IJ@

International Journal of Anarchism

ifa-Solidaritet - folkebladet - © ISSN 0800-0220 no 6(31) editor H. Fagerhus - Contact IJA

Bulletin of the Anarchist International

THE SITUATION IN ARGENTINA

20.12.2001: President Fernando de la Rua has resigned. Some of the international newsmedia have called the present riots and ochlarchical situation in Argentina "anarchy", or close to "anarchy". This polyarchical, chaotic situation has however more than 67% authoritarian degree on the Economical Political Map, and thus far from anarchy, i.e. less than 50% authoritarian degree. The International Anarchist Tribunal reacts immediately to this authoritarian mix of anarchy and chaos. Anyone who calls this chaotic situation "anarchy" may receive a Brown Card from the tribunal. A chaotic mix of polyarchy, ochlarchy and plutarchy, rivaling "states within the state" have nothing to do with anarchy or anarchism.

Furthermore the Anarchist Federation of Argentina, "Federatión Libertaria Argentina", so far plays no important role at all in the situation. It will however certainly contribute to real  anarchy, i.e. real order, and a libertarian development, as far as it has resources. The F.L.A.and F.O.R.A., the workers' federation, have full solidaric support from the AI-IFA-IAF and the Anarchy of Norway in this work. Down with the corrupt bureaucracy, economical and political/administrative, in private and public sector in Argentina! Towards a libertarian economical and political/administrative development! 22.12.2001: The Argentinian Congress will elect an interim president, Mr R. Saa. 23.12.2001 - Adolfo Rodriguez Saa named new interim president, says Argentina will suspend foreign debt payments. Fresh protests in anger over Rodriguez Saa's appointment of officials seen as corrupt and his decision to maintain unpopular banking curbs.

The anarchists say a ca 25% general demand hike is necessary as soon as possible. Mr Rodriguez Saa's proposals so far are neither necessary nor sufficient to solve the problems. He seems to be a "neo-mercantilist", a policy that will not do Argentina any good in the present situation. F.O.R.A. has got new adress. Mr. Rodriguez Saa is still far out and very authoritarian; the anarchists have some more advice. The economic chaos continues and protesters, waving the national flag, protests. The new interim government offers to resign. The anarchists are warning R. Saa about printing too much of the new money "argentino". Report from F.O.R.A. in Spanish. Anarchists say R. Saa seems to have no real plan for solutions, just more chaotic populist/fascist neo-mercantilism. 31.12.2001: R. Saa resignes. 01.01.2002: New riots initiated by leftists, and Eduardo Duhalde, another "Menemist", is elected to president. When will these corrupt "mercantilists" ever learn.

02-4.01.2002: The peso will be devaluated. BBC has got a brown card from IAT. The anarchists say the expected ca 30% devaluation of the peso is not enough. About 70% is more realistic. Furthermore the prices have hiked 40% at some goods already. A ca 50% price hike means that total demand must increase about 75% to do away with most of the unemployment in the present situation. 07-08.01.2002 Mr. Duhalde's measures are not at all sufficient to deal with the problems. Anarchists criticize it, stick to their economical advice, and recommend a broad based democratic assembley with mandate to take majority decisions. Worried savers and 'home-made crisis'. Inflation fears, unemployment hike? Anarchists have further comments and advice. A mob protests against Duhalde's policy, and say they are "tired of being treated like dirt". F.L.A. reminds about the fight for a less authoritarian society is not new in Argentina, in Spanish.

10-12.01.2002 New mass protests and devaluation of the peso, floating down to 1,7 peso per US $. More riots and ochlarchy. 12-16.01.2002 Trade unions, policy and actions, i.e. general strikes etc. Duhalde calls the chaos "anarchy", calls for an "arch", i.e. strong rule, and gets a Brown Card. Labor federations with anarchist banners are marching in the streets. 17-19.01.2002 The peso is so far devaluated about 50%. New chief of the federal reserve (central bank) is appointed. Duhalde says he is sitting on "a ticking bomb". Anarchists have more advice. People are still marching in the streets. 20-22.01.2002 The AIE demands: "Stop the ochlarchy! Protest with reason!" Duhalde declares bank savings will be converted to peso at the official rate 1,4 peso per US $, and large demonstrations occured. Protesters call it looting of their future.

23-26.01.2002 More protests, and Duhalde organizes more police against the demonstrations. Later the police in Buenos Aires fired teargas and rubber bullets to disperse protesters in the streets. 28-30.01.2002 Unemployed demonstrate and the government discusses with the IMF. The anarchists put up a plan for economical recovery. 31.01 - 01.02.2002 The anarchists are giving more advice according to the plan. The bank plutarchs will sabotage supreme court's decisions about normal bank-services. 02-3.02.2002 Duhalde mainly supports the supreme court's decisions. 04-7.02.2002 President Eduardo Duhalde changed his mind and moved on to ban the Supreme Court from meddling. This is harming the economy. The anarchists analyse what went wrong with the economy, and thus why anarchist economics, included demand managent are necessary, and they give further advice. More demonstrations against Duhalde. "Duhalde should take the message! Cut the mercantilistic as well as monetaristic crap "plans", and prepare for anarchist economics!" - the anarchists say.

08-21.02.2002 The protests continue! G7 meeting with discussion about Argentina. The people fear inflation! Down to 60% devaluation! Report and summary - December 2001 - January 2002 from F.L.A., in Spanish (partly translated to English). Anarchist criticism of the Argentinian Trotskyite type "wannabe libertarian" party, i.e. the so called "Partido Autonomía y Libertad". Updated figures and new scenarios of anarchist economics. Duhalde continues on the wrong track. Protest marches! Germany, USA, IMF and the anarchists have something to say about the chaotic populist looting system of Duhalde. More about the floating peso. Comment from AIE. Brown Card to La Prensa from IAT. Anarchist comment on Guillermo Perry's note on Argentina. Hundreds of Argentines angry over a freeze of their bank deposits smashed banks' windows with hammers and rolling pins. The anarchists are warning Duhalde. Unemployed are marching in the streets. Anarchists are warning about marxist-lubbeism, and call for anarchist demand management to hike employment.

22.02-02.03.2002 Discussions at the parliament, economical data, more protests and more anarchist comments. Report from F.O.R.A. - Organización Obrera Nº55 - in Spanish. 03-26.03.2002 More news and comments. F.O.R.A. - INFORME DE LA SITUACIÓN EN LA ARGENTINA 27-28-03.2002 The people's story. 29-31.03.2002 Argentina's New Neighborhood Associations - more comments. 01.04-19.05.2002 Flip-flops in Duhalde's government - more useless bureaucratic tricks, a.s.o.. 20-31.05.2002. Report from F.O.R.A. - Organización Obrera Nº56 - in Spanish. 1º DE MAYO ¡ORGANIZACIÓN! More news and comments. 01-30.06.2002: More flip-flops - and riots. 01-31.07.2002 The heat is on but there is no one to cook. Report from F.O.R.A. about State killings. Wage hike. Demonstrations. - More demonstrations. Galtieri arrested. Politics. More about Galtieri & Co. Peso down. IMF-meeting. 01.08-14.11.2002 The populist chaos is spreading to Uruguay. US aid. Banks open. Worse in Argentina. Unemployment hike. Junta history. Call for solidarity. Madness. IMF. Mutualism? Default on payment of debt to World Bank.

15.11.2002-31.03.2003 Report from F.O.R.A. 01-24.04.2003 Cooperatives. 27.04 - 14.05.2003 President election. 15.05 - 09.07 2003 About 300 small cooperatives are established. 10.07.2003-31.12.2004: Economic recovery due to anarchist economics/demand management. 16.12.2005: Argentina has said it will pay its $10bn debt to the International Monetary Fund three years early. As of 2005, there were roughly 200 worker-owned businesses in Argentina, most of which were started in response to this crisis.

04.04.2007: Teacher killed during demonstration. 28.10.2007: Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner elected to president. Argentina is ranked as no 45 of countries according to libertarian degree, with a point estimate of ca 37, 8% libertarian degree, i.e. ca 62,2% authoritarian degree. It is more authoritarian than the USA, with ca 42,5% libertarian degree and ca 57,5% authoritarian degree. It is also more capitalist than the USA, with a ginindex at 52.2, while the USA has a ginindex at 40.8. Argentina is located in the conservative sector, a little to the left, and a bit downwards, of USA, in the quadrant of liberalism on the economical-political map. The coordinates of the economic-political system in Argentina are long term average structural estimates.

27.03-18.07.2008: Argentine farm tax crisis - it ended with victory for the anarchists and farmers. 20.03.2009: Argentine farmers to halt grain, beef sales. The anarchists support the direct actions of the farmers! 28.06.2009: Parliament election. 04.08.2009: A bomb exploded. The anarchists suspect a marxist leftwing extremist ochlarch. 30.12.2009. There are now more than 250 worker-recovered businesses in Argentina. 10.01.2010. There are pressure and demonstrations for more cooperatives. 29.01.2010. Argentina's Central Bank president resigns. 20.04.2010. Last Argentine dictator jailed for 25 years. 27.04-03.05.2010: Arrest of five ochlarchists in Buenos Aires. 14.05.2010. Argentina: Greek financial rescue doomed to fail.

A crude translation from Spanish to English and the other way around may be done at URL: http://www.freetranslation.com/ or http://www.worldlingo.com/wl/Translate

Contents:

