Argentina in Turmoil (report) : Indybay

"Its not about one or another dark figure in the halls of power; its
about a ‘click’, of something that broke very deep inside and is not
going to be cured with one or two resignations, or with an election." -
from 12/29 Argentina
IMC report (en) 

 
<a href="#articles">articles/artículos
| <a href="#video">video | <a href="#audio">audio | <a href="#photos">photos/fotos
| <a href="#continued">continued coverage/cobertura completa 

1/4: The established economic order is somewhat worried by some proposed
economic policies offered up by Argentina's new president, Eduardo Duhalde (BBC
profile). So-called "free market" reforms are being looked at
as the main culprit in the country's tumultuous collapse over the past few weeks,
and Duhalde is a "fierce critic" of the reforms enacted by his successors
(Chicago
Tribune article). On 1/2, thousands of people protested in the streets to
call for national elections, but Duhalde is scheduled to finish his term in
2003.
 1/1/02: The Argentine Congress nominated a new two-year, interim president
today, Senator Eduardo Duhalde, a supposedly left-leaning Peronist. Angry protestors
battled briefly with police, as the usual rhetoric and crumbs have thusfar been
useless in quelling the anger Argentinians feel towards the country's corrupt
political system. (1/1/02, Yahoo
article)
12/31: As 2002 comes to a close, Argentina finds itself on the brink.
Four presidents in two weeks, along with huge street protests against severe
banking restrictions, a horrific economic crash and political corruption, have
placed the country between a rock and a hard place.
12/29: Barely a week after huge street protests and riots forced the
president and finance minister out of office, a spontaneous
mobilization of thousands early late Fri and early Sat brought government
policy again to the fore. Angry at the corrupt interim president and cabinet
that replaced the previous corrupt president and cabinet, the violence flared
in the streets as up to 12 police officers were injured in clashes with angry
protesters.
Adolfo Rodriguez Saa's cabinet offered to resign (Reuters
article) on 12/29 after protesters fought police outside of the presidential
palace and broke down the Legislative Assembly's doors.
For full coverage, see Argentina
Indymedia. Reports in Spanish and English abound, with a few other languages
thrown in for good measure. 
 
12/24: Crushed under the weight of $155 billion in debt <a
href="http://www1.oecd.org/dac/Debt/htm/jt_arg.htm">(stats) owed to the IMF
and other foreign creditors, and a typically corrupt government and legislature
in power, Argentinians suffer from 40% poverty and 18% unemployment
rates, and 2000 people fall below the poverty line each day. Extraordinary frustration
and anger are quite understandable.
They're not such uncommon emotions in a world so few have so much and so many
have little hope.
One might even have the nerve to expect a social explosion like the one that
occurred on 11/19.
Riots erupted in the streets of several cities, as protestors battled tear
gas, water cannons, rubber bullets and riot gear-clad police horses. Looters
greedily or desperately stole goods from businesses across the country. The
Finance Minister resigned, hastily followed by a president whisked away in helicopter.
Dozens of people died in the streets,
thousands have been injured. An interim president, from the same class as the
old presidents, is named, and promises great reforms that will appease both
the angry masses and foreign investors.
The corporate media trusts the process. It believes that the elites in power
have the best interests of the majority of Argentinians in mind, while praying
that "stability" returns so private investors can reap high profits
without actually being questioned. Though the interim president has stopped
payments on the debt, and for all intents and purposes defaulting on the
loans,
We all know it is the rich who will come out of this crisis with the fewest
scars. Entrenched structures and layers are not aseasily tossed aside as a looted
television box.
Yet people are still in the streets. Listen to 11/22
audio reports from Argentina IMC. If you don't understand Spanish, find
someone who does.
Here are some places for more thoughts and analysis on the Argentina that many
hope has changed for the better. 
 
