The Argentine president, Alberto Fernández, made a strong appeal this Saturday in favor of the “unity” of the ruling coalition, in a context of great uncertainty due to the political and economic course of the Executive after the resignation of former Economy Minister Martín Guzmán.
“There is no political future if that first link, which is unity and that includes us all, is not built and strengthened every day,” said the president from San Miguel de Tucumán (north), on the occasion of the official act by independence Day.
In his first public speech after Guzmán’s resignation, announced on social media last Saturday, Fernández redoubled his commitment to a “common horizon, dialogue and consensus,” citing the example of the congressmen who proclaimed the country’s independence on July 9 from 1816.
«In those complex moments (early 19th century), unity did not arise magically or impose itself naturally, it was only possible because there was a will to build it. Unity is always the fruit of the willingness of those involved to consolidate it,” said the head of state.
RUMORS THAT SOW “DISPAIR”
Guzmán’s resignation, motivated, among other factors, by divisions within the ruling party and by criticism from the vice president, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, of the government’s economic course, caused an adverse reaction in international markets throughout this week .
Argentina’s risk premium jumped 13% to 2,648 basis points (its maximum since June 2020), while the prices of all multilateral dollars rose: the informal dollar (or “blue dollar”) rose 14% , while financial dollars, such as the “cash with settlement” dollar or the “stock market” dollar, rose 19.3 and 16.7%, respectively.
During his speech, Fernández charged harshly against those who “sow discouragement” among the population, focusing on the political opposition, the media and business groups, whom he accused of generating “confrontations” to “separate the Argentines and the Argentines».
“We have been enduring in recent months, but especially in a public and ferocious way in the last week, an attack by concentrated, powerful groups, who want to keep all the income, who want to cause a devaluation and maximize their profits with greed. always,” warned the president.
«The struggle has always been the same: when a popular government bids with economic interests from inside and outside, to defend the distribution of wealth and the happiness of the people, all political, media and business forces are unleashed to twist our arm and disunite. They’re not going to make it,” he added.
LOOKING TOWARDS THE FUTURE
The head of state defended his management, citing as an example the growth of 10.3% of GDP in 2021 or the creation of more than one million registered jobs last year, although he acknowledged that important “problems” persist, such as high inflation (60.7% year-on-year in May) or the shortage of international reserves.
In this sense, Fernández once again ratified the program agreed with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to refinance a loan of more than 40,000 million dollars, underlining the need to “walk the path towards fiscal balance”, one of the terms of the agreement most questioned by the vice president, and “stabilize the local currency”.
All this with the intention of recovering the purchasing power of wages, “eradicate extreme poverty” and build “a more egalitarian country” through a “better redistribution” of income.
«We are a diverse and plural society, but even in that diversity, and in the awareness and respect of our differences, we cannot lose sight of the enormous shared space that shelters us. For an Argentine, there can be nothing better than another Argentine. No one is left over in our country,” concluded the president. EFE