I. Argentina 1916 - 2001. President Fernando de la Rua has resigned
II. Ochlarchy and looting
III. Cut bureaucracy costs
IV. Argentina is not a potential nightmare
V. State of emergency lifted
VI. Economic challenge
VII. US appeal and default fear
VIII. Emergency reimposed
IX. Ca 25% increase in total demand for national product is necessary
as soon as possible say the anarchists
X. Mr. Rodriguez Saa - an anarchist criticism
XI. It could have been heaven, but a greedy plutarchist bureaucracy made it hell.
XII. F.O.R.A. has got new adress
XIII. ESTALLIDO SOCIAL EN ARGENTINA
XIV. Mr. Rodriguez Saa is still far out and very authoritarian,
the anarchists have some more advice
XV. Economic chaos and protests
XVI. Show of anger
XVII. Interim government have offered to resign.
Mr R. Saa shows further incompetence
XVIII. Cash curbs and populist chaos economics are no solution
XIX. Argentine interim President Adolfo Rodriguez Saa has resigned
XX. New riots and new president
XXI. From the populist left. Expected devaluation
XXII. The measures of Mr Duhalde are not sufficient
according to anarchist economics
XXIII. Uncertainty ahead and conflicting interests
XXIV. Worried savers and 'home-made crisis'
XXV. 'No quick fix', but new business taxes? Inflation fears, unemployment hike?
XXVI. The F.L.A. reminds about the fight for a less authoritarian society in Argentina is not new:
Memoria y presente de la lucha social
XXVII. New mass protests. New devaluated peso
XXVIII. Reducing foreign trade deficit - more ochlarchy
XXIX. Trade unions, policy and actions, i.e. general strikes etc. 
XXX. Duhalde calls the chaos "anarchy", calls for an "arch", i.e. strong rule, and gets a Brown Card.
Middle class and unemployed demonstrate. Anarchists put up an economical recovery plan.
XXXI. The anarchists are giving more advice according to the plan. More protests. G7 meeting. Inflation hike?
XXXII. Report and summary - December 2001 - January 2002 from F.L.A. with comment
XXXIII. Updated figures and new scenarios of anarchist economics. Duhalde continues on the wrong track. Protest marches. More comments. Brown Card to La Prensa. More riots. Unemployed marching. No to marxist-lubbeism. Hike demand to hike employment
XXXIV. Discussions at the parliament, economical data, more protets and more anarchist comments
XXXV. Report from F.O.R.A. - Organización Obrera Nº55 - in Spanish. More news and comments.
XXXVI. F.O.R.A. - INFORME DE LA SITUACIÓN EN LA ARGENTINA
XXXVII. Neighborhood Associations
XXXVIII. Report from F.O.R.A. - Organización Obrera Nº56 - in Spanish. 1º DE MAYO ¡ORGANIZACIÓN! ETC.
XXXIX. The development 20.05.2002-31.12.2004. 16.12.2005: Argentina has said it will pay its $10bn debt to the International Monetary Fund three years early. 04.04.2007: Teacher killed during demonstration. 28.10.2007: Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner elected to president. Argentina's place on the economical-political map.
XL. 27.03-18.07.2008: Argentine farm tax crisis - it ended with victory for the anarchists and farmers. 20.03.2009: Argentine farmers to halt grain, beef sales. The anarchists support the direct actions of the farmers! 28.06.2009: Parliament election. 04.08.2009: A bomb exploded. The anarchists suspect a marxist leftwing extremist ochlarch. 30.12.2009: There are now more than 250 worker-recovered businesses in Argentina. 10.01.2010: There are pressure and demonstrations for more cooperatives. 29.01.2010: Argentina's Central Bank president resigns. 20.04.2010. Last Argentine dictator jailed for 25 years. 27.04-03.05.2010: Arrest of five ochlarchists in Buenos Aires. 14.05.2010. Argentina: Greek financial rescue doomed to fail.

I. Argentina 1916 - 2001. Facts about the country. President Fernando de la Rua has resigned

1916 - Hipolito Yrigoyen of the Radical party is elected president. He introduces a minimum wage to counter the effects of inflation. Irigoyen is elected again in 1928.

1930 - A coup involving all services of the Argentine armed forces and led by General Uriburu overthrows Irigoyen. Civilian rule is restored in 1932.

1939 - Outbreak of World War II. Argentina proclaims its neutrality.

1942 - Argentina, along with Chile, refuses to break diplomatic relations with Japan and Germany after the Japanese attack on the US Pacific fleet at Pearl Harbour.

1943 - Military regime seizes power. It is known to favour Japan and Germany. One of its leading figures is Colonel Juan Peron.

1944 - Argentina breaks diplomatic relations with Japan and Germany and declares war on them in 1945.

1946 - Peron wins elections for the presidency. He had promised workers higher wages and social security. His wife, Eva Peron ('Evita'), is put in charge of labour relations.

1949 - A new constitution strengthens the power of the president. Congress - dominated by Peron's supporters - passes legislation providing jail terms for anyone showing disrespect for the government. Regime opponents are subsequently imprisoned, independent newspapers are suppressed.

1951 - Peron is re-elected president with a huge majority.

1952 - Peron's wife dies of cancer. Peron's support begins to decline.

1955 June - An attempted coup by the Argentine navy is crushed as the army remains loyal to Peron.

1955 September - Coup by all three branches of the armed forces succeeds after three days of fighting, during which thousands are killed. Peron resigns and takes refuge on a Paraguayan gunboat. He subsequently goes into exile in Paraguay, and later in Spain. The federal constitution of 1853, based on that of the United States, is restored.

1966 - Military rule is imposed again with a coup led by General Juan Carlos Ongania.

1973 - The Peronist party wins elections in March. Hector Campora is inaugurated president. Argentina is wracked by terrorist violence. Peron returns to Buenos Aires in June. Campora resigns and Peron becomes president in September.

1974 - Peron dies in July. His third wife, Maria, succeeds him. Terrorism from right and left escalates, leaving hundreds dead. There are strikes, demonstrations and high inflation.

1975 - Inflation rises to more than 300%.

1976 - A military junta under General Jorge Videla seizes power. Parliament is dissolved. Opponents of the regime are rounded up in the 'Dirty War', which is to see 25-30 000 thousands of people 'disappear', i.e. killed.

1981 - General Leopoldo Galtieri heads the military regime.

1982 April - Argentine forces occupy the British-held Falkland Islands, which Argentina calls Islas Malvinas and over which it had long claimed sovereignty. The United Kingdom dispatches a force to re-take the islands, which it does in June. More than 700 Argentines are killed in the fighting. Galtieri is replaced by General Reynaldo Bignone.

1983 - Argentina returns to civilian rule. Raul Alfonsin becomes president. Argentina begins to investigate the 'Dirty War' and charge former military leaders with human rights abuses. Inflation is running at more than 900%.

1989 - Carlos Menem of the Peronist party is elected president. He imposes an economic austerity programme.

1990 - Full diplomatic relations with the United Kingdom are restored, with Argentina still maintaining its claim to the Falklands.

1992 - Argentina introduces a new currency, the peso, which is pegged to the US dollar. A bomb is placed in the Israeli embassy, 29 people are killed.

1994 - A Jewish community centre in Buenos Aires is bombed. 86 people are killed and more than 200 injured.

1995 - Menem is re-elected.

1996 - Finance Minister Domingo Cavallo is dismissed. Economic hardship leads to a general strike in September.

1997 - A judge in Spain issues orders for the arrest of former Argentine military officers on charges of participating in the kidnapping and killing of Spanish citizens during the 'Dirty War'. Argentine amnesty laws protect the accused.

1998 - Argentine judges order arrests in connection with the abduction of hundreds of babies from women detained during the 'Dirty War'. Recession starts.

1999 - Fernando de la Rua of the centre-left Alianza opposition coalition wins the presidency, inherits 114 billion-dollar public debt.

2000 - Strikes and fuel tax protests. Beef exports slump after an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease. Soya exports suffer from concerns over the use of genetically modified varieties. An IMF bail-out package of nearly 40 billion dollars was agreed in December 2000. But planned austerity measures - tax rises and cuts in social welfare programmes - led to a political crisis later on.

2001 February - Argentina recalls its ambassador to Cuba after President Castro accuses Argentina of 'licking the yankee boot'. Castro made the remarks in an apparent reference to Argentina's support for US condemnation of Cuba's record on human rights. Argentina and the United Kingdom agree that Argentine private aircraft and vessels may now visit the Falkland Islands again.

2001 March - President de la Rua forms a government of national unity and appoints three finance ministers in as many weeks as cabinet resignations and protests greet planned austerity measures.

2001 July - Former president Carlos Menem is charged with heading an 'illicit organization' that violated international arms embargoes against Croatia and Ecuador in the early 1990s. A court throws out all arms trafficking charges against Menem, freeing him after five months of house arrest.

2001 July - Much of the country is brought to a standstill by a general strike in protest against proposed government spending cuts. Country's credit ratings slip.

2001 October - The opposition Peronists take control of both houses of parliament in Congressional elections.

2001 November - President de la Rua meets US President George W Bush in a last-ditch attempt to avoid an economic crash in Argentina. Share prices reach record lows.

2001 December - Economy Minister Cavallo announces sweeping restrictions to halt an exodus of bank deposits.

2001 December - The IMF announces it won't disburse $1.3 billion in aid for the month, pushing Argentina closer to the brink of default.

2001 13 December - Much of Argentina grinds to a halt due to a 24-hour general strike by public workers protesting against new government curbs on bank withdrawals, a delay in pension payouts and other economic measures. Corruption in the judiciary, police and civil service still remains to be tackled. The legacy of military rule from 1976-1983 is still an open wound. The fate of many of the thousands of 'disappeared' - opponents of the junta - is still unclear. And investigations are under way into what happened to the babies of women detained by the regime.

ARGENTINA FACTS 2000/1 Population: 37 million, Capital: Buenos Aires, Major language: Spanish, Major religion: Christianity, Life expectancy: 70 years (men), 77 years women), Monetary unit: 1 peso = 100 centavos, Main exports: Food and live animals, mineral fuels, cereals, machinery, Average annual income: US $7,550 Internet domain: .ar, International dialling code: +54. A country of diverse terrain, Argentina is nearly 4,000 km long from the subtropical north to the subantarctic south. It encompasses part of the Andes mountain range, swamps, the large plains of the Pampas, and a lengthy coastline. Argentina is rich in resources and has a well-educated workforce. Argentines gave the world the tango. They are mad about soccer, and are reckoned to be the best polo players. Their love of horses is best personified by the figure of the Argentine 'gaucho', the solitary, independent ranch-hand, who has become known throughout the world.

2001 20 December Widespread street protests and rioting leave at least 25 people dead. Argentine President Fernando de la Rua has resigned amid some of the worst unrest in his country for a decade, Argentine Government officials say. Mr de la Rua submitted his resignation on Thursday after a day of running battles in the capital Buenos Aires between police and protesters. Rioters set fire to the finance ministry and two major banks as police tried to control the crowds with volleys of tear gas. -- Facing the worst economic crisis in Argentina's history and after the rejection of his call for a government of national unity, President Fernando De la Rua submitted his resignation on the second day of nationwide rioting, government sources said. He was expected to announce his plans in an address to the nation Thursday evening, his third speech in 24 hours. Hundreds of angry Argentines demonstrated outside the presidential palace, demanding the president's resignation and rejecting his call for an end to the violence.

Riot police fired volley after volley of tear gas and used water cannons to beat back the protesters. Across the city, rioters smashed in store windows and ransacked buildings. Fires were set on street corner after street corner, in trash bins and at bus stops. Argentina's economy was wobbling under the weight of a $132 billion debt and skyrocketing unemployment, prompting protests Wednesday that quickly escalated to violence. At least six people were killed and dozens wounded as rioters looted stores and set fires. Earlier, at an afternoon news conference, the president defended his economic policy. "I am acting in the sense of responsibility to introduce the changes that are necessary so we can meet the people's demands," he said. He also called for the cooperation of the opposition party to form a multi-party cabinet to pull Argentina through "these difficult situations." "We cannot be led by those people who provoke violence," he said. "We must secure peace, preserving stability for our state. This violence in the streets cannot continue. Danger is increasing." The opposition Peronist party lawmakers in Argentina's lower house of Congress rejected De la Rua's proposal for a government of national unity, about an hour after his news conference, according to Reuters. "Peronism will continue to exercise its role as opposition and will not participate in any co-government," the Peronist bloc said in a statement. Down with the populist fascism, say the anarchists. De la Rua had said through a spokesman that he would quit if the Peronists declined to form the coalition.

