WEEK 15: Buenos Aires Almost Fully Shut Down Due to Protests.
Summary: On September 3, 2019 thousands of citizens in Argentina took to the streets and marched as a part of a two-day nationwide strike. The strike was coordinated by trade unions, social movements and by the general public. They all came together to protest against rising poverty and unemployment rates. Both of which have been caused by the President's fiscal austerity programme. This is disappointing because President Mauricio Macri (Argentina's President) promised during his campaign he would manage to reach “poverty zero”, not only that but he repeatedly said it would be “super easy.” The protest was so powerful that it caused banks and schools to close, and hospitals only attended to emergencies.
The Plaza de Mayo square in Buenos Aires was swarmed full of people who were unhappy and unable to keep up with the costs of living. Since inflation has increased in Argentina people have had to adapt. The large portion of the population that earns around minimum wage has had to make serious changes to their lifestyle. Either they pay for gas other they pay for electricity, because the ridiculously high prices prevent them from having basic human resources. During the protest 27 people were detained according to the Police. However, this didn't stop the people. The protests escalated and the population started to get violent, two buses were lit on fire. Fortunately, there were no reported injuries and those were the only damages major throughout the city that day.
Reaction: I personally think this is a very sad situation for the citizens and businesses in
Argentina. Realistically minimum wage should be set at a high enough earning that the people can buy basic resources. However, since this isn’t the case I predict homelessness rates to rise from the current 25.7% to around 30%, unless Mr. Macri makes serious changes that benefit the population. I think all this is occuring due to corruption and politicians pocketing the money from taxes. Even though Argentina's economy is failing i believe there is still hope as long as Mauricio Macri is not reelected.
Connection: This article connects to both our Russian revolution unit and our South Africa unit. It connects to the Russian revolution because one of the sparks for the revolution was the scarcity of food in Petrograd, and the fact that most Russians had lost faith in the Czarist regime. This also connects to our South Africa unit because much like the Soweto uprising the march took a violent turn and buses were set on fire.
Question:
1) Do you think Argentinas economy will bounce back?
2) Do you think these protests will help make change?
Argentina's economic problems are a complex issue that stems as far back as the Great Depression. With many factors influencing one's economy, it is extremely difficult to predict if Argentina's economy will bounce back. One of the main things that I am concerned about in Argentina's bounce back is that they may get caught in a negative feedback loop. As Agustino Fontevecchia explains in a Forbes article, "Argentina’s Merval stock index plummeted some 6.4 percent while shares of Argentine companies trading in Wall Street tanked up to 10 percent in a single trading session during the last week of April. Fear had taken over, and no-one wanted to be caught catching a falling knife." Essentially, as people lose confidence in Argentina they may begin to withdraw their money in order to salvage it before it tanks more. As more and more people withdraw their money, others may follow, and if this cycle continues this can absolutely decimate a country's economy. However, I believe that Argentina can bounce back, and this protest is one reason I believe this. These protests signify the Argentinian's resolve and their desire to move forward and fight for a better economy. Hopefully, these pleas from the Argentinian citizens will fight the current fear and propel investors to continue to invest in Argentina. In this way protests could have an impact.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.forbes.com/sites/afontevecchia/2019/05/06/explaining-argentinas-financial-crisis-macri-cristina-and-the-specter-of-populism/#51d161825ea1
I completely agree. I definitely think that Argentina can get back on track, i also agree that these protests and marches are helpful. However, these protests alone aren't enough. The people must find a way to continue pushing the movement. Media attention such as these articles definitely help as more people will see the issue and might help the cause.
DeleteProtest for change plays a major role in garnering international support as well increase the urgency of the solutions being applied to the problem. Protests on their own will certainly not solve the issue-- economic problems are complex and multifaceted. However, if the country cannot function while protests occur, the problem goes from being an issue of the "common people" to an issue the government and upper class must face as well. In order to be effective, protests must avoid chaos, which only has potential to worsen the lives of those being fought for.
ReplyDeleteI believe it is a slim chance that this problem in Argentina will be fixed. It is already evident in this summary that it is so bad to the point that the people have to make a stance with a protest. Some people even went as far as to burn buses to prove the severity of this situation. I think within the country the protest wouldn't have much affect but it will catch attention internationally. This attention helps gather others to help the problem. It seems at the moment the government of Argentina has no power to do anything to fix this economic problem, so I think it relies on outside countries to contribute to building up Argentina's economy problem and pull them out of this endeavor.
