Andrés Oppenheimer reviews some of the criticism from the US towards Argentina's President, Nestor Kirchner. I agree with him about the criticisms of Kirchner's government's visit to Cuba and Castro's visit to Argentina. Kirchner was imprisoned by Argentina's odious junta for the non-violent expression of his beliefs. I cannot understand why he would make common cause with someone who continues to do the same.
Changes need to come from both sides. The fact that the Bush administration trotted out such Reagan Era cold warriors as Elliott Abrams, Otto Reich, John Negroponte, John Poindexter and Roger Noriega for various roles (with the exception of the now departed Poindexter) all in the Department of State clearly sent the wrong message to nations such as Argentina. Given the Reagan administration's support of the Argentine junta, especially as manifested by Jeane Kirkpatrick's veritable kowtowing, I have little doubt that there was a palpable sense of deja vu.
Oppenheimer concludes thusly:
Are the U.S. critics of Kirchner being fair? Or are they too harsh with a new president whose first priority has to be preventing a social explosion in a country devastated by a war-like economic catastrophe?I tend to think the latter, and that one should wait at least six months before passing judgment on Kirchner. He needed to adopt some emergency social measures, just as the United States needed them after the 1929 crisis.
My only fear is that, unlike Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who is using the momentum of his first year in office to push for key economic reforms, Kirchner is wasting his popularity on largely inconsequential measures. Unless he moves fast to fix Argentina's real problems, such as an outdated tax system and laws that discourage domestic and foreign investment, he will find that impossible to do later.
It's not just the economy, however, that Kirchner should be judged on. He has made great strides against continued impunity in Argentina, he has made progress in cleaning up the provincial police force in Buenos Aires, he, unlike Menem, has finally thrown his full weight behind the apprehension of those responsible for the anti-semitic bombings of the Israeli Embassy and the AMIA Jewish Center. Oppenheimer deserves credit for these steps.
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