II. Ochlarchy and looting

On Thursday, the protesters rallied outside De la Rua's presidential palace, where riot police on horseback repeatedly pushed them back with batons, water cannons, tear gas and rubber bullets. Hundreds more have been arrested. The protesters also called for the resignation of Economy Minister Domingo Cavallo, who tendered his resignation early Thursday. De la Rua accepted the resignation, and began a search for a replacement. De la Rua, trying to quell the violence, declared a state of siege, a 30-day declaration that suspends constitutional rights and gives the government wide-ranging power to quell the violence. Rioters, who ransacked and set fire to grocery stores and other shops around the capital on Wednesday, said they are hungry and complained the government has not helped them. These actions, looting included, have of course nothing to do with anarchism or anarchy! Amongst the people fighting there were all sorts, from a couple of thousand leftists, old workers (people in their 50s and  60s with bandannas and rocks), people in suits and ties straight from work, to socker hooligans, everyone...

Responding to the protests and attempting to quell the violence, the government agreed to release $7 million to provide food for the most needy. On Thursday, the protesters waited impatiently for the food's distribution. Looting turned to protest late in the day as tens of thousands of people beat pots and pans, clapped, waved flags and took to their cars, honking horns to protest what they see as an insufficient reaction to the problems they are facing. Firefighters rushed to extinguish fires set off around the Presidential Palace by incendiary devices. The largest labor federation of Argentina called for a general strike.The embattled Cavallo, author of the austerity measures put in place this summer, stepped into the Economy Minister's seat last March after two De la Rua-appointed ministers stepped down in succession. Hailed for stopping hyperinflation during a 1991-1996 stint in the same post under President Carlos Menem, Cavallo faced opposition for his reform measures this time from members of Menem's Peronist party. And in a further sign of Cavallo's troubles, a judge investigating allegations of arms tracking to Croatia during Menem's tenure ordered him not to leave the country while he, too, is investigated. De la Rua planned to meet with Argentina's governors on Thursday in search of an agreement that would guarantee his ability to govern. Observers speculated that he would bow to opposition calls for a multi-party cabinet to save his post. The current cabinet was in emergency session as the protests rumbled throughout the city. Stumbling under a four-year recession, the Argentine government implemented stark austerity measures over the summer. But the International Monetary Fund has so far refused to release a $1.3 billion loan payment, saying Argentina has failed to balance its budget despite the plan. Argentina, where unemployment is near 20 percent, owes $132 billion, mainly to bond holders.

III. Cut bureaucracy costs

Economists say that without international help, there's little hope the South American nation can avoid history's worst debt default from a sovereign nation. Earlier in the week, people were swarming banks in an effort to withdraw their savings. The government is considering seizing pension funds and has already capped bank withdrawals to $1,000 dollars per month. President de la Rua had earlier called for the formation of a national unity government, saying he planned to stay in power to help Argentina through the crisis. Public fury worsened after the president called a state of emergency - giving the police special powers - in a bid to stem widespread rioting and looting, in which at least 20 people have died.

All the members of President de la Rua's cabinet have already handed in their resignations, although so far the Argentine leader has only accepted that of the Economy Minister, Domingo Cavallo."If Argentina works extremely hard, it can lay the groundwork for a recovery in 2003," said John Welch, Latin American economist at Barclays Capital. "But, right now, 2002 looks very difficult for Argentina." If Argentina cuts bureaucracy costs, it will recover more soon!

Possible solutions for Argentina, which is about $132 billion in debt, include more government i.e. the bureaucracy, belt-tightening, a plan to swap short-term debt for long-term debt and plans to change the country's currency. The task has been made more difficult by political unrest and the resignation of six economic advisers this year. In any event, most observers think Argentina's small size and isolation, among other factors, will likely keep a debt default from causing too much trouble for the rest of the world.

IV. Argentina is not a potential nightmare

"Argentina is not a potential nightmare," said Wells Fargo's Sohn. "It's a relatively small economy compared to Mexico and Brazil." Still, one of the lessons of 2001 is that no problem in the world is so small that it can be ignored forever. "There are no longer really state economic systems that can function by themselves," said Delos Smith, chief economist at the Conference Board. "Most of our largest corporations are in every major market in the world. We're intertwined." The AIIS and AI/IFA/IAF will contribute to a libertarian, less plutarchical bureaucratic and corrupt development in Argentina, together with F.L.A., as far as there are resources. We have among other things, powerful economical models that can be used in planning of the new economy! Towards a liberating economy!

21.12.2001: Report on the social struggle in Buenos Aires; medical services (SAME: Servicio de Asistencia MEdica) have confirmed three deaths caused by the repression of the police "clearing" the Plaza de Mayo. The struggle is also symbolic. "Taking" the Plaza de Mayo represents the taking of an area where the national decisions are made. For this reason, both the government and the popular resistance give importance to taking this plot of land which is a symbol of the historically important decisions taken in Argentina. For the time being, this plaza (square) has been cleared of protestors. The last reports from Argentina talk about isolated protests in the areas known as "once", (eleven), "obelisco", (obelisk), "congreso", (Congress) and surroundings. In contrast to anarchists, that always are interested in real changes, these demonstrants are mainly interested in symbolic things. Argentina is a land full of resources, it has been ruined by plutarchical, oligarchical bureaucracy broadly defined. It is not a potential nightmare - it is a nightmare. However it should not continue to be so for ever.

V. State of emergency lifted

The state of emergency in Argentina has been lifted - just two days after being declared during steet protests that left more than 20 people dead. The decision was made by outgoing president, Fernando de la Rua, as the Argentine Congress prepared to meet to name his temporary successor and try to find a way out of the political and economic crisis engulfing the country. Ramon Puerta, the man expected to be named interim president following Mr de la Rua's resignation, has said he will remain in office "only for 48 hours". He said the constitution stipulated that Congress had to decide whether to name an acting president for a longer period, or call elections. Mr Puerta, who is first in line for power because he is president of the Senate, said provincial governors from his Peronist party were in favour of early elections. But with the country facing economic and political turmoil, correspondents say the next president's job could be a poisoned chalice. Mr de la Rua made a surprise return to Government House in Buenos Aires on Friday morning, blaming the crisis on the opposition Peronists for refusing his offer to form a government of national unity. His last act as president was to lift the state of emergency he had declared on Wednesday, in the midst of riots and impending economic chaosOn Thursday, Mr de la Rua left Government House by helicopter after a day spent watching battles outside between protesters and police. It was the worst unrest since Argentina's return to democracy in 1983, with hundreds of thousands of people taking to the streets to protest at economic hardship. At least 28 people were killed in the protests. Mr de la Rua's departure drew cheers from protesters and some danced in the streets. Earlier, police tried to restrain the crowds by charging them on horseback and pummelling them with water cannon and volleys of tear gas - often firing directly at protesters. More than 2,000 people were arrested nationwide. In Buenos Aires, one woman's toe was cut off when stamped on by a police horse, others were carried kicking and shouting to police vans. In other large cities, looters ransacked homes and supermarkets.

VI. Economic challenge

Public fury was sparked by government austerity measures aimed at reviving the economy, plagued by huge debts and unemployment at almost 20%. All the members of Mr de la Rua's Cabinet have already handed in their resignations, although he only accepted that of the Economy Minister, Domingo Cavallo. The BBC's Tom Gibb in Buenos Aires says urgent efforts are now under way to craft an alternative economic policy. One idea is to end the system tying the Argentine peso to the US dollar. That would mean a devaluation and almost certainly a default on the country's $132bn debt. The correspondent says the big problem is that many ordinary Argentines have mortgages and other debts in dollars, as do businesses and farms. The Peronists have not yet explained how they would fund the costly conversion of all of the debts into pesos. Protests had been escalating since the government halted pension payments and froze bank accounts in an attempt to deal with the massive debts. Savers only allowed to withdraw $250 a month; Pensions to 1.4m retirees delayed; Unemployment at 18%; 2,000 people drop below poverty line each day; Economy in recession for four years, are the keywords in this connection. A default would in effect cut off any lifeline from the International Monetary Fund and send Argentina spiralling even deeper into economic crisis. Similar unrest marked the last financial crisis in Argentina in 1989, forcing the then president, Raul Alfonsin, to leave office early. Argentina has been in a recession for almost four years.

Earlier this month, the IMF refused Argentina a further $1.3bn in standby loans, The credit ratings agency Standard & Poor's has warned that Argentina could default on its sovereign debt as early as next month, unless it balanced its budget for the year 2002. Mr Cavallo had put forward budget proposals slashing government spending by 20% - but only by cutting public sector wages and reducing pension provisions. The plutarchy in private sector is however a larger problem. 22.12.2001. The Argentinian Congress will elect an interim president on Saturday.The man named Argentina's interim president - Adolfo Rodriguez Saa - has said he will pursue a strict economic policy to try and deal with the crisis in the country. "I am going to propose to the country a severe austerity plan", he says. Mr Rodriguez said he would keep the national currency, the peso, pegged to the dollar - and promised to announce his economic plan after he is confirmed in his post by Congress later on Saturday. Mr Rodriguez will serve as president until elections on 3 March. Mr Rodriguez was chosen by the Peronist party, which controls parliament, after the resignation of President Fernando de la Rua, following the violent street protests over the government's handling of the economic crisis, which left more than 28 people dead. Police action is now being investigated. Two judges have barred Mr de la Rua from leaving the country, as an investigation is launched into police conduct in dealing with the disorder. Police on horseback charged demonstrators and looters, pummelling them with water cannon and volleys of tear gas - often firing directly at protesters. More than 2,000 people were, as mentioned, arrested nationwide. Rodriguez; how long can he keep smiling?...the anarchists ask.

VII. US appeal and default fear

The announcement of an interim president came as US President George W Bush urged the country's new leader to push through an austerity programme proposed by the International Monetary Fund. Mr Rodriguez said he would impose "a severe austerity plan" and announce an economic programme which would be "very simple, made up of a few clear ideas". After a four-year recession, with official unemployment at 18%, (in reality it is more) Argentina is in danger of defaulting on its $132bn of debt. A default would in effect cut off any lifeline from the International Monetary Fund and send the country spiralling even deeper into economic crisis. Economy Minister Domingo Cavallo has resigned, and Oscar Lamberto appointed in his place - but it is unclear how long Mr Lamberto will remain in office. About fifty-year-old Mr Rodriguez is governor of San Luis province, one of only two in the country that enjoys a budget surplus. "I hope everyone understands the job I am being given is highly difficult and comes at a very serious moment for the country," he said after his selection by the Peronists. The BBC's Tom Gibb says the big problem is that many ordinary Argentines have mortgages and other debts in dollars, as do businesses and farms. But they earn money in pesos - so any devaluation would only increase the size of their dollar debts. The Peronists have suggested converting these debts into pesos, but some newsmedia says that this would be massively expensive and no one has explained how it would be funded. The peso has been pegged one-to-one to the dollar for the past decade.

