural and industrial resources to provide
food and basic needs for the entire population. Instead, they
are suffering from the strangulation of neoliberal policies
demanded by the IMF and World Bank.
One of the greatest ironies of neoliberalism can be seen
every night at 2 a.m. in front of the McDonalds on the popular
Corrientes Street in Buenos Aires. Young children fight for
leftover thrown-out food from this hated U.S. food chain.
Mounting mass pressure
The Duhalde government is grasping for ways to respond to
the IMF demands while at the same time deflecting the pressure
from the masses. They know very well that if they comply with
all the IMF demands, they may face the same fate as their
predecessors. Duhalde himself took power after angry masses of
workers, unemployed, and wide sectors of the middle class
toppled the previous government. Millions are still trying to
access their frozen bank accounts.
One stopgap solution Duhalde is considering is to compensate
savers with state properties.
The only real force that is preventing the Argentine
government from beginning a fire sale of the country to foreign
capitalists is the current struggle being waged by the workers,
unemployed and all the progressive forces. These forces are
organizing themselves into mass Popular Assemblies.
On May 20, tens of thousands of workers took to the streets
in Buenos Aires and across the country to demand food and jobs.
On May 23, thousands of picketers are scheduled to block roads
and stage rallies across the country.
These protests are leading to a general strike called by the
Federation of Argentine Workers (CTA) for May 29. The 24-hour
general strike, the first since Duhalde took power, is meant to
protest against hunger, unemployment and the economic policy of
the current government.
The solution to the problems of the great majority of people
in Argentina is not renegotiating the debt with the IMF. It is
a government where workers are in power and where the wealth of
this rich South American country is distributed to everyone and
not just to a rich few.
Jrapko recently returned from
an extensive trip to Argentina.
Reprinted from the May 30, 2002, issue of
Workers World newspaper
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011
Email: ww@workers.org
Subscribe wwnews-subscribe@workersworld.net
Support independent news http://www.workers.org/orders/donate.php)
HOME
:: U.S. NEWS ::
WORLD NEWS ::
EDITORIALS ::
SUBSCRIBE ::
DONATE
Email
this article
Printable
page