blue moon
...party—PJ 119, UCR 69, Frepaso 36, other 33 Judicial branch: Supreme Court (Corte Suprema), the nine Supreme Court judges are appointed by the president with approval of the Senate Political parties and leaders: Justicialist Party or PJ [Carlos Saul MENEM] (Peronist umbrella political organization); Radical Civic Union or UCR [Fernando DE LA RUA]; Union of the Democratic Center or UCD (conservative party) [leader NA]; Dignity and Independence Political Party or MODIN (right-wing party) [leader NA]; Front for a Country in Solidarity or Frepaso (a four-party coalition) [Carlos ALVAREZ]; Action for the Republic [Domingo CAVALLO]; New Leadership [Gustavo BELIZ]; several provincial parties Political pressure groups and leaders: Peronist-dominated labor movement; General Confederation of Labor or CGT (Peronist-leaning umbrella labor organization); Argentine Industrial Union (manufacturers' association); Argentine Rural Society (large landowners' association); Argentine Association of Pharmaceutical Labs (CILFA); business organizations; students; the Roman Catholic Church; the Armed Forces Population 36,955,182 (July 2000 est.) Age structure 0-14 years:27% (male 5,061,588; female 4,827,582) 15-64 years:63% (male 11,625,574; female 11,613,358) 65 years and over:10% (male 1,582,861; female 2,244,219) (2000 est.) Population growth rate 1.16% (2000 est.) Birth rate 18.59 births/1,000 population (2000 est.) Death rate 7.59 deaths/1,000 population (2000 est.) Argentina - President Kirchner (II) << Previous | Next >> | Main page 09 June 2003 -- This is a report on things never seen in Argentina, at least not in the last thirty years, and certainly never frequent. President Kirchner (because he's fulfilling his promise of not checking ideals and convictions at the door of the Casa Rosada, or because he needs popular approval for some dark plans a posteriori, or for whatever reason) seems determined to revolutionize, in its own way, the landscape of Argentine politics. This arouses enthusiasm in some, indignant protest in others, suspicion in a few, and disconcert in most of us. First he chopped off the head of the three Armed Forces, including the chief of the Army, General Brinzoni, who was well-known for lobbying the Supreme Court for the constitutionality of the "impunity laws" that let so many murderers, torturers and kidnappers in the Army free just because they comitted those crimes under the commands of a higher officer. When Brinzoni made his good-bye speech and received the new chief, he took advantage of the occasion to criticize the government, saying something to the effect that "while millitary intrigue ceased interfering with politics twenty years ago, now political intrigue was creeping into the millitary". Days later, Kirchner left Brinzoni (figuratively!) limping and bleeding by harshly pointing out, during his Day of the Army speech, that it is outrageous that the millitary claim some credit for simply respecting democracy, and very improper that they demand any explanation from the Commander in Chief (i. e. the President) for his decissions regarding the command of the Armed Forces. The government has announced that the upper levels of command of the Federal Police will be replaced, too. Police corruption has been fueling insecurity for years, coupled (of course) with lack of funding and with the critic economic situation of most Argentinians. On the second day of his mandate, Kirchner surprised the people of the province of Entre Ríos by going there almost without notice, together with his Ministers of Education and of Economy. The public teachers in Entre Ríos had been on strike since the beginning of the year (and pupils not having classes) because they had not received their paychecks for months. Kirchner literally asked Roberto Lavagna (Minister of Economy) to get the money, and went to Entre Ríos with 93 million pesos to take care of the debt. This (appropriately) left the provincial government in evidence as careless and impotent for the whole country to see. During the following days, Kirchner also went to San Juan (another province facing similar problems) and to Santa Fe (which recently suffered a catastrophical massive flood, leaving tens of thousands homeless). The "K-style", as it is already called in the Pink House, seems to be based on physical closeness to the problem. Not as spectacularly, but importantly, several administrative decissions have shaken the edifice of corporative impunity built and maintained during the ten years of Menem and the two years of De la Rúa. Kirchner has decided to reverse a decree by ex-President Duhalde, his former mentor, that saved the national airline (privatized) from bankruptcy. The government understands that a private enterprise that buys something from the State cannot just have a lousy service, forget to invest, avoid taxes, and then turn to the State for help. Kirchner also wants to end the concession of the national mail service to Correo Argentino, which belongs to a consuetudinary tax evader named Franco Macri (the father of the president of the Boca Juniors football club). On top of disregarding their contract, which included a number of unfulfilled investments and upgrades, Correo Argentino owes the State hundred of millions and it has refused to pay for years. The national road and highway system was...