VIII. Emergency reimposed

In his last act in office, President de la Rua lifted the state of emergency imposed on Wednesday after the worst unrest since Argentina's return to democracy in 1983. An unofficial spokesman of the Argentinian people said: "If only the name of our president changes and not the course of our economy, then we will have lots more days like 20 December." But it was reimposed later on Friday in Buenos Aires province by acting President Ramon Puerta, after reports of some looting around the capital. This so called looting was mainly violent secret service ochlarchy, groups going from house to house, doing all sorts of crimes. By Friday evening, however, the country was reported calm. Mr Puerta was appointed to head the government for 48 hours after Mr de la Rua's departure. Argentina has been in a recession for almost four years. Earlier this month, the IMF refused Argentina a further $1.3bn in standby loans, unless it balanced its budget for the year 2002. The public fury had been sparked by government austerity measures aimed at reviving the economy. Under a complicated deal agreed between Peronist party leaders, Mr Rodriguez Saa will remain in office until presidential elections on 3 March next year.

IX. Ca 25% increase in total demand for national product is necessary as soon as possible say the anarchists

The anarchist economical law of employment, i.e. approximately the % increase in employment = % increase in total demand (nominally) - inflation % - % increase in productivity (i.e. average worker's productivity), must be fulfilled. As an example 20% increase in employment + 3% inflation + 2% increase in productivity = 25% increase in total demand, i.e summa % increase in consumption plus investment (public + private) and exportsurplus. It is a lot of slack in use of the capacity at the moment, so this should be realistic as a first approximation estimate. The right mix of devaluation, public deficit, cut in bureaucracry costs and redistribution of income from the plutarchist bureaucracy to the people, to stimulate demand and get the economical circulation going again at a reasonable level, the Argentinian politicians and organizations broadly defined must analyse and decide quick. The anarchists will continue to give comments on the development. It is of course necessary to leave the bureaucratical tie of  the peso to the US $. 1/3 of the population are below the powerty tresholds. Rodriguez a) announces a suspension, and this will trigger the biggest debt default in history, and b) indicates he will stick to an economic course that will benefit the Argentinian people. Mr Rodriguez Saa has said he will announce "very solid, simple ideas" for the economy once he has been confirmed in office. These are expected to include continuing an austerity programme, selling bonds to raise fresh funds, and providing food aid. The anarchists so far don't think this is enough to increase the demand ca 25%, and probably even more demand hike is needed, to do away with the severe unemployment and powerty problems. Thus, Mr Rodriguez Saa's proposals so far are neither necessary nor sufficient to solve the problems. The anarchist criticism will continue.

X. Mr. Rodriguez Saa - an anarchist criticism

Mr R. Saa is known as an authoritarian, populist, municipal, small thinking bureaucrat, basing his policy on primitive instincts, and without any real competence in economical political management of the society seen as a country, all in all, and in international perspective. Furthermore he has not in any way demonstrated perspectives and visions for the future of Argentina, necessary means and ends meeting the demands of the people. Some leftist groups demonstrated outside the congress 22.12.2001, reminding the politicians that the people were watching their impotent "work". The Peronists must not forget that they also are monitored by the Anarchist International; Southern and Northern, world wide, we are all united to support the Argentinian people in different ways. Furthermore the international newsmedia, and organizations and politicians all over the world are watching. Thus, the Peronists should know they are not operating in vacum. The international society may wery well take different kinds of actions if the statist and plutarchist ochlarchy and disorder are going to far! 23.12.2001. The Argentinian congress has decided to make mr R. Saa interim president. Later same day Adolfo Rodriguez Saa named new interim president, says Argentina will suspend foreign debt payments. Fresh protests in anger over Rodriguez Saa's appointment of officials seen as corrupt and his decision to maintain unpopular banking curbs. An unofficial spokeswoman of the people said he was a demagog.

This seems to be correct. One of the problems with R. Saa's concept is the vague term "surplus". An economy as a whole cannot be properly run similar to a private profitseeking firm. Thus, public sector surplus and exportsurplus (mercantilism) is not a proper aim, especially not in an economy with a lot of unemployment and slack in the use of the production capacity. This is mercantilism, and this kind of system is not considered as a valid way to run the economy. It was rejected already by Adam Smith (liberalist), Pierre Joseph Proudhon (anarchist), Karl Marx (statism-socialism) and Vilfred Pareto (authoritarian, later works adopted by the fascists as their ideology). Thus, mercantilism is an especially authoritarian ultra-fascist bureaucratic ideology, that cannot solve the economical-political problems of Argentina. Although mercantilism in a way is a negation of the present situation, with large foreign trade deficit, etc, it is a wrong, equally authoritarian concept, that as mentioned cannot be used as a proper policy in the present situation in Argentina.

XI. It could have been heaven, but a greedy plutarchist bureaucracy made it hell.

However, it may certainly take long time for Argentina to reach anything close to the anarchist quadrant on the economical political map, not to mention the anarchist ideal, with selfmanagement and co-operation without coercion on equal footing, minimal rank and income differences, maximal efficiency and fairness, etc. What may very well happen is the quite opposite, i.e. introduction of a mafia populist/fascist state, were the plutarchist bureaucracy in private and public sector not only is looting the people at home, but steal almost the whole amount from the people that have lent them money outside the country as well. By the way, the state of emergency must be lifted again as soon as possible, and the secret police ochlarchy stopped. The politically prisoned must be released.Argentina is by now internationally knowned as "the land of mutual ochlarchy and looting," clearly below the 67% authoritarian degree on the economical-political map. Americans have called the Anarchy of Norway heaven. This is a bit exaggerated. But for sure the "system" in Argentina is hell; a country with an approximately optimal population, rich on almost all kinds of resources from oil and minerals to highly productive agricultural areas, but almost totally vasted and ruined by a greedy bureaucracy economical and political/administrative in private and public sector. Thus, it could have been heaven, but a plutarchist bureaucracy made it hell.

Now it is getting worse, even more authoritarian, day by day. The anarchists and the people of the world in general cannot accept that the blood shed by our fellows is assumened by the Partido Justicialista (Peron's followers), which, with great smiles, formed  their new cabinet . These smiles may soon be stiffened. Mr R. Saa said under the appointment to be the new interim president that he relied on the help of "God". We can assure the newly fledged president it is better to listen  to anarchists and the people, than to wait for an answer from above. More of the old Argentinian policy: Statism without plan and capitalism without markets, in a neo-mercantilist approach, will just make things worse. The path to socialism and freedom, i.e. a) public sector with plans and without statism & plutarchy, and socialist markets, i.e. regulated in a libertarian way without plutarchy & statism, is not broad and easy to travel, but it is the right way to go, step by step, without ochlarchy and looting. Excuses for a military junta must not happen. Furthemore, the leftists must not be given opportunity to take over. A new Cuba is not in the interest of libertarians and the people.

XII. F.O.R.A. has got new adress

Compañeros y compañeras: Estamos teniendo problemas con nuestra casilla de correo electrónico (fora@data54.com), por eso hemos decidido abrir una nueva casilla de correos: fora5congreso@hotmail.com A partir de ahora, todos los mensajes serán recibidos y enviados desde este nuevo mail. Por favor difundan esta información. Salud. Jesús Gil, secretario general. We are having problems with our e-mail (fora@data54.com), for that reason have decided to open a new e-mail: fora5congreso@hotmail.com From now on, all the messages received and envoys from this new mail. Please spread this information. Salud. Jesús Gil, Secretary General Federación Obrera Regional Argentina (F.O.R.A.) Coronel Salvadores 1200 167 Buenos Aires - Argentina. fora5congreso@hotmail.com . Sacá tu cuenta de e-mail gratis en http://www.data54.com y pasá a ser parte de nuestra comunidad.

Compañeros y compañeras: Aquí va el informe que preparamos sobre lo ocurrido la semana pasada:

XIII. ESTALLIDO SOCIAL EN ARGENTINA

Desde la madrugada del martes 18 de diciembre se sucedieron 72 horas de respuesta popular a la decadencia política, al caos económico y a la desesperación social. Los sectores más empobrecidos tomaron los supermercados para sacar alimentos, lo cual rapidamente se extendió a varias provincias y municipios. Debemos destacar la influencia ejercida por los medios masivos de comunicación, sobre todo la televisión, que tergiversaba los hechos en todo momento, haciendo valer sus propios intereses. Mientras el canal oficial (canal 7) pasaba dibujos animados, otros canales mostraban como la gente ingresaba a los supermercados sin que la policía interviniera. Con el correr de las horas, las noticias se extendieron a todo el pais. A medida que se sucedian los saqueos, proporcionalmente iba aumentando la actividad policial, lo cual no impedia los saqueos, pero organizaron junto a los empleados de los supermercados, la entrega de pequeñas raciones de alimentos. Sin embargo esto no frenó la acción espontanea de la gente que salía de las villas miserias para continuar con los saqueos. Es significativa la no intervención policial ante los hechos ya que una semana antes se venían registrando saqueos en las ciudades de Rosario (provincia de Santa Fe), Concordia (Entre Ríos) y Mendoza; además existían informes de inteligencia que preanunciaban intensos reclamos sociales, los cuales habían sido elaborados en las provincias y enviados al Ministerio de Defensa el 15 y 16 de diciembre, antes de los saqueos masivos en la provincia de Buenos Aires. Se sospecha que la no intervención policial fue por motivos políticos, buscando desestabilizar al gobierno.

De esta forma se comenzó a cuestionar al gobierno de  Fernando De la Rúa. Poco después el malestar se extendió a la clase media, que se horrorizaba de ver gente desesperada llevándose cuanto alimento puidiese cargar. Unos días antes del estallido, los pequeños y medianos empresarios organizaron un "cacerolazo", que consistía en salir a la vereda golpeando elementos de cocina; además, cada comerciante o vecino apagaba las luces de su negocio o casa. Esta "protesta" de la clase media se produjo a raíz de las últimas medidas económicas decretadas por el ministro de economía Domingo Cavallo (imposibilidad de sacar del banco más de 250 pesos por semana, bancarización compulsiva, tasas de interés usurarias, etc.). El miércoles 19 de diciembre la población esperaba el discurso presidencial, el cual iba a anunciar las medidas a tomar para reactivar la economía y calmar los ánimos, pero el discurso fue un balde de gasolina sobre el incendio, ya que no propuso ninguna solución e implantantó el estado de sitio, provocando la indignación que movilizó espontaneamente a la clase media. Así se generalizó el malestar en la población que fue masivamente a pie o en automóvil a Plaza de Mayo. En la casa de gobierno no había la cantidad suficiente de policías para controlar a las aproximadamente 70000 personas que en horas de la noche colmaban la plaza. Paralelamente, en los barrios aledaños de la Capital Federal la gente se reunia en las esquinas para protestar. Mientras los saqueos continuaban, la manifestación en Plaza de Mayo terminó en una fuerte e indiscriminada represión que más tarde generó el repudio desde distintos sectores al ya agonizante gobierno de De la Rúa.

