Palabras De Portenos

american expatriate living in buenos aires

About the author

Expat man Expat woman Photoblog

Reflections on one couple's experiences living, working, and exploring in Buenos Aires.

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The author

We moved from Washington DC to Argentina to teach English.

Comments

The popular uprisings of December 19 and 20 2001 marked a sea change in Argentina’s place in the world. The country was the most radical follower of neo-liberal policies, praised by the international financial establishment at every turn. Then in 2001 Argentina's collapse proved that neo-liberalism does not deliver: instead of the promised wealth the country had the highest rate of poverty in its history with an economic collapse comparable to the Great Depression. The crisis saw a tremendous surge in social energy, with 2002 a year of almost constant mobilisation and mass involvement in politics. Even in the ebbing activity, there is a rich range of social activism seeking to reconstruct the country. The hardship experienced by Argentinians has begun to connect them more to the rest of the world: now they know that their struggles against the IMF, the banks, their corrupt politicians, are not unique, but are mirrored by people across the globe. Just as the IMF and the US Treasury Department were saying with their actions ‘Argentina doesn’t matter’, people around the world begged to differ. The neo-liberal pressures, the IMF’s political conditions, these are recognisable to many in scores of countries. The impact of the latest round of international control over the finances of poorer countries has been shocking in Argentina. A country with the largest middle class in the continent is facing half of its population living in poverty. This is the result of US republican policy in Argentina and the stranglehold of the IMF... Yet the response is also proving to be spectacular. Uncertain still, new political action brings together existing social forces. The economic model left millions out of work, the industrial base of the country destroyed, the agriculture dependent on exports (while the country has to import foodstuffs for the first time). The majority is left out of formal economic activity and millions are unemployed. Yet those forcibly excluded from the economy refuse to go quietly: thousands of the unemployed are organised, many in the unions which also defend the rights of insecure and underpaid fellow workers. Neo-liberalism has succeeded in creating economic meltdown, and at the same time its own antidote: mass efforts to reclaim the economy for social ends.
by mich on 29/10/2008 at 18:10:40