When Macri was president of Boca Juniors soccer team he could not end the hooligans rule over the club. He either did not want to, or he could not do it. How could he end the corruption on a country like Argentina is beyond my comprehension. He lacks a Churchill type of leadership that addresses the problem from the root and solves it. He promotes agreements with people that in any normal country would be in prison for the rest of their life for their corrupt behavior. He made a political party for his personal aspiration rather than for the country, continuing the Argentine populist tradition of personality cult over the party ideas. He got to the presidency almost saying nothing of his program during his campaign. In USA he would not have go above a ministry of infrastructure. Let's see from here giving him the benefits of the doubt. There is no better predictor of future performance than what a person has done on the past. It was true for the Kirchner's, and it may be true as well in this case.
1
I wonder how long it will take Mr Macri to sell his country out to the vulture funds? About 30 seconds, would be my guess...
And let us not forget that it was the likes of Ayn Rand-worshipping Mr Macri who brought Argentina to its' knees in 2001; the Kirchners were just left to pick up the pieces, for good or ill.
Best not to think of Mr Macri as a change of political direction, therefore, but more as Wall Street's bill collector come to make the poor of Argentina pay for the corruption of its' elites, forever... a Latin American Gombeen Man.
And let us not forget that it was the likes of Ayn Rand-worshipping Mr Macri who brought Argentina to its' knees in 2001; the Kirchners were just left to pick up the pieces, for good or ill.
Best not to think of Mr Macri as a change of political direction, therefore, but more as Wall Street's bill collector come to make the poor of Argentina pay for the corruption of its' elites, forever... a Latin American Gombeen Man.
3
I don't know much about politics I do more about economy, but the economy of my people, my family. The one that I see everyday to struggle. The kirchner pick up pieces yes...but they are leaving the power even worst. They fix it just to their convenience, the only ones who are leaving with benefits are themselves, leaving us with the cancer of the "campora partie" , a country divided because of them... country who choose something different today. Dont think we voted thinking Macri is the best of the best, but thinking that they are the worse of the worse and they need to leave, so can have our country in peace again, our culture united again. And that is what we feel today , a chance! . Thank you for your opinion and for give us your view outside of Argentina. Big Hugs!
2
It seems that you have forgotten that the people who brought us to our knees were the Peronists. Even the Kirchners themselves were part of it
Why does your speech sound so much like all the common places and pre-manufactured phrases that peronist and left-wing Argentinians repeat all the time? You don't seem to be very in touch with reality.
How many Presidents in the world dared to form its own political party from scratch and won an election? Mauricio Macri formed a new political party in 2005, and became President only ten years later, defeating the Kirchners who have dominated politics for 12 years and the Peronists represented by Massa. His party also won the Province of Buenos Aires, a district with a population of about 15.6 million people and the City of Buenos Aires, an autonomous district. He was successful in Boca Jrs. making the club win the Intercontinental Cup. Those who have visited Buenos Aires in the last years will appreciate that the city regained its old splendor of the Belle Epoque. There are many reasons to believe that Argentina has begun a new era of hope and change.
13
What holds Argentina back more than anything is corruption. It leaves the people feeling hopeless, powerless and without recourse. If Macri weeds out the corruption--at every level!---then he will truly empower the people and change history.
Corruption infests the most common things in daily life. There are numerous examples, but here are three from my good Argentine friend:
1. 10 years after a fire at Cromañón, an illegal night club, killed nearly 200 people, corruption still allows illegal night clubs to flourish in Buenos Aires. Call the police to complain or report one and the police go to the club, accept a bribe from the night club owner and move on. Every now and then it will get a "closure" but never a permanent one. (And if you have a legit business you have to pay a bribe to inspectors not to cited form some fictional violation and be shut down!)
2. File a complaint with a city agency about a new construction that violates the zoning codes of a neighborhood (too tall for a little street in Palermo, for example) and that building is granted a friendly "exception." It is why you see tall buildings on small streets in Palermo where they are prohibited, next to single level homes.
3. Many Argentine's whose homes are robbed, don't even call the police, because they fear that if the police were not a part of the original burglary, once they see the home's layout and belongings, they will set one up.
Stop the corruption and watch the country rejoice and thrive!
Corruption infests the most common things in daily life. There are numerous examples, but here are three from my good Argentine friend:
1. 10 years after a fire at Cromañón, an illegal night club, killed nearly 200 people, corruption still allows illegal night clubs to flourish in Buenos Aires. Call the police to complain or report one and the police go to the club, accept a bribe from the night club owner and move on. Every now and then it will get a "closure" but never a permanent one. (And if you have a legit business you have to pay a bribe to inspectors not to cited form some fictional violation and be shut down!)
2. File a complaint with a city agency about a new construction that violates the zoning codes of a neighborhood (too tall for a little street in Palermo, for example) and that building is granted a friendly "exception." It is why you see tall buildings on small streets in Palermo where they are prohibited, next to single level homes.
