There are governors who prefer to receive the “cup” rather than promoting investments in their provinces

The fourteen governors who signed the declaration rejecting the Supreme Court ruling favorable to the city of Buenos Aires on the issue of co-participation, indicated that their provinces see “directly affected” by the decision of the highest court, even if it is known that the only one that will have to transfer funds – which previously belonged to the CABA – is the province of Buenos Aires.

The governors have said that the disputed funds are part of the financing of works that are carried out throughout the country, and therefore they feel affected.

What has become apparent is that governors have put far more energy into the corporate struggle for co-participation than into the explore other paths more sustainable, as they say now.

can be cited three concrete examples.

• Between rivers rejected, at the beginning of this century, the settlement of a paper mill of the Finnish company Bothnia in their territory. The request for bribes during the administration of the former governor Giorgio Busti to enable the structure, which led the company to choose the Uruguayan city of Brother Bentosin the face of Gualeguaychú, which unleashed a binational conflict -Argentina denounced the risk of contamination of the Uruguay river- resolved only with a sentence of the international court in The Hague in 2010. The direct investments that Uruguay has received from the paper mills have been the most important for decades and exports from this sector already amount to almost $5 billion a year. Between rivers missed the historic opportunity have them in their territory.

• Closer in time, the legislator of Land of fire enacted a law in 2021 that was taken into consideration in the province “world pioneer” because it bans salmon farming in the provincial jurisdiction. It is an activity that flourishes at the height of Tierra del Fuego but in Chile. Tierra del Fuego lawmakers and Governor Gustavo Melella, who signed the statement against the Supreme Court ruling this week, had the idea of ​​voting that law down because they understand that there is no sustainable way – as is the case in Chile, Norway and other countries – to raise salmon in captivity and in an environmentally friendly way. Thus, an activity that was generated in Chile in 2019, before the pandemic, was banned. 5,500 million dollars of exports. Salmon is Chile’s second largest export, after copper. Generates 130,000 jobs

• This year, after a long history of negotiations with the government of chubut and facing broad resistance from environmental sectors, Canadian mining company Pan American Silver has decided to suspend activity in the province and leave the Navidad project on “stand by”a megaproject for which had promised to invest $1,000 million. Although the Legislation had given the green light to the project, the governor made the social rejection Mariano Arcioni finally decided to repeal this law, less than a week after its approval. This final setback came as a shock to the company, which decided to restructure its operations in that province, and lift the Navidad project, which was already in an advanced stage of exploration.

In all three cases there is a common thread. Provincial governments reject direct investment in their provinces. That means, They reject the creation of private, registered, quality employment. It is the perfect counter to the job map which shows the interior, where only public employment and so-called jobs are growing “popular economy”. Indeed, in ten provinces of the country, there are already more workers in the popular economy than registered private wage earners.

It appears that governors are finding it more comfortable to collect gross receipts and wait for funds from the nation.