En pocos minutos la plaza quedó vacía producto de los gases lacrimógenos y las balas de goma y de plomo, lo que hizo que la gente se trasladara al Congreso. La represión continuaba pero el pueblo siguió llegando, prolongándose las corridas hasta la madrugada. En ese momento un sector de retiró, continuando la lucha los más combativos. Por su parte, la policía cerró los accesos al centro del ciudad y a la Capital Federal, patrullando las calles y arrestando a miles de personas. La feroz represión no pudo doblegar al pueblo, que utilizaba unicamente piedras para defenderse. Mientras unos veían la durísima batalla por televisión, otros dejaban su vida luchando en las calles, desatándose más tarde una crítica ante la masacre. "Oficialmente" fueron asesinadas por la policía siete personas solo en el centro de Buenos Aires. Es significativo que cinco de estas muertes se produjeron por tiros en la cabeza. A nivel nacional hay veinticinco muertos, 440 heridos y 3300 detenidos. Através de la televisión y de testigos, detectamos gran número de servicios policiales infiltrados entre la multitud provocando desmanes y realizando arrestos en forma brutal. Mientras el microcentro se convertía en el epicentro de la lucha popular, la casa de gobierno y el congreso eran escenarios de la lucha por el poder político. El intenso reclamo del pueblo en las calles, los saqueos y la feroz represión que no daba los frutos esperados por el gobierno, más la falta de apoyo político del peronismo (partido opositor), debilitaron al gobierno de De la Rúa y al ministro Cavallo hasta hacerlos caer, debiendo renunciar ellos junto con todo el gobierno de la Alianza (UCR - Frepaso).

Por otro lado, las centrales sindicales fueron desbordadas por las circunstancias, convocando demagógicamente a un paro por tiempo indeterminado, pero a las pocas horas el paro fue levantado después de la renuncia de De la Rúa. Por ahora (23 de diciembre) los ánimos se han apaciguado, al menos aparentemente. Pero en cualquier momento, todo podría estallar de nuevo debido a que la situación económica y política no ha mejorado. En efecto, el gobierno provisional (de aquí a marzo, momento en que se convocará a elecciones), es del mismo signo político que la gente rechazó y rechaza gracias a la enorme corrupción organizada durante el gobierno de Carlos Menem. Sin ir más lejos, el justicialista Adolfo Rodriguez Saa, designado como presidente provisional, está envuelto en varias causas penales por hechos de corrupción. Hoy en día se vive una incertidumbre pacífica, pero luego de lo sucedido, la economía y la política del sistema se han derrumbado aún más. Todo este clima está empapado de un chauvinismo creciente, inentendible aun por las mismas personas que lo enarbolan, pero propicio para el surjimiento de un movimiento nacionalista. Aquí es donde nosotros debemos accionar por medio de la propaganda y la acción, llevando los ideales de la libertad, igualdad y solidaridad. Depende de nosotros saber aprovechar este momento en que el pueblo reacciona contra la explotación y la miseria sistematizada implementada ayer por la dictadura militar y hoy por la "democracia". Dándole un buen y justo cauce a tanta fuerza potencial, se podría crear un proyecto libertario que plantee una nueva sociedad pero repetimos que también está latente una iniciativa nacionalista que derrumbaría el esfuerzo por salir de la opresión y el autoritarismo.

Sociedad de Resistencia de Oficios Varios (Buenos Aires, Capital Federal) Adherida a la F.O.R.A. - A.I.T. fora5congreso@hotmail.com

XIV. Mr. Rodriguez Saa is still far out and very authoritarian, the anarchists have some more advice

Argentina's economic crisis has become impossible to manage for the country's government, forcing its interim president Adolfo Rodriguez Saa to ask other governments for assistance. Mr Rodriguez Saa on Friday 28.12.2001 spoke with the first deputy managing director of the International Monetary Fund on the telephone, asking for "patience" and "understanding", he said. Also on Friday, the US President George W Bush said the US would offer technical assistance via the IMF to Argentina. Bush was also talking about a plan of the economy. The anarchists however say the "argentino" local money introduced by R. Saa is not convertible to other currency, and thus is far from compatible with anarchist NAT, "Normal-Arbeids-Times-anvisninger" i.e. Average Labor Credits, ALC, that are recommended, i.e. if local money units should be introduced on a larger scale. It is however possible to solve a lot of the economical problems without introducing local ALC, but stick to one single national money unit, peso, but as mentioned, the ties to the US$ must be cut. Furthermore local, municipal plans, must be coordinated on regional and confederal level. And redistribution of income from the plutarchists in private and public sector must be done fast. Means to reach these aims are taxation of property, expropriation and a land "reform", i.e. a revolutionary change in the distribution of wealth in a social just way. Furthermore, the anarchists remind Argentina that the public sector in fact has no budget restriction, it can make as much money as it wants. However this must be according to the production capacity, and also the mentioned redistribution of income and wealth, must be taken into account, to prevent a large inflation. The IMF does not understand much of real economics, they are to much occupied with Milton Friedmans monetarist ideology, which has very little to do with reality in the economy, and thus they are quite incompetent in this case. Thus, the Argentinians should not listen too much to the IMF, but to the anarchists. The Anarchist International world wide has full support for F.L.A. and F.O.R.A. in the present difficult situation. A little basic anarchist economics are found at http://www.anarchy.no/aneco1.html .

XV. Economic chaos and protests

The violence subsided for a few days, but returned to the capital on Friday when protestors set light to a train and damaged one of the main railway stations in Buenos Aires. Fire fighters arriving at the scene were pelted with stones and rubbish bins. Some analysts say the new populist government is searching for quick solutions to placate a population which has been plunged from a relatively wealthy society into economic chaos. "It is just too much," said one protester. "All the politicians are as corrupt as each other and all we can do is take to the streets to protest." BBC reports "The patience of many Argentines with their political leaders has now worn very thin." Police in the Argentine capital Buenos Aires have used tear gas and water cannons to disperse thousands of protesters, less than a week after a new government came into office to deal with the country's economic crisis. Demonstrators broke into the Congress building in the early hours of Saturday, setting fire to curtains and breaking furniture. A bank and a McDonalds restaurant were also ransacked, and one of the main railway stations was attacked. Protesters were angry that the new government has maintained emergency restrictions on withdrawing money from banks. They also complained that some members of the new government had links with previous regimes' corruption. The protests triggered the first resignation from the new government when Carlos Grosso, newly appointed as chief adviser to the cabinet, stepped down.

XVI. Show of anger

Amid occasional violence, two policemen were reported to have been injured after police in riot gear cleared the plaza in front of the government building where protesters had gathered. However the Associated Press news agency reported that teenagers continued to throw stones at police once the crowd dispersed. Protesters are angry at months of recession. People had congregated in the early hours of the morning, bashing saucepans and drums. Waving the national flag, they came from all directions to gather in the Plaza de Mayo in the centre of Buenos Aires in front of the government house. Others headed for the nearby congress building waving their shirts in the air on a hot and humid night. The demonstrators, in what appears to be a spontaneous show of anger, said they were demanding an end to corruption. Their anger is directed at the country's economic crisis and the interim Peronist government of President Adolfo Rodriguez Saa, who came to office following the resignation of former president Fernando de la Rua. Mr de la Rua resigned after street protests and rioting triggered by economic hardship left at least ca 28 people dead. Mr Rodriguez Saa announced new measures to control the economic crisis including a suspension of foreign debt payments and plans to provide cash to cope with poverty and unemployment. Argentina's economic woes are, as indicated above: Public foreign debts of $132bn; Unemployment at 18%; Economy in recession for four years; Savers only allowed to withdraw $250 a month in cash; 2,000 people drop below poverty line each day; Pensions to 1.4m retirees delayed

XVII. Interim government have offered to resign. Mr R. Saa shows further incompetence

All the ministers in Argentina's entire week-old interim government have offered to resign following a night of violent protests over the country's financial turmoil. After spending a day in emergency meetings with the cabinet, the caretaker President, Adolfo Rodriguez Saa, said he had not yet decided whether to accept the resignations, the French news agency AFP reported. In a statement, he condemned Friday's violence, when tens of thousands took to the streets. Many demonstrators called for the resignation of several members of the new administration they perceived to be corrupt. The BBC reports the mass resignation will give Mr Rodriguez Saa space to manoeuvre, allowing him to choose whether to sack the least popular ministers.The US President, George W Bush, telephoned Mr Rodriguez Saa shortly after a government spokesman announced the resignations. Mr Bush urged the Argentine leader to work closely with the International Monetary Fund, IMF, and other financial institutions to develop "a sustainable economic plan". The anarchists say this is a vague concept, with no real scientific value.

Furthermore the IMF doctrine of Monetarist, Friedmanist, policy, is bureaucratic, and based on assumptions of a relatively stable circulation velocity of means of payment (money), which practically never is valid and especially not in this case. An urgent demand hike of at least 25% is necessary, as mentioned above. If mr R. Saa mainly prints fresh money "argentino", instead of transfers of income etc. from the rich to the poor, the inflation will increase more, say, about 25%, and the necessary demand hike must be approximately 20% + 25% + 2% = 47 %, to do away with the unemployment problem. This is not recommended by the anarchists!With more meetings planned to thrash out rescue measures for the beleaguered economy, Mr Rodriguez Saa called on the Argentine people to be patient with his administration. The president's top adviser, Carlos Grosso, was singled out in Friday's protests, for alleged corruption during a stint as Mayor of Buenos Aires under former President Carlos Menem. Mr Grosso stepped down earlier in the day. The night's violence flared at the edges of a large, noisy rally in the Plaza de Mayo square. Twelve policemen were injured and 33 people were arrested as protesters ransacked shops, banks and a McDonalds restaurant. Police used tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse the demonstrators, some of whom set fire to railway carriages and broke into the Congress building, smashing furniture and burning curtains.

