Fernández de Kirchner calls for political pact to end Argentina’s currency woes
Vice-president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner called Tuesday for a grand political agreement to resolve Argentina’s mounting currency crisis.
In a rare public statement issued Monday touching on a number of subjects, Fernández de Kirchner said that Argentina’s “bimonetary economy” – in which the public earns and spends in pesos, but saves and imports in US dollars – is unsustainable and must be fixed once and for all.
The former president, who led Argentina from 2007 to 2015, called for the nation’s politicians to work together to resolve the problem, a suggestion that prompted incredulity from the opposition.
“The problem of the bimonetary economy, which is, without a doubt, the most serious that our country has, it is impossible to solve without an agreement that encompasses all the political, economic, media and social sectors of the Argentine Republic,” said Fernández de Kirchner in a post on her website. “Whether we like it or not, that is reality and with it you can do anything but ignore it.”
“Bimonetary politics is not an ideological problem: it is neither left nor right,” she declared in her missive, which was divided into three parts.
In her open letter, the former president defended currency controls that were implemented during her time in office, before going on to describe the current devaluation chatter as “extortion.” Argentina’s financial instability must be solved once and for all, she argued.
“Can anyone seriously think that a country’s economy can function normally like that?” she asked rhetorically. “Argentina is the only country with a bimonetary economy.”
Figures from the opposition Juntos por el Cambio coalition mocked the idea that the vicepresident, a fierce critic of the Mauricio Macri administration that succeeded her in office, had the right to speak of political leaders working together.
“Dialogue is welcome if based on respect, and in the letter, it criticises businessmen and the previous government before calling for an agreement,” PRO party leader and former security minister Patricia Bullrich told La Nación.
Former presidential candidate and outspoken economist José Luis Espert dismissed the letter as “ignorant,” saying he considered the proposals “very ridiculous.”
DEFENDING THE PRESIDENT
Fernández de Kirchner penned the open letter to mark the 10th anniversary of her late husband’s death, former president Néstor Kirchner. In it, she fiercely defended the current postholder, Alberto Fernández, though she did not refrain from hinting at her unhappiness at sectors of the government he leads, expressing dismay at “funcionarios y funcionarias que no funcionan” (loosely, “officials who do not officiate”).
Some analysts quickly speculated that that phrase was a possible ultimatum, amid rumours of tensions within the Frente de Todos coalition, especially over foreign and economic policy.
The former president also dismissed speculation that the head of state was a “puppet” and that she was really running the show.
“As they have run out of the excuses, they had to move on to a second script: ‘Alberto does not govern,’ ‘The one who decides everything is Cristina,’” she wrote.
“The story of the “puppet President” was used with Néstor regarding Duhalde, with me regarding Néstor and now with Alberto regarding me.
“In Argentina, the one who decides is the president. You may or may not like what he decides, but the one who decides is him.”
Fernández de Kirchner also criticised business leaders for “mistreating” the president, highlighting criticism the president received during the recent IDEA Colloquium.
“The climax of this permanent and systematic mistreatment occurred a few days ago at a famous business meeting calling itself a place of ideas, at which while the president of the nation was speaking,” she wrote. Speaking on Tuesday, President Fernández said he liked the letter and felt it was “an endorsement” of his administration.