President Alberto Fernández affirmed this Saturday that his country’s opposition “tried to take advantage” of the issue of the Venezuelan airline’s plane Conviasadetained at the airport Ezeizaand said that “they wanted to show something that is not”.
“The truth is that they wanted to show something that is not…some dark thing, some government movement, which acted quickly and absolutely everyone has said it. No one else needs to say it.” This was stated by the president this morning in statements to Radio 10 about the ship that arrived in the country with both Venezuelan and Iranian crew members.
After that, he added: “But hey, as it is, the opposition tried to take advantage. He mixed the event with events as painful as the attack on the AMIA. Some even dared to make a complaint of terrorism. But hey, these are the things that unfortunately we have to live with in today’s Argentina. It is part of the madness that is experienced from part of Argentine politics.
Regarding the arrival of the aircraft, the president stated: “What happened is that a Venezuelan plane arrived with which there was no irregularity. There were five Iranian people on board, with respect to whom, as far as we know, there is no type of restriction. Nor with respect to Venezuelans. Yes, there is a problem with the loading of gasoline, because the sanctions imposed by the US can affect those who give gasoline to that plane. It is an issue that needs to be resolved.”
Next, Fernández was asked for his opinion on the “judicialization of politics” and in particular on the investigation into alleged irregularities in the construction of the Néstor Kirchner gas pipeline, which was archived this week. When asked if “it should be ended” with these types of cases, since “they waste the Justice’s time”, he replied: “Absolutely. That is one of the things that do the most damage to Justice. It is very striking, because the self-proclaimed Republicans put a central power in the Justice and they do well. Now, Justice is not there to solve political problems or to lend itself to media plays. Thank God he resolved this case well and the bidding process for the gas pipeline can go ahead.”
Along these lines, he again charged against the opposition: “In any case, that they require us to speed up the construction of the gas pipeline, that they require us to produce more gas, but not that they make us waste time with this, which was obviously a little analysis. Happy is the departure of Matías Kulfas”, former Minister of Productive Development.
Economic situation
Later, the President was consulted on the economic situation with the focus on inflation. So, he analyzed: “We have an economic plan that has three pillars. The first is that Argentina produces and Argentine production is flying, it is growing and exporting. It is true that wages are still low, because Macri dropped real wages by 20 points.
Next, he pointed out that more than a million jobs were created in the midst of the pandemic and that work continues to grow. “Informal work also began to move a lot. Where is the program failing? in distribution”. To reverse this situation, he said that the Government has two ways: “First, let wages not lose against inflation and second, ensure that State resources are directed to the most vulnerable sectors. In concrete terms, we recovered almost 3 income points, in real terms, in the midst of the pandemic, but we have just dropped 20. It does not feel like it. And then there is the issue of war.
Then, Fernández spoke about the segmentation of public service rates and considered that what is currently under discussion is “until when Argentina is going to subsidize the rich.” He said that the scheme is going to be implemented and that “the rich will pay what they have to pay”.
”To subsidize those who need it, I am the first to raise my hand, but not to subsidize the rich. Let the rich pay what they have to pay and give the most vulnerable what they need. That is the meaning of segmentation”, maintained the Head of State and along these lines he also claimed the application of a tax on unexpected income. “The distribution implies that we distribute the cake more equitably”, he summed up.
Alberto Fernández spoke about the political future of the country
At the end of the note, the president was asked if he aspires to re-election in 2023, to which he replied: “My greatest wish is that Argentina recovers once and for all. I am going to work so that those who did the greatest damage to Argentina that I remember do not return and I am going to work so that within the national and popular space we have a reasonable debate about what we want to be.
Regarding his management, he concluded: “There are data that show that despite the pandemic and despite Macri there is another way of doing politics that gives results so that people live better.”
*The Grupo de Diarios América (GDA), to which El Nacional belongs, is a leading media network founded in 1991 that promotes democratic values, an independent press and freedom of expression in Latin America through quality journalism for our audiences.