XVIII. Cash curbs and populist chaos economics are no solution

As well as protesting against corruption, the demonstrators railed against curbs on cash withdrawals of more than 1,000 pesos ($1,000) a months from banks. The new administration eased the policy on Friday, but did not abandon it. Employment minister Oraldo Britos said the banks did not have sufficient funds to ease the current restrictions. With continued fears that the currency will eventually be devalued or that the government will seize money held in banks, many account holders fear they will lose their savings. "I put my money in the bank for them to look after it - not to be stolen," read one protester's banner. The interim Peronist government has already announced new measures to control the economic crisis. Mr Rodriguez Saa has suspended repayments on the country's $132bn debt, announced plans to create one million jobs (this is in no way enough, the anarchists say) and promised to introduce a new currency, the "Argentino", in the hope of boosting consumer-spending. Some analysts say the new populist government has been searching for quick solutions to placate a population which has been plunged from a relatively wealthy society into economic chaos. Lawyer Diego Fumagalli, 45, protesting at the Plaza de Mayo, said the new administration had misread last week's unrest. "The message was that we want a new political system without corruption, and then they go and name all these corrupt politicians to the new government," he said.

Again, Argentina should listen more to the anarchists, and analysis made with anarchist economics, than listen to R. Saa and IMF. 30.12.2001: Protesters accused cabinet members of corruption. NRK reports 3 young people were killed. Argentine interim President Adolfo Rodriguez Saa is considering whether to accept the resignation of his entire cabinet, in office for less than a week, after renewed protests about the collapsing economy. The ministers' offer came during an emergency session convened after police used tear gas and water canon early on Saturday to disperse thousands of angry protesters in the capital, Buenos Aires. Mr Rodriguez Saa, who appealed for calm, has been holding talks with the heads of the country's banks, and with regional governors, while he decides what action to take. He has urged banks to remain open for extended hours on Monday, to enable customers to withdraw salaries and pensions. The interim government was appointed after 27 people died in riots which forced the resignation of former President Fernando de la Rua. Many of the protesters believe that several senior members of the cabinet are responsible for the economic crisis, and are calling for their removal. BBC' reports the mass resignation may give Mr Rodriguez Saa space to manoeuvre, allowing him to choose whether to sack the least popular ministers. Some analysts believe the president may replace them with the regional governors. Anarchists say Argentina's authorities have tried quasimoney several times before, lecop and argentino are not new, only bureaucratic noncovertible quasimoney manipulations, similar to "peso argentino", "austral", "moneda nacional" and "ley". As mentioned, if a "third money" should be introduced, "hard currency" convertible NAT , i.e. Average Labor Credits, ALC, known from anarchist economics, are recommended.

XIX. Argentine interim President Adolfo Rodriguez Saa has resigned

31.12.2001: Argentine interim President Adolfo Rodriguez Saa has resigned, just seven days after taking office. In a dramatic late night televised address, he told the nation he had failed to win the backing of his Peronist party for a way out of the economic crisis. His departure came after renewed protests over the collapsing economy and corruption prompted a mass resignation offer by his cabinet. Power should have passed automatically to Senate Chairman Ramos Puerta, but he too resigned minutes later on grounds of ill-health. Mr Rodriguez Saa spent Sunday trying to hold emergency talks with Peronist provincial governors in the resort town of Chapadmalal, but most of them failed to turn up. He then flew back to his home province of San Luis to make his shock announcement. He said his resignation took effect immediately - he had been due to hold office until elections in March. "I did not have any other choice," he told stunned viewers. Mr Rodriguez Saa listed his achievements during his short time in office as suspending payments on the country's foreign debt and announcing new austerity measures. There are no obvious candidates to replace Mr Rodriguez Saa from his own party. Technically, however, the next-in-line after Mr Puerta is believed to be another Peronist, Eduardo Camano, who heads the lower house of deputies. Mr Camano would hold the post for two days to allow parliament to choose a new interim president, who has three months to call fresh elections.

Mr Rodriguez Saa did manage a breakthrough in talks with the country's banks. They agreed to remain open for extended hours on Monday, to enable customers to withdraw salaries and pensions. The agreement was "a contribution to civil peace". But a controversial 1,000-peso ($1,000) monthly limit on cash withdrawals remains in place. The streets of the Argentine capital were largely calm on Sunday after riots on Saturday left 12 policemen injured and led to 33 arrests. The demonstrators have railed against the curb on cash withdrawals as well as alleged corruption within Mr Rodriguez Saa's cabinet. Many account-holders fear they will lose their savings if the currency is devalued or the government seizes money held in banks. During his brief tenure, Mr Rodriguez Saa suspended repayments on the country's $132bn debt, announced plans to create one million jobs and promised to introduce a new currency, the Argentino, in the hope of boosting consumer spending. The protesters' accusations of corruption had already forced the resignation of his chief adviser, Carlos Grosso - a former mayor of Buenos Aires. Observers say there is a feeling in the country that it is ruled by an unsinkable political class and this at last has found a voice on the streets. R. Saa tried to please both the people and the bureaucracy economical and political/administrative in private and public sector. This populist/fascistoide policy of course didn't work in the present situation. There will be no peace between the people and the upper classes! Towards a less authoritarian system in Argentina!.. the anarchists say. The parliament will meet 01.01.2001 to elect a new interim president.

XX. New riots and new president

01.01.2002: Argentina's parliament meets in emergency session to name a new president, while demonstrators have been fighting running battles in the streets of the capital. The election comes after the resignation of interim President Adolfo Rodriguez Saa after only seven days in office. Mr Rodriguez Saa said he had no support. The successor that is elected is Eduardo Duhalde, a former vice-president and current senator of Buenos Aires province. The violence broke out between supporters of Mr Duhalde's Peronist party and the opposition United Left, Argentine radio said. Police used rubber bullets and tear gas to bring the stone-throwing rioters under control. Thousands of police had their leave cancelled ahead of the vote and extra guards were drafted in to protect the government palace and congress buildings, the scenes of violent demonstrations at the weekend. Some 45,000 police were on standby in and around the capital, with soldiers also helping guard the nearby government palace known as the Casa Rosada. The new frontrunner reportedly enjoys the approval of other congressional parties, which have indicated their agreement that whoever takes over now should remain in office until December 2003 - the official end of the term of President Fernando de la Rua, who was forced out by popular protests on 20 December. New presidential elections had been scheduled for March, but the MPs say they want the new leader to stay in power for longer, in the hope of bringing some stability back to the country. BBC's reports the election of Mr Duhalde may well meet with hostility from the public at large. They say he may be tainted by his close ties with former president Carlos Menem and other key Peronist Party figures, whom many blame for plunging Argentina into its current economic and social crisis.

The anarchists repeat that a broad based council with workers' organizations, etc. and some of the least corrupt politicians (of course not corrupt at all are the best if possible), should be made, and a new economy based on anarchist economics, as indicated above, should be introduced.There are indications that a "soft" devaluation of the peso vs the US $ will be made. Anarchists think this (a devaluation) is necessary. Furthermore, a transfer of income in pesos from the plutarchists to the people with large debt in US $ may be necessary. The demonstrations continue, and some rivaling between different factions of protesters may also be mentioned. These rivaling fights have mostly been between leftists and the Menemist's ochlarchical groups, under command of E. Duhalde. There are rumors that these ochlarchists of Duhalde also have used false anarchist flags, to make chaos and provoke. A broad based state council is discussed.03.01.2002: Argentina's new President Eduardo Duhalde has been putting together the government team he hopes "will lead the country out of economic crisis". Mr Duhalde was sworn in at a brief ceremony on Wednesday, before immediately entering into talks on forming a cross-party cabinet which he says will deliver a "programme of national salvation". There have been five presidents in two weeks: Fernando de la Rua, Ramon Puerta, Adolfo Rodriguez Saa, Eduardo Camano and now Eduardo Duhalde.

Perhaps Dualde should listen more to the anarchists, and form a broad based council rather than another corrupt government. The new economy minister will be Jorge Remes Lenicov, from the president's Peronist party, while Buenos Aires Province Governor Carlos Ruckauf is being suggested as foreign minister. Some senior Peronists have turned down posts in the new administration, unhappy that Mr Duhalde lacks the democratic credentials to govern. Mr Duhalde, who failed to win the presidency two years ago, was voted in by Congress to complete the term of the unpopular Fernando de la Rua, his then opponent, who resigned amid protests a fortnight ago. Argentines have been continuing to hold protests and government buildings remain under heavy guard, although the protests are smaller than those seen in previous days. The United States has urged Mr Duhalde to work closely with international financial institutions. A state department spokesman said he hoped Mr Duhalde would persevere in developing a sustainable economic plan. The anarchists say the "new model" should be based on anarchist economics, not bureaucracy economics and monetarism.

XXI. From the populist left. Expected devaluation

Unemployment in the country is as mentioned running at 18% and last week Argentina halted payments on its massive public debt, which figures out on Wednesday showed had risen to $141bn. Mr Duhalde - Argentina's fifth leader in two weeks of mutual ochlarchy and chaos - used his acceptance speech to pledge a "new model" to deal with the country's problems. He said he would announce his government's economic plans on Friday. There is growing speculation he might be forced to devalue the national currency, the peso, which is formally pegged at one-to-one to the US dollar. An unnamed adviser to ca 60 year old Mr Duhalde told that the peso could be depreciated by more than 30%, setting a new rate of 1.3 pesos to the dollar. This is probably not enough, the anarchists say. But experts say any devaluation would be extremely unpopular with the country's middle class. Their debts are mainly denominated in dollars and would become more expensive to pay off if the peso fell in value. Mr Duhalde, a senator from the populist left of Argentina's dominant Peronist party, blamed the crisis on a decades-old "model of social exclusion". He said government policies had pushed two million Argentines into poverty, destroyed the middle class and bankrupted industries. Perhaps Mr Duhalde is likely to last longer than his predecessors, having won the support of political colleagues. But the Argentine people - who blame corruption and mismanagement by politicians for the crisis - have made it clear they want action not more promises.

Anarchists mean Mr Duhalde sounds very much like another corrupt demagog, but perhaps not equally "mercantilist" as R. Saa. As mentioned, just to print "fresh" money will not put and end to the chaos economy. Transfer of income etc. as mentioned above must be done, quick, and demand must be hiked generally at least 25%. 02.01.2002 the people shouted: "Duhalde, garbage! You are a part of the dictature! Get out!" Anarchists usually don't use such language, but the demonstrants may very well be right. The unemployment has risen to ca 20% on average, and is about 40% several places. "Junk-jobs" renumerated with "junk-money", lecop" or "argentino", will not solve the problem. The "dirty civil war" 1976-83 where 20 000-30 000 people "disappeard"/were tortured and killed, and inflation hiked to 2340 % per year, must not be forgotten. The junta-killers are still out of jail. The people of Argentina demand efficiency, fairness and social justice. So far Mr Duhalde and his corrupt friends have shown no real signs to take the necessary grips. The people, anarchists, media and authorities world wide, are not very pleased with the situation, to put it mildly. We are all waiting for a broad based council as mentioned above, to take the necessary grips. Mr Duhalde may at best be a symbolic president for a while, similar to the president in the Swiss Confederation.

