The Argentine Debt
This week Argentine President Nestor Kirchner agreed to pay the $3.1 billion due to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). This seems like a defeat for Kirchner, who last week swore that Argentina would never pay its debts "with the hunger of its people." The Economist, however, points out that later this year Argentina will receive the money, and another $10 billion, in further loans. It isn't clear who "blinked" in this confrontation. There also remains the question of Argentina's debt to its private creditors, some $88 billion.
What is clear, though, is that for most Argentines globalization has lost whatever allure it may have had. In a recent debate reported in today's Pagina 12 a former presidential candidate claimed that Argentina's attitude toward the IMF was that of a swimmer who asks for help, but when the lifeguard pulls him to shore he shouts criticisms at the lifesaver. "It isn't that way," responded the head of the cabinet, Alberto Fernández. "In this case the lifeguard (bañero) threw us into the middle of the river and told us it was the safest place to be."
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El jefe de Gabinete, Alberto Fernández, solo se alejó del Presidente para participar de la presentación de un libro sobre la globalización escrito por el español Guillermo de la Dehesa, de la filial europea de Goldman Sachs. En el debate, el ex candidato presidencial Ricardo López Murphy dijo que la actitud argentina hacia el Fondo parecía la de un nadador que pide la ayuda del bañero y después, en la orilla, le grita y lo critica. “No es así”, dijo Fernández. “Acá el bañero nos tiró al medio del río y nos dijo que ésa era la parte más segura.”