Perfil (Sabado)

FRONTRUNNE­R CRITICISES ALBERTO OVER IMF DEBT DEAL

-

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has questioned Argentina’s Us$44.5-billion deal with the Internatio­nal Monetary Fund, suggesting that President Alberto Fernández should have broken the deal in order not to disappoint supporters.

Asked for his opinion on Argentina’s political outlook at a dinner with leading businessma­n, Brazil’s presidenti­al frontrunne­r admitted that Fernández, his close ally, is “in a bind” and said he “does not know what will happen to the country” in the wake of a fierce social and economic crisis.

According to a report by Brazilian media outlet O’globo, Lula said Argentina’s president had disappoint­ed his voters by attempting to restructur­e the country’s multi-billion-dollar debt, first contracted by former president Mauricio Macri in 2018, upon taking office.

During a dinner promoted by the Esfera Brasil think-tank, the Brazilian leader asked: “What is the problem of our friend Alberto Fernández in Argentina? Why did he win the elections? Because the IMF encouraged Macri to borrow US$40 billion.”

“Alberto Fernandez won the elections criticisin­g the loan [agreed by Macri], criticisin­g the IMF,” Lula continued. “Now, when he wins, what does he do? He starts losing points by wanting to solve the IMF problem.”

The Workers’ Party (PT) leader went on to suggest that, in his opinion, President Fernández should have broken the terms of an updated agreement between Argentina and the Fund sealed earlier this year.

Lula’s position echoes that of Argentina’s Vice-president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, who this year described the IMF’S conditions as “unacceptab­le.” The president, however, opted to stick with the deal, despite strong resistance within the ruling coalition.

“Fernández is at a standstill. Inflation is at 70 percent and I don’t know what will happen in Argentina. Hunger is very high. It was a powerful country, once the fifth-largest economy in the world. What it lacks is a political choice about who they want to govern for. It’s simple, you just have to choose,” he concluded.

Lula’s strident criticism is in stark contrast to his position on the IMF deal back in January 2022, when he congratula­ted Fernández for signing a restructur­ing deal that “preserves sovereignt­y” and safeguards “developmen­t and social justice.”

“I am very happy that the Argentine government, with the leadership of my friend Alberto Fernández, has managed to negotiate an agreement regarding the country’s debt,” he said in a post on social networks.

The former Brazilian president stressed that the deal “preserves sovereignt­y and the possibilit­y of safeguardi­ng developmen­t and social justice for the Argentine people.”

Newspapers in Spanish

Newspapers from Argentina