XXII. The measures of Mr Duhalde are not sufficient according to anarchist economics

04.01.2002: BBC calls the ochlarchy and chaos in Argentina "anarchy", and thus gets the first "Brown Card" from IAT in this case. The anarchists say the expected ca 30% devaluation of the peso is not enough. About 70% is more realistic. Furthermore the prices have hiked 40% at some goods already. A ca 50% price hike means that total demand must increase ca 23 + 50 + 2 % = 75% to do away with most of the unemployment. It is now necessary that the Argentinian organizations and politicians plus the "president" that the people don't want, meet in a "general assembly" and "think BIG" according to anarchist economics as mentioned above, i.e. real transfers of wealth/income and a general demand hike. 04-6.01.2002: Mr Duhalde has done negotiations with the labor federations, etc. to deal with the chaos, but has not put up a broad based assembly that is able to take majority decisions in favor of the people, not the bureaucracy economical and political/administrative in private and public sector. The anarchists recommend such an assembley should be put up and mandated as soon as possible.The congress has also discussed the matter and the military leaders have also been involved.

07.01.2002: Argentina's Congress has approved a plan to grant the president sweeping powers to devalue the peso and tackle the country's deepening economic crisis. The upper house, the Senate, passed the bill after an eight-hour debate following its passage through the lower house, the Chamber of Deputies, early on Sunday morning. The crisis in Argentina is so deep that drastic measures are needed to even begin tackling the problem. Both houses are dominated by the Peronist party of the new president, Eduardo Duhalde. Mr Duhalde - who took office on Wednesday - says his new powers will enable him to overhaul the country's exchange, financial and banking systems, and restore the confidence of both Argentines and the wider world. The measures, which he is hoping to start implementing on Monday, appear to include: 1. Devaluing the peso by 30-40% (not enough, say the anarchists). 2. Converting debts of up to $100,000 into pesos at the old rate of one peso to the US dollar, to protect consumers from the full impact of devaluation. (not enough, say the anarchists, and how shall this be financed?) 3. Setting price caps on fuel, medicines, and other utilities to avert hyper-inflation (not enough, and not according to anarchist economics, the anarchists say.) 4. Fixing the exchange rate against the US dollar for strategic transactions, including essential imports (How shall this bureaucratic tie be financed?... the anarchists ask) 5. Renegotiating Argentina's $140bn international debt (Looting the foreigners also? the anarchists ask.) 6. Imposing a 180-day freeze on job layoffs and double compensation for workers made redundant ("Artificial breathing", not according to anarchist economics, the anarchists say). All in all just some bureaucratic left populist "neo-mercantilist" chaos economics, i.e. "to piss in the pants to get warm" at more than 67% authoritarian degree "cold", see several maps at http://www.anarchy.no/a_e_p_m.html , the anarchists say. (see also link above for a "Short note on the general theory of anarchist economics" used to analyse the situation.)

XXIII. Uncertainty ahead and conflicting interests

The devaluation of the peso will bring enormous hardship for many people, but the government believes lower labor costs and improved exports will boost the economy in the long term. "In the long term we are all dead", say the anarchists. There is widespread concern that the devaluation will diminish the value of people's savings, but the government says it will protect investments and limit the price rises of basic items such as petrol and medicine. "Things we'll like to see", say the anarchists. Mr Duhalde has warned business people not to raise prices to make up for earnings lost from the devaluation, amid reports that prices in some shops were already up by as much as 20% - 40%. Banks and big business have protested against some of the new measures. Mr Duhalde has insisted, in keeping with the populist tradition of his Peronist party, that the Argentine people must come first. Perhaps the "menemists" and the anarchists have a bit different interpretation of the concept of "people"? The people are fast losing faith with their politicians - and their financial institutions. The president is facing a race against time to rescue Argentina from the economic turmoil that triggered mass riots and looting in December and brought down President Fernando de la Rua's government. Do measures to hike the demand quick according to anarchist economics, the anarchists say!The head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said it is ready to work with Argentina to solve the debt-ridden country's problems. But IMF managing director Horst Koehler said Argentina's difficulties were "home-grown" and finding a solution would involve pain. Argentina's president has devalued its currency by 30%-40% in a bid to tackle the country's economic problems, including its inability to repay $141bn of overseas debt. Anarchists say this is not enough. Argentina's crisis was triggered when demonstrators rejected austerity measures put forward by the previous non-Peronist government after the IMF refused a fresh loan of $1.3bn last month. Anarchists say the austerity measures were reactionary and would probably have choked economic growth, determined by the anarchist economical laws of employment and full employment.

XXIV. Worried savers and 'home-made crisis'

President Eduardo Duhalde, who is the country's fifth president in two weeks, met on Monday with leaders of the workers' federations and the popular protests that turned into riots and brought down the previous administration shortly before Christmas. The streets are quiet again, though Argentines were queuing up at banks before the weekend to withdraw their savings. The government has imposed a two-day bank holiday from Monday. More protests may happen. Following the devaluation on Sunday, the IMF chief and other international financial leaders have expressed support for Argentina's new course but stressed the country must solve its own problems. "What Argentina needs now is growth and growth requires savings, investment, and a working banking system", said the IMF's Mr Koehler, who was in the Swiss city of Basle for a meeting of the Bank for International Settlements. "But one also must recognise that without pain, it won't get out of this crisis, and the crisis -- at its root -- is home-made," Mr Koehler told Reuters news agency. An IMF technical mission was due in Buenos Aires on Monday. Anarchists say a large hike in total demand is necessary to do away with the unemployment. Total demand is summa investment, consumption and exportsurplus. Growth is determined by the anarchist law of employment, i.e. employment = total demand/(productivity x pricelevel), i.e. production volume = total demand/pricelevel = productivty x employment.

XXV. 'No quick fix', but new business taxes? Inflation fears, unemployment hike?

The Bank of England's govenor, Sir Eddie George, who was chairing the Basle meeting, said "it is not going to be a quick fix" for Argentina. He said the "good news" is that Argentina's economic problems do not appear to have spread to the rest of South America. The current chair of the European Union's finance ministers was similarly non-committal, saying Argentina was "on the right path" but needs to find "maximum consensus with national and international investors." Rodrigo Rato of Spain said he was sure European finance ministers would have "a positive role to play...in the light of Argentina's problem at the moment." Spain is the European country whose firms have most exposure to Argentina. Spanish firms - such as oil company Repsol - could bear the brunt of the Argentine government's attempts to pass the costs of devaluation onto banks and private firms while cushioning consumers. Argentina's economy minister plans to tax petrol exports to cover the $15bn cost to banks of converting the dollar denominated debts of ordinary Argentines into pesos. Economy minister Jorge Remes Lenicov is expected to meet with foreign investors on Monday.

Anarchists say looting of the foreigners will reduce foreign investment in Argentina. The "fix" of the necessary demand hike combined with a moderate development in pricelevel and productivity must be done quick!To protect consumers and stave off further unrest, the economy minister is now grappling with the threat of inflation and has urged local firms not to hike prices in the wake of the devaluation. "We spoke with supermarkets yesterday and they promised to only mark up imported goods," he said. Although the protests have calmed down, one fear for the government now is that many middle class Argentines will start to quit he country. Some financial analysts warned the devaluation could make the country's economic problems worse. "We have to be very cautious: considering the long recession and people's lack of cash, we could be provoking more recession and inflation, the opposite of what the plan aims to achieve," said stock broker Alfredo Ferrarini. One risk is that international investors will quit the country. French auto parts firm Valeo said on Monday it will close its Argentine plant at Carmen de Areco and switch production to Brazil to improve its competitiveness in South America. The plant employs 90 people. Anarchists say price hike, without demand hike, will reduce employment, according to the anarchist economic law of employment. A mob protests against Duhalde's policy, and say they are "tired of being treated like dirt". 08.01.2002: More protests by the people. The scavengers have dumped garbage in front of governmental buildings to demonstrate what they mean about it.

XXVI. The F.L.A. reminds about the fight for a less authoritarian society in Argentina is not new:
Memoria y presente de la lucha social. By two militants of FLA (Federación Libertaria Argentina)

La memoria es una de las herramientas más nobles y eficaces de la resistencia . La persistencia en la memoria popular de las luchas por la dignidad humana, es el desafío contra el ocultamiento que ejercen los poderosos, es la confrontación entre la resistencia cultural de los de abajo y el afán de impunidad de los que a lo largo del tiempo con arteras maniobras, pretenden borrar las huellas de la rebeldía. El viernes 4 de enero desde las 21 hs. en el local la Federación Libertaria Argentina se desarrolló un acto por la memoria y contra la impunidad, el recordatorio de la Semana Trágica de 1919. Un panel en el que Roberto Guilera de la FLA, Carlos A. Solero de la Biblioteca y Archivo Alberto Ghiraldo de Rosario (Adherida a la FLA), Raquel Dissenfeld del Colectivo Mujeres Libres, Cecilia Moretti de la Biblioteca Popular José Ingenieros y Juan Carlos Espinoza (Independiente), expusieron su visión de los acontecimientos de enero de 1919 y de cómo se entrelazan con las protestas callejeras del pueblo de Argentina en estos días.

R. Guilera dió comienzo a la actividad, que contó con una importante concurrencia, explicando que desde hace cuatro años junto a los vecinos de los Barrios de Nueva Pompeya, Parque Patricios y San Cristóbal se realizan muestras de artistas plásticos, exposiciones y debates para recordar la gesta proletaria del ’19. C. Solero, orador en nombre de la FLA, reseñó los antecedentes y los hechos que desembocaron en la huelga de los obreros de la fábrica Vasena y la solidaridad de los sindicatos de la FORA (Federación Obrera Regional Argentina), el protagonismo de los anarquistas y la represión policial, militar y para policial del gobierno de Yrigoyen a través del Gral. Dellepiane y la liga patriótica, que realizó el primer pogrom en el Barrio de Once.

Raquel Dissenfeld, del Colectivo Mujeres Libres, leyó dos testimonios de mujeres que protagonizaron la lucha popular del ’19: Salvadora Medina Onrubia de Botana y Juana Rouco Buela; y realizó el análisis de esas jornadas y las recientes manifestaciones populares como los cacerolazos y movilizaciones callejeras. Cecilia Moretti explicitó los objetivos de Mujeres Libres y su accionar por la construcción de una sociedad sin racismo ni exclusiones, donde la solidaridad social reemplace al egoísmo y la autogestión al poder patriarcal y autoritario.