ReplyDeleteArgentina’s economy has shown significant signs of trouble. At this point the Argentinian Peso has fallen more than any currency this year. Additionally, The Argentinian Peso has decreased 82% in the past 5 years. Moreover, the unemployment rate has consistently dropped by over 1.5% from July to December of each year. However, this year that Christmas drop was only 0.5%. Argentina’s economy is strongly reliant on the services industry. It accounts for over 60% of their economy. With unrest throughout South America and now increased turmoil specifically in Argentina the services sector is primed to decrease. This evidence suggests that the economy might not rebound if tourism does not rebound quickly. While other comments suggest that the resolve of the Argentinian people will save the floundering economy, I believe this is very unlikely. At this point the likely scenario is that the current president Mauricio Macri will face off against the former president, Cristina Kirchner. Unfortunately for Argentina, neither of these have been successful in transforming Argentina to a strong economy. After Macri was elected, his economic policies hurt Argentina. In order to attempt to make Argentina a more appealing place for foreign investment, Macri focused on cutting debt. However, Argentina subsidizes utilities and food and Macri had to decrease these. This led many Argentinians into poverty as they relied on those subsidies. This has been one of the major factors in causing the protests. Macri’s original strategy to save the economy faltered due to protests. Strikes and high labor costs caused foreign investors that Macri so heavily expected to come to not invest. The economy collapsed as people realized that Argentina would not be successful in the short term. Argentina also has a skyrocketing inflation rate. This will likely lead to a long period until the economy steadies. There are also signs of economic instability right now which could possibly hurt Argentina further as it struggles to grow. Markets dropped significantly today and news of the trade war is not promising. The world economy can be carried or destroyed by the US economy and it is possible that Argentina’s economy will struggle to recover similar to Greece.
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I believe that the protests in Argentina will force government officials to acknowledge the problems in their country, and take action to fix them. The hope for this protest is to increase pay and decrease inflation, so the government must take action to fix either of these problems. This is similar to Venezuela because it relates to an economy crisis, and the people feel slighted of the promises made by the government. Argentina's government must find a way to stop inflation, instead of just raising the price of everything, because as proven in post World War I Germany, increasing the price of items only leads to an endless cycle that is very hard to break out of. Government officials must be accountable and translucent with their actions, and empty promises made to get elected need to be called out by the people.
ReplyDeleteThe protests of the Argentinians should for surely open the government's eyes and see how they truly feel about living with these poor conditions. Whether the government wants to do anything about this situation or not is another question. I believe they will look into it because these protests could soon turn violently against them. Having Argentina's economy bounce back is a very hard thing to do. If the country just increases the minimum wage that would effect the value of the currency which is already really low. Maybe to start off the government should try to give some money back to the people and try to get other countries to help them solve their economy problem.
ReplyDeleteArgentina's ongoing struggle with poverty and unemployment is one that truly affects everyone in the country and it's surrounding regions. It is very saddening that President Macri used false promises about ending poverty and creating jobs just for a campaign. For many facing extreme debt and having to survive under the poverty rate, their desire for money and improvement is so strong, that they have trouble thinking logically and truly assessing Macri's unattainable goals. Although it may take time, I do believe that changes will be made from the protests. Nowadays, protests and strikes are continuing to prove their effectiveness, as they have created changes in laws, rights and acts. I do not know if the destruction of buildings will truly bring much good. However the increase of awareness, as well as taking to the streets regularly to show commitment and determination WILL lead to positive changes, as Argentina's protestors gain publicity and a face against the corruption of its government.
ReplyDeleteWhile I believe the protests will definitely have an immediate effect on Argentina's citizens because they will feel empowered and determined by all of the riots, I don't think any real changes are going to come out of it anytime soon. According to 'Foreign Policy', when Mauricio went into office, he promised his people extreme economic growth: "He emphasized a message of economic competence alongside a pledge to undo the policies of his predecessor...and the great hope of the international community for restoring Argentina to its former economic glories." (https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/05/18/mauricio-macri-was-supposed-to-be-different/). While all of this seemed amazing at the time, it clearly has not happened. Because of the current situation, it is clear that one of two things is happening: Either Mauricio never really planned to put in all the work as he had promised to do OR he HAS put in the work, but isn't getting the results he hoped for. Due to this, I feel that no matter which reasoning is behind his failing, they both are going to be very hard to come back from. Argentina's economy is failing, and they're going to need to huge changes in their government if they're going to even have a chance at restoring it.
ReplyDeleteI believe the that the Argentina economy will get worse before it gets better. If the citizens of Argentina really want change they'll have to do it with a lot more protests such as this one for many months as we know from looking at Venezuela. So I believe they'll be a lot more protests which means that the economy gets worse. In time though and Argentina is under a new government I think their economy will recover. The protests will eventually force the government to hold new democratic elections which might help the poverty.
ReplyDeleteMy sympathy goes out to the people of Argentina. Argentina’s economy needs much help, unfortunately I believe change will not be quick. I think these protests will force the government to begin to fix some of the problems. I hope these protests will also bring international attention and support, ultimately strengthening the Argentinian economy. Argentina does not need any more false promises on “economic growth”, the need change. Even small changes to the economy, such as increase/creation of minimum wage would help the middle and lower class, who are struggling in the Venezuelan economy.
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