One of the most important speakers this Wednesday at the traditional summit of the American House which has always brought together protagonists of political life, such as ministers and businessmen, contextualised the harsh words on Argentina’s “decline” which, opening the proceedings, Facundo Minujín, president of the House, he exposed: Cristina Kirchner has delivered the country with an inflation of 25%, Mauricio Macri with more than 50% and Alberto Fernández can deliver it with almost 120%. If we keep this up, the next president won’t hand it over with 240%. We can’t allow that!”
Under an image of some anxiety, and in the crowded halls of the Alvear Icon in Puerto Madero, because many of the more than a thousand guests have just given their confirmation on Monday evening, this Tuesday’s work conference gave climate models of electoral uncertainty, where no presidential candidate or even a coalition shows enough strength towards a winning trend. For starters, no one was talking about “favorites.” Furthermore, the climate that has been breathed is that of already awaiting the next government
Undoubtedly, the critical political and economic issues were on the table with the majority presence of the leaders of the opposition, Emilio Monzó, Silvia Lospenatto or Graciela Caamaño. But the crux of the situation occurred, on the one hand, between the harsh message of Facundo Minujin, chairman of AmCham and CEO of JP Morgan. Then there was a more conciliatory message from the US ambassador Mark Stanley and a request from the Argentine ambassador in Washington, Jorge Arguello.
Even if they arrived at noon Daniel Scioli, ambassador to Brazil and pre-candidate of the ruling party, Patricia Bullrich , Horacio Rodriguez Larreta and Civic Coalition figures such as Juan Manuel López and Fernando Sánchez, have attracted attention some absences on the programme: that of the deputy and the economist javier millei, and that of Foreign Minister Santiago Cafiero. They said that trade unionist Pablo Moyano was invited and came down.’
an important moment was the presentation of the president of the Supreme Court of Justice, Horace Rosattiwho after repeatedly underlining the role of the highest court, underlined that Argentina is one a capitalist country with respect to private property. In between he spoke of the “uncontrolled expansion of monetary issuance”.
Another point to underline is that in his inaugural address, Minujín greeted Stanley but not Argüello, who finally went with the American by car to another meeting at the Ministry of Labor.
“Unfortunately, Argentina has been in a steady decline for many decades now, maybe 70 years, and that decline has accelerated over time,” Minujin said between several harsh sentences in which he also stressed the call for the private sector to adopt a ” leading role”. in a country where he has asked for “clear and stable rules”.
He underlined: “Over the past decade, there has been no growth in private sector employment or growth in the volume of exports. In contrast, the largest employer over the past decade has been the national government and provincial governments. It is we too On the other hand, we at AmCham are convinced that once the fiscal deficit is eliminated, given true independence to the Central Bank and its board of directors and excessive public spending is cut, the country will start to grow steadily. beneficial to the entire population,” he predicted.
After each guest raced to their own cable car, Stanley refrained from speaking in the same tone he adopted last week at a seminar he attended in Washington, where he referred to his country’s doubts about China’s investment growth in this country. . This time, however, he opted for a lighter tone—after all, Minujín was responsible for the tough-talking about the 200-year relationship and good ties at touchpoints like democracy and human rights.
“As Argentina faces economic challenges and the world faces food and fuel shortages due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Argentina can work together with the United States and other countries to bring food and fuel to the world. Argentina it can be part of the solution and strengthen its economy at the same time,” he said. And curiously, you didn’t mention the Argentine industry.
Then, he highlighted all the American visits Argentina has had and included Alberto Fernández’s trip to Joe Biden in Washington. He also announced an important visit by a NASA delegation soon.
As if it were an outstanding debt, and as a counterpoint, Argüello sent: “For Argentina, China is the second trading partner. But for many other countries in the region (and in the world) it is the first. As you well know, trade and investments are closely related and the buyer will tend to be an investor.”
He recalled that the Chinese investment process in Argentina is aimed at building a capacity to export more products to Argentina. “This means: ports, lines, railway sections, bridges. Taking into account that one of the main problems my country faces today is external restriction and the lack of foreign exchange, what would be the logic for Argentina to close itself off from investments that promote exports? It doesn’t make any sense.”
And also, as a request, Argüello recalled that if the law for reducing inflation in the United States comes into force, Argentina will have greater difficulties in placing its lithium in that market. It is a permanent claim of the Argentines and which also justifies the strong entry of the Chinese into the extraction of the star mineral.
“We have received concerns about China’s role in exploiting strategic sectors such as lithium. And soon after a law is passed that could leave us (we are the main exporter of lithium to the US) out of an important segment of the electric car market in the US. United States, like the Inflation Reduction Act,” he said.
Source: Clarin
