RIO GALLEGOS, Argentina, Oct 21 (Reuters) – Alicia Kirchner, the elder statesman of Argentina’s most powerful political dynasty, is building a home, school and first hospital in Rio Gallegos, a small city in windswept southern Patagonia. I fondly remember helping with the construction of the
The Kirchner family, which includes two of Argentina’s last four presidents, has ruled the icy southern province of Santa Cruz for decades. They call this region home and own land, investment facilities and hotels.
That dynasty, the left-wing core of the powerful Peronist movement, is now in decline, and a new force in the form of far-right outsider Javier Millay has emerged, causing a seismic shift in the country’s political power dynamics.
Milley, who wants to “chainsaw” the current political situation, achieved a shocking victory in the open primary vote in August, winning the largest percentage of votes in Santa Cruz, and was able to win the first round of the general election on Sunday. He is the most likely candidate to win.
The libertarian economist rode a wave of voter anger over inflation expected to reach 200% this year and the worst economic crisis in 20 years, which has left two-fifths of the population in poverty. Many people blame the country’s recent rulers.
Kirchner, 77, who is retiring as Santa Cruz state governor, told Reuters at his official residence near the mausoleum of his late brother, former president Nestor Kirchner (2003-2007), “Milay is a product of dissatisfaction.” Ta.
“What worries me most is that people don’t have hope,” she says.
Until recently, his sister-in-law Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, who served as president from 2007 to 2015, was the undisputed star of Argentine politics. Fernandez de Kirchner handpicked current president Alberto Fernandez in 2019 and will continue to serve as vice president.
However, the political wind is changing. Fernández de Kirchner, 70, a symbol of the Latin American left despite his past clashes with investors, has stepped back from the public eye for the first time in decades and will not run for office.
In Santa Cruz, Millay won 29% of the vote in the primary, far ahead of the ruling Peronist coalition and conservative candidate Patricia Bullrich. Peronism itself has seen a strong internal shift away from Kirchner’s factions, with the ruling party now backing centrist Economy Minister Sergio Massa.
“We’re all poor here.”
Santa Cruz is a microcosm of the massive political turmoil underway in Argentina, disrupting markets, affecting Argentina’s relations with trading partners such as China and Brazil, and disrupting progress on women’s rights and abortion. There is a risk that changes may be reversed.
Argentina is one of the world’s leading exporters of soybeans and corn, the largest debtor to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) with a $44 billion program, and has access to vast resources of shale gas and battery metal lithium. is attracting investment.
But years of economic downturn, debt crisis and currency crisis have taken a toll on local economies such as Santa Cruz. In Santa Cruz, the poverty rate has more than doubled since 2018 to about 40%, and while the state employs more than half of its workforce, wages are well below inflation.
“Everyone is poor here,” said Brian Franco, a 23-year-old part-time driver in the tourist city of El Calafate. When he’s not repairing washing machines for a living, he works transporting tourists to the famous Perito Moreno Glacier. .
This remote town is also the site of a corruption and money laundering scheme linked to a hotel in El Calafate owned by the Kirchner family. In another corruption case last year, Fernández de Kirchner was sentenced to six years in prison, barring him from holding any future public office, but the case is subject to a lengthy appeals process.
In the shadow of the Andes Mountains, Kirchner family signs can be seen throughout the resort, their name honored on road signs and the color orange adopted in the campaign of their chosen mayor, whom they have ruled uninterrupted since 2007. I am.
But now purple balloons and yellow flags, Millay’s campaign colors, are decorating some homes in the remote enclave.
“Half of the people I know are voting for Millais,” Franco said as young people gathered outside his barbershop. Some people walked 4 or 5 kilometers (2 or 3 miles) to get their hair trimmed on the weekends, but local public transportation was almost non-existent.
Local residents and officials said people’s purchasing power had collapsed. Meanwhile, the price of building materials has soared, slowing local construction.
Eugenio Quiroga, a leftist regional deputy governor who is retiring, said, “Money is not circulating in the city.The people’s wages can only cover the necessities of life, which is hurting local businesses.” He said that it was also affecting the public’s support for the government.
In El Calafate, architect Walter Pieroni said some properties on the edge of a major commercial center could be without water for days due to poor planning. Houses were left unfinished, and the owners could not afford the materials to build on the land once given to them by the government.
“Since August, my take-home pay has been cut in half. I haven’t received construction materials for weeks. Suppliers won’t sell to me because they don’t know the price,” Pieroni said. “Everyone is tired, so even if it’s extreme, Millay can accept it.”
“I vote for change.”
At dawn one October morning, 58-year-old Guillermo Carnevale hunkered down against the Patagonian wind and morning chill to open a small hardware store.
After losing his job running a local gas station during the long coronavirus lockdown, Carnevale set up a shop to sell the nails, screws and tools that have been a lifeline for his family. He continues to face challenges as rising input prices and 133% interest rates hinder access to credit.
In the election four years ago, he supported Peronist Fernández, and in 2015 he supported mainstream conservative Mauricio Macri. But now he has converted to Mr. Millay, and on Sunday may even run as a liberal mayoral candidate for Rio Gallegos.
“There were very few jobs…so people started speaking out against the dire economic situation and that formed the basis of our Liberal Party,” he said.
Beyond the harsh financial consequences, the real turning point came when her son announced he wanted to move to Spain or Germany in search of a better life.
“So I told him, let’s rebuild this country.”
In the state of Santa Cruz, which has a population of about 333,000 people, fixing things used to be the responsibility of the Kirchner family.
Under the Kirchner family, an airport was built at El Calafate, roads were paved to the glacier, and land was distributed to the local population. In less than 30 years, the population has grown from less than 7,000 to his 30,000 recorded this year.
The development of Kirchnerism was essential to Ana Guerrero’s family chocolate business, which opened in the 1960s. “The airport brought visitors, investment, big hotels, and with that came more customers,” Guerrero said.
But since the beginning of this year, her cocoa supplies have taken a hit as the central bank’s lack of imported foreign exchange reserves and capital controls have made transactions more complicated. She goes weeks without ingesting vital ingredients.
“The provider in Buenos Aires started sending messages in January explaining why the products were not delivered,” Guerrero said as she scrolled through her phone in the store. “He’s gotten to the point where he can’t plan.”
Local businessman Danny Feldman said Kirchnerism is mainstream in the area.
“But now our children have no future in this country because they created a model that doesn’t work,” said Feldman, who has lived in El Calafate since 1987. “Now, I’m voting for change. I’m doing it,” he said.
Report by Lucinda Elliott.Editing: Adam Jordan and Daniel Wallis
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