Argentina’s governmental ineptness is highlighted by Covid-19.
Temes, Joaquin
The inevitability of a second, or third, wave of Covid-19 appears to be a global phenomena, with fourth and fifth waves of infections and deaths occurring in numerous nations. In an op-ed in The New York Times, World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated something similar regarding the worldwide vaccination shortage: “More than 81 percent of the more than 890 million vaccine doses delivered around the world were given in high- and upper-middle-income nations. Only 0.3 percent went to low-income countries.” As a result, the necessity for limits emerges, such as limiting in-person school attendance, particularly in densely populated urban sprawls like Buenos Aires City and its extended metropolitan area, which has lately encroached on Buenos Aires Province. All of this is likely to be agreed upon by President Alberto Fernandez, City Mayor Horacio Rodriguez Larreta, Province Governor Axel Kicillof, municipal leaders throughout the AMBA (Buenos Aires metropolitan region), and all governors. With the exception of coronavirus deniers like Jair Bolsonaro and Donald Trump, most public workers around the world are likely aware of these regulations during this seemingly never-ending pandemic in the Southern Hemisphere.
The political exploitation of the exponential increase of Covid-19 infections, as well as the actions adopted to combat it, seemed inescapable. There was a ray of optimism in the memory of Fernandez’s coordinated pandemic response last year, which he led with the complete support of Rodriguez Larreta and Kicillof, despite Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner being strongly represented by her former economy minister. The political climate has been deteriorating since the second half of last year, with the country still suffering from an aggressive coronavirus curve, and the crescendo of animosity has reached a fever pitch with the recent bickering between the three leaders of the country’s most powerful executive positions. Reducing the debate to the election season would actually give our losers some leeway, because elections are the lifeblood of democracy and hence a constant variable that must be embraced as a method for selecting the best leaders.
In actuality, we are witnessing yet another example of our democratic system’s failure to provide the conditions necessary for coordinated action in the face of systemic or imminent and catastrophic issues. On the surface, electoral speculation could be to blame for some of the recent developments. The conflict between Rodriguez Larreta and the national and provincial administrations appears to be a problem that can be resolved through dialogue rather than litigation, with the national government imposing a school closure in the AMBA region several weeks ago at the behest of the Provincial government, without the City’s cooperation. The opposition’s rallying cry has been open schools for some time, and even national Education Minister Nicolas Trotta and Health Minister Carla Vizotti stated that they would continue to do so, only to be contradicted by President Alberto’s emergency decree a few weeks ago. Rodriguez Larreta went to court, as did disgruntled parents, and federal and city courts eventually battled it out, with the Supreme Court scratching its head. Physical school attendance had to be curtailed in the end, as it had been around the world, but we seem to be locked in a cycle that causes confusion, disillusionment, and deeper separation among the two major political alliances. All of this is beneficial to those preaching to the choirs at the extremes of the ruling and opposing oppositions, such as Kicillof and PRO party head Patricia Bullrich in this case.
The vaccination problem also reveals the low-level politicking we’ve been obliged to accept. President Fernandez has frequently asked Mauricio Macri and the opposition to assist him in getting vaccines if “you are so loved by the globe.” In addition, Cabinet Chief Santiago Cafiero stated that provinces and the City can obtain their own vaccines if they so like, ostensibly masking their inability to obtain more vaccines in a world of shortage. Don’t give your opponent a single inch.
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On the other hand, Rodriguez Larreta and the larger Juntos por el Cambio alliance have begun to criticize the Fernandez-Fernandez administration for the flawed vaccination policy, pointing out that the president promised to vaccinate tens of millions of individuals in the first trimester. The opposition continues to raise questions about discussions with Pfizer and the delays behind the Oxford-AstraZeneca jab, while PAMI retirement agency chief Luana Volnovich put on a poor show to accuse the City administration of a deficient immunization plan.
This similar type of political inconsistency has made it more difficult for Economy Minister Martin Guzman to restructure the state debt held by multilateral institutions like the IMF and the Paris Club. Alberto’s key man in the Economic Cabinet is under constant crossfire, with the more fundamentalist Kirchnerites putting the heat on him, some suggest as a response from Kicillof’s supporters to Guzman’s initial closeness with Fernandez de Kirchner. Given the forthcoming election, there is pressure within the ruling Frente de Todos alliance to bolster its hardline Kirchnerite base. Juntos por el Cambio, on the other hand, continues to rage against Guzman’s alleged lack of an economic plan. They are pointing to the lack of political consensus from overseas, both inside the IMF and the Paris Club, as a barrier to moving on with any talk of restructuring, implying that any major decisions will be postponed until after the elections.
Politics is ostensibly the discipline of public employees whose job it is to endeavor to promote the well-being of citizens who, in democratic models, elect them on the basis of merit. According to Montesquieu and others, the system is theoretically the most just form of governance. However, when its interpreters focus on the utilitarian objective of attaining power — ostensibly in order to use it for the sake of society — it gets warped to the point that political goals take precedence over those of society. Alberto, Rodriguez Larreta, and Kicillof are teaching us how to play in real time.
The Buenos Aires Times, Argentina’s only English-language daily, initially published this article./nRead More