Juan Carlos Espinoza expuso sus reflexiones sobre el acontecimiento y leyó su poema Romance de los obreros de Vasena. El debate entre el público asistente y los oradores se prolongó hasta la medianoche. Las jornadas recordatorias de la semana de enero de 1919 continuarán el próximo sábado 12 de enero cuando, desde las 19 hs., partan las columnas de militantes anarquistas junto a vecinos, organizaciones sociales, culturales y políticas, desde la esquina de Pepirí y Amancio Alcorta hasta la Plaza Martín Fierro, donde estaba la empresa Vasena. Han transcurrido más de ocho décadas desde la trágica semana de enero, pero como dijo alguna vez Van Gogh: el molino ya no está, pero el viento sopla todavía. Quedan aun muchas luchas que librar para que la libertad y la justicia tengan vigencia en esta latitud.

XXVII. New mass protests. New devaluated peso

Mass protests have erupted in the Argentine capital Buenos Aires hours before currency markets reopen and the peso's devaluation becomes a reality. Demonstrators overturned cars, lit fires in the street and threw stones at police, who responded with tear gas and rubber bullets to force about 1,000 people back from the presidential palace. Tens of thousands of demonstrators converged on the central square, in the first major protest since Eduardo Duhalde became president on 2 January. President Duhalde faces his first big protest. The peso is expected to plunge when trading resumes at 1000 (1300 GMT) on Friday following a three-week freeze imposed to prevent volatile trading. The government has put an end to 10 years of enforced parity with the US dollar in a bid to save the collapsing economy. The protests began in neighbourhoods across Buenos Aires when people came onto their balconies bashing pots and pans and saucepan lids - anything that would add to the ear-splitting noise. Then, in what appeared to be a spontaneous move, the demonstrators marched to the Plaza de Mayo, the main square in front of Government House. Old-age pensioners, families and people in wheelchairs were among their ranks as calls were made for the resignation of the government and supreme court judges. Thursday night's protests seem to have been provoked in part by the government's announcement of its short-term plan to protect banks from mass withdrawals by panicking depositors.

Banks must switch current accounts above $10,000 and savings accounts above $3,000 into fixed-term deposits. Dollar deposits will only be returned to savers from Jan 2003. Smaller accounts will be able to convert dollars into pesos at the official exchange rate of 1.4 pesos to $1. Smaller accounts can be accessed, but will be subject to withdrawal limits Bank loans and mortgages of less than $100,000 will be converted into pesos. Banks must re-negotiate a cut in interest rates on all foreign currency loansTrading in the devalued peso had been due to restart on Thursday but the central bank said the government had been too slow in implementing the last details of its economic plan. A dual exchange system is being introduced whereby the peso will have a fixed exchange rate for government and international operations, and a value set by the markets for all other transactions. Currency operations were suspended and banking restrictions introduced after the former president, Fernando de la Rua, resigned at the height of the protests over austerity measures aimed at ending the economic crisis. Under the new currency system, the peso - which was previously pegged at one-to-one to the dollar - will be devalued by ca 30% for a beginning. The devalued peso will stand at 1.4 to the dollar for international transactions, but Argentines will be forced to purchase dollars at a freely floating exchange rate. Some analysts believe the system is flawed, and investors had become increasingly nervous while the currency market remained closed. The anarchists remind of their former advice. Nothing sufficient is changed.

XXVIII. Reducing foreign trade deficit - more ochlarchy

Devaluation is expected to ease pressure on Argentina's exporters by making their products more competitive on the international markets. Importers, however, will be hurt by the ca 30%devaluation of the currency - although the controlled exchange rate is designed to prevent the price of imported goods from rising in an inflationary spiral. The government will allow people to convert any dollar loans or mortgages under $100,000 into pesos to protect them from the devaluation. But for ordinary Argentinians, the near future looks bleak. "If the government doesn't solve this situation soon, there will be violence," said an unofficial spokeswoman for the people in Buenos Aires. Violence will not do anything good, especially as long as the armed forces and the police support Duhalde; the anarchists say. Ochlarchical violence will probably just start a second "dirty war".

11.01.2002: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said Argentina will have to introduce a "coherent" economic recovery plan before it offers the country any more assistance. The comments came on the day trading in the Argentine peso restarted after a three week break. The rate for international money transfers has been fixed at 1.40 pesos to the US dollar. But trading in the free floating rate saw the peso weaken immediately, and by the close of trade it took 1.70 pesos to buy one dollar. Speaking to reporters, IMF First Deputy Managing Director Anne Krueger said the new dual exchange rate system was "unsustainable" in the medium term, and that the IMF would prefer a fully floating currency. But she said that if the government were to introduce the right polices, the Fund may be able to offer more help. The IMF is to travel to Buenos Aires on Monday for talks. The Argentine government halted foreign exchange trading just before Christmas, to give itself more time to work out an economic reform plan. But only hours before trading restarted, riots had erupted again on the streets of the capital Buenos Aires. Demonstrating ochlarchists overturned cars, lit fires in the streets and threw stones at police, who responded with tear gas and rubber bullets.

The anarchists say such utopian radicalist marxist ochlarchy probably will not affect the rulers significant in a progressive way, and if it escalates it will only provoke an even more authoritarian regime. The middle class calls demonstrations via Internet and e-mail. The people of Argentina must look to foreign media to follow the news about demonstrations. Argentine media, say Cronica, don't report from the demonstrations anymore, because of pressure from the government and Duhalde. The peso is expected to fall to ca 2,50 per US $ in April, a very uncertain estimate. The choking of the total demand by restrictions on bank accounts and remuneration, is reducing the gross national product and employment, according to the anarchist economical law of employment. Although the devaluation has increased the demand for export, and redused import a bit, so trade deficit is reduced, the choking of demand all in all must soon be finished. As mentioned, a transfer of wealth from the plutarchy to the people on a large scale is probably necessary to increase demand sufficiently to do away with the increasing unemployment. Bureaucratic repression of peoples ordinary demand, is creating more unemployment, not less. Furthermore, there are too little real investments, because of pessimism among potential investors. And the bureaucratical ties of the peso, about 1,4 US $ for special foreign trade, must of course be stopped.

XXIX. Trade unions, policy and actions, i.e. general strikes etc. 

In addition to the anarchosyndicalist F.O.R.A, there are three main trade union confederations in Argentina. The official trade union is the Peronist-dominated CGT, which has allied itself with every government since the dictatorship - and even had arrangements with the dictatorship. Theres the CGT-Moyano, i.e. a dissident CGT led by Hugo Moyano, which has been critical of the official CGT for being so closely tied to the government. But in turn, this federation is run by another set of bureaucrats who utilize their opposition to the status quo to pressure the government to make concessions to their followers while maintaining a distance from any structural challenges.  The Moyano trade union bureaucracy has been more eager to engage in general strikes and to mobilize around specific issues. They use a great deal of populist rhetoric, but later negotiate on more narrow sectoral issues, constantly negotiating behind the backs of the workers. Thats why they are distrusted by many sectors of the working class as being essentially an opportunistic opposition that is capable of putting people in the streets, but is also quite capable of bringing them out of the streets.

The fourth major union is the CTA, which emerged as a rejection of the CGT and has many of the public-sector workers,  who haven't had any relief with the shutting down and cutting off of services and the firings of hundreds of thousands. The CTA has been the most active and radical of the trade unions, led by the ATE, the public employees union. They have been involved with the "piqueteros" and other unemployed. The unemployed workers movement has been gaining strength for the last five years. But in the last year, its spread throughout the country and has played a  role in securing subsistence programs from the government and public works for at least a sector of the unemployed. Its tactics are to paralyze the circulation of commodities and transportation. So the piqueteros, as theyre called, meaning "the picketers," block off major highways in order to make their demands. The ranks of the unemployed movement include a preponderance of women, especially woman heads of households, which has grown with the unemployment. In some areas, unemployment is probably 50 to 60 percent. So many of the piqueteros are factory workers with trade union experience. Many are young people whove never had a job. They organize and block the highways. Traffic piles up, trucks cant move, factories cant get supplies. These are the functional equivalents of factory workers downing their tools. In this case, instead of directly stopping production, they stop the inputs and outputs from production.   Then the government can send the police down, in which case theres a whole confrontation.

People have been killed, five or six recently in the north of Argentina. The CTA has raised some important issues. However, they have not at any point called into question the statist and plutarchist system. Moreover, they have a tendency to engage in militant actions and then step back and negotiate. They have been conscious of their position as state employees - and therefore very much engaged in negotiating with the state and paying lip service to the rest of the working class.   Most of the middle class are people who have lost all their savings. They dont have money to pay their grocery bills, or their rents, or go on vacations, or what have you.  You have the great mass of unemployed who were involved in some kind of informal economy and employed workers who have not been paid because the accounts of their employers are frozen. And you have a great mass of public employees and shopkeepers and others forming a very broad front against the bankers.But the small leftist parties - all the Trotskyist and Marxist parties - spent most of their resources recently in electing officials to an impotent parliament. And nowhere have these parties - or the center-left, of course - exercised any kind of leadership. They have mostly been out of sight. They issue manifestos; they sell their newspapers. They have organized smaller actions, but  in none of the large mass confrontations - that are reaching proportions of hundreds of thousands in different cities - has there been any significant marxist  "vanguard". More than any recent events, were dealing with a country that has a long tradition of trade union, collective action.

General strikes are more common in Argentina than in any country in the world. This time, there are many, many more activists and militants than there were at the height of the mobilizations in the 1960s and 1970s. You can't just speak of a general strike in Argentina. There are general strikes, and there are general strikes. And everybody knows that in Argentina. You can talk to a cab driver, who, when you ask, "What do you think of this general strike?" will tell you that the bureaucrats are using it to blow off steam. They are one-day affairs with no active mobilizations or factory occupations. The employers know it, and the government knows it - that if they sit on their hands for one day, everything goes back to normal. So they have little consequences. There is little mobilization and little in the way of activating the workers and educate them in autogestion, etc.. They are decided from above, and theyre shut off from above. All in all, the people in general, i.e. not the bureacracy broadly defined, have not yet got the necessary ideas, organization, strategy and tactics, to reduce the bureaucracy significantly and introduce a less authoritarian economical political system, according to anarchist economics. Also the largest trade unions, etc. have a neo-mercantilist, marxistoid and populist tendency. Except for the necessary devaluation, there have been no signs of a policy that may hike demand sufficiently to do away with the unemployment, in a relatively fair and efficient way, except from non-ochlarchical actions done by the anarchists broadly defined. And they are relatively few. So far it seems to be no quick solution to the political economical problems in Argentina, i.e. in the short run. The chaos, mercantilist policy and economics will probably still go on for a while, with more or less blind popular protests, equally impotent as the government broadly defined, in doing away with Argentina's large problems, say anarchists.

XXX. Duhalde calls the chaos "anarchy", calls for an "arch", i.e. strong rule, and gets a Brown Card.
Middle class and unemployed demonstrate. Anarchists put up an economical recovery plan.

15-16.01. 2002: BBC reports about Duhalde calling the populists' selfmade economical chaos "anarchy", indirectly calling for an "arch", i.e. strong rule and dictatorship, and he gets a Brown Card from the IAT, together with BBC