(es=español, en=english, fr=francais) 
(+ = most recently added) 
[ARTICLES / ARTICULOS]<a name="articles"> 
+(es 1/3) Argentina
más allá de la crisis - (rebelion.org
& México's La
Jornada) 
- (en 1/1) Argentina:
Blame the IMF Crowd - (by Marc Cooper - Commondreams.org) 
- (en 1/1) We
are all Argentinos - (fr, Mayo
37) 
- (en 1/1/02) Argentina:
Blame the IMF Crowd - (by Marc Cooper - Commondreams.org) 
- (en 12/31) Crying
With Argentina - (by market apologist Paul Krugman, NY
Times) 
- (es 12/29) Argentina
IMC report | English
version | German
version 
- (en 12/29) <a href=http://www.rebelion.org/petras/english/argentinazoeng291201.htm">Argentinazo:
Positive Lessons of Mass Direct Action - (rebelión.org) 
- (es 12/29) Democracía
directa en Argentina: El pueblo revoca a los políticos por la fuerza
- (rebelión.org) 
+(en 12/27) Inequality
-- and Uncle Sam -- at the Root of Argentinean Crisis - Pacific
News Service 
- (en 12/26) <a href="http://www.cepr.net/columns/weisbrot/argentina's_crisis_imf's_fingerprints.htm">Argentina's
Crisis, IMF's Fingerprints - (by Mark Weisbrot) 
- (es 12/23) La
batalla de Plaza de Mayo - (rebelion.org) 
- (en 12/23) Bush
backs IMF austerity measures (BBC) 
- (en 12/21) How
the country was driven into a cycle of recession (UK
Independent) 
- (en) Don't
cry for the IMF, Argentina (by Mark Weisbrot) 
- (en 12/21) ATTAC statement:
Argentinian organization fighting for economic and political justice 
- (en) How
the IMF/WB make domestic economic policy in Argentina - (Jubilee
South) 
- (en) Shortchanging
Argentina's Workers - Economic Policy Institute 
- (en) Letter from Spanish
ZNet about Argentina's events - (by Cristina Feijo and Lucio Salas) 
- (en) The
Scorecard on Globalization 1980-2000: 20 Years of Diminished Progress -
Center for Economic and Policy Research 
+(en) A
Neoliberal Model in Ruins - (Weekly Update from the Americas)
[VIDEOS]<a name="videos"> 
- (es 12/29) Part
one (5:30) | Part
two (6:00) (Argentina IMC) 
- more videos en español can be found on Argentina IMC 
- (en 12/21) BBC
[AUDIO]<a name="audio"> 
+ (en) Interview with
Mark Weisbrot (Between the Lines, week ending 1/11/02) 
- (es 12/29) <a href="http://www.radio4all.net/stream.php/stream.m3u?sf=http://radio4all.net/pub/radio/291201cacerolas.mp3&data=">Reports
from the streets (Argentina IMC) 

- (es 12/21-22) Sonidos de la calle / sounds from the street
- one |
two (Argentina
IMC) 
- (en 12/21) <a href="http://stream.realimpact.org/rihurl.ram?file=webactive/exile/dn20011221.ra&start=">Democracy
Now! report - DN! 
- (en 12/23) On
the interim president's promises (BBC) 
- (en 12/21) IMF
Blamed for Argentina Crisis (Radio Netherlands)
[PHOTOS / FOTOS]<a name="photos"> 
- (es) 1
| 2
| 3
| 4
(Argentina IMC) 
- (es) 1
| 2
| 3
| 4
| 5
| 6
| 7
| 8
| 9
| 10
| 11
| 12
| 13
| 14
| more/mas
(Argentina IMC) 
- (en) <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/gall/0,8542,622392,00.html">
Photo gallery / galería de fotos (UK Guardian) 
 
[CONTINUING COVERAGE]<a name="continued">
<table width="66%" border="0">
<tr>
<td width="51%">Non-corporate Media</td>
<td width="49%">Corporate Media</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="51%">(es) Argentina
IMC</td>
<td width="49%">(en) UK
Guardian</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="51%">(es) Rebelión.org</td>
<td width="49%">(en) BBC</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="51%">(en) ZNet's
Latin America Watch</td>
<td width="49%">(en) Yahoo</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="51%">(es) ATTAC</td>
<td width="49%">(en) CBC</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="51%">(en) Americas.org</td>
<td width="49%"> </td>
</tr>
</table>

Argentina in Turmoil (report)

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