3. Many Argentine's whose homes are robbed, don't even call the police, because they fear that if the police were not a part of the original burglary, once they see the home's layout and belongings, they will set one up.
Stop the corruption and watch the country rejoice and thrive!
13
Corruption is a big problem in Argentina and the Kirchners' government has been as corrupt as the worst in history, but I wouldn't even rate corruption as the main problem. Stubbornly applying policies that have failed over and over is, in my opinion, the main factor that's holding Argentina back.
This is a new opportunity by Argentina. The preposterous idea that an extremely corrupt, ignorant and arrogant regime like the many iterations of the peronist move, more attuned to the workings of a sect, were for the people is mesmerizing.
Now the big question is whether the K mafia, deeply rooted at every level of the country's administration -and psyque- will let the new team govern.
Now the big question is whether the K mafia, deeply rooted at every level of the country's administration -and psyque- will let the new team govern.
6
Argentines are marvellous people but a tough bunch to be ruled. The glorious past is always alive in the collective memory. Argentines are irremediably attracted to extreme politics. Consensus was never part of the country's political vocabulary.
In the 90s, tired of inflation and a destroyed/obsolete infrastructure Carlos Menem was elected twice. He took the so called 'Washington Consensus " seriously. An American inspired economic policy receipt to make LA developed/first world economy. Even the state owned oil company YPF was privatized and sold to Spanish colonizer investors.
As we know, Menem economic policy experiment did end in economic/social tragedy when the fixed exchange rate imploded in 2001. Then, another obscure provincial governor Nestor and his wife Christina Kirchner were elected in 2003. The couple ruled the country in a caudillo-style they were used to. That is, like their own property.
Now comes Mauricio Macri. A young, wealthy politician with a modern vision about society and Argentina's insertion in the world economy. Many --51% of voters- will support his initial decisions. The challenge, however, is not how Macri launches his administration but how it will end.
In the 90s, tired of inflation and a destroyed/obsolete infrastructure Carlos Menem was elected twice. He took the so called 'Washington Consensus " seriously. An American inspired economic policy receipt to make LA developed/first world economy. Even the state owned oil company YPF was privatized and sold to Spanish colonizer investors.
As we know, Menem economic policy experiment did end in economic/social tragedy when the fixed exchange rate imploded in 2001. Then, another obscure provincial governor Nestor and his wife Christina Kirchner were elected in 2003. The couple ruled the country in a caudillo-style they were used to. That is, like their own property.
Now comes Mauricio Macri. A young, wealthy politician with a modern vision about society and Argentina's insertion in the world economy. Many --51% of voters- will support his initial decisions. The challenge, however, is not how Macri launches his administration but how it will end.
8
A fresh start with the possibility of getting rid of bolivarian socialism for Argentina.
2
One thing Mr. Macri could do would be to reinstate Graciela Bevacqua as the country's chief statistician. She was a model of integrity, which the Kirchner administrations were apparently immune to, and both administrations let her know such with their shameless treatment of her and her work over the course of too many years.
8
David: I believe he did mention that he will bring back all of the best who were dedicated during many years to lead the Statistics of Argentina. We just have to wait till end of this week when he will probably let everyone of us know who will be in his cabinet.
3
Another one-percenter for the one percent.
Way to go, Argentina. Absolutely brilliant.
Way to go, Argentina. Absolutely brilliant.
9
So do you really think more years of Peronist rule would have helped the 99%? and what do you know about Argentina anyway?
5
Perhaps Venezuela could use a 1 percenter to reduce the suffering of the 99 percent.
2
Allow me to explain this for the NYTimes readers who are not from this region. Mr. CMS is saying that the privileged class of Argentina, rotten to the core, infamously arrogant to the point of even being a national embarrassment to hard working Argentines who have earned respectable places in that country's society. Internationally, the "let them eat cake" royalty that lords it over everyone else, especially the poor and middle class, is given a pass because no one outside the region can give credence to anyone being so flagrantly childish, jealous, self-aggrandising and (where's a word light years beyond arrogant when it's needed?!).
Machiavelli's ". . . absolute power corrupts absolutely" cannot be appreciated outside of the Southern Cone (Arg, Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay). The moral Argentine rot produced corruption such as the "ñoquis," reflecting the Argentine custom of eating the Italian dumpling the 28th of each month -- just as thousands of government "employees" collect their monthly "salary", although they have never seen the "office" they list as theirs.
CMS's one-percenter refers to this class of smug, self-serving "aristocrats" who,instead of hiding their shame, flaunt it -- actually believing they are special, disgusting an observer and destroying the hopes of the millions who live so far below the internationally recognized poverty line that Buenos Aires slums extend, quite literally, more than a hundred miles beyond the capital's urban center.
Machiavelli's ". . . absolute power corrupts absolutely" cannot be appreciated outside of the Southern Cone (Arg, Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay). The moral Argentine rot produced corruption such as the "ñoquis," reflecting the Argentine custom of eating the Italian dumpling the 28th of each month -- just as thousands of government "employees" collect their monthly "salary", although they have never seen the "office" they list as theirs.
CMS's one-percenter refers to this class of smug, self-serving "aristocrats" who,instead of hiding their shame, flaunt it -- actually believing they are special, disgusting an observer and destroying the hopes of the millions who live so far below the internationally recognized poverty line that Buenos Aires slums extend, quite literally, more than a hundred miles beyond the capital's urban center.
2
Better be careful with Iran, the last person who investigated the Iran Kirchner Axis was found with a bullet in his head.
7
Great American: Prosecutor was murdered by Kirchner's men, there's no doubt about it. We are all certain that now with Macri in office the whole world will have news on this crime. Remember that many, many of the men working for the Kirchners were all former members of either terrorist groups which acted criminally during the 1970s and part of the 80's, who were trained by far-left specialists.
3
With any new government the citizens can always be hopeful, but this article and others leading to the vote does not give me a sense of what the domestic policies of President Macri will be. I find the lack of a sense of what Argentina is envisioned as becoming under Macri to be worrisome.
7
This election is not only a victory for Argentina, but for Latin America and the entire American continent. Mr. Macri, an engineer, with strong ethical and Christian principles, a solid education and moral formation, a very good track record as former businessman and mayor. He is a graduate of the best Christian school in Argentina - Cardinal Newman College, where he learned the values of humility, respect for all people regardless of income or social status that we can see in his discourse and actions. As mayor of Buenos Aires, he succeeded in building modern infrastructure, control crime, help the homeless and low income communities. He has a clean record regarding corruption after several years as mayor. Mr. Macri has also clearly stated his support for the rule of law, the independence of the judicial power, the constitutional and republican principles. He will open up the economy and foster direct foreign investment, as a means to support the eradication of poverty.
Mr. Macri's core team members are all professionals with transparent ethical backgrounds, clearly competent performance and strong servant leadership.
Past governments, with their leftist and unethical policies, jeopardized the very foundation of Argentina: strong education, respect for the rule of law, minimal social gap, faith and family. Fortunately, a critical mass of the population, sharing Mr Macri's and team's mentality, held on to their faith, values and professionalism to safeguard Argentina.
Mr. Macri's core team members are all professionals with transparent ethical backgrounds, clearly competent performance and strong servant leadership.
Past governments, with their leftist and unethical policies, jeopardized the very foundation of Argentina: strong education, respect for the rule of law, minimal social gap, faith and family. Fortunately, a critical mass of the population, sharing Mr Macri's and team's mentality, held on to their faith, values and professionalism to safeguard Argentina.
4
I hope you know what are you saying... Here, in Argentina, we know Macri very well: he was found guilty of fraud and smuggling when he was president of Sevel Argentina, to avoid to be bored, he has 214 criminal complaints; his administration was seized by committing the crime of budget underspending...
Wow... the list is very long...
Wow... the list is very long...
7
"Past governments, with their leftist and unethical policies, jeopardized the very foundation of Argentina"
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Proof of a causal relationship between leftists approaches and the jeopardized foundation of Argentina?
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Proof of a causal relationship between leftists approaches and the jeopardized foundation of Argentina?
2
I am elated! i went to work this mornining and run to see my argentinian collegue we screamed and high five! Only two more corrupt shameless drug dealers presidents to go Evo from Bolivia and Maduro from Venezuela, i have hope i do!
15
It's a good break from the succession of left wing governments... but what the article does not mention: A family business that boomed with ties to the brutal military regime. Also it maybe worth mentioning his party opposition to the bill in the parliament that will investigate how individuals and businesses took part in crimes during the dictatorship years.
Argentina experienced one of the worst, most bloodied period in Latin America - 1976 to 1983. Its scars and divisions are still visible today.
Argentina experienced one of the worst, most bloodied period in Latin America - 1976 to 1983. Its scars and divisions are still visible today.
16
You meant Chile with Pinochet
the above comment might be quite disquieting in more ways than one
2
No, Argentina.
2
Having just returned from Argentina last week, I wish the best of luck to Macri. Everyone we came in contact with was disillusioned with Kirchner's economic policies that have hurt the middle class the hardest, and are ready for change. It will be a difficult time for Argentina, to say the least, but one that is absolutely necessary. Perhaps now, Argentina can move past the cult of Eva Peron which is so still so shockingly evident throughout the country!
30
Let's hope so.It's a beautiful country with wonderful people. They deserve better.
26
Short comment, says it all in it's simplicity, saludos!
1
Thank you so much!! Argentina is living a new fresh air of good politics. Air of change. Its really nice to read people who love and respect my country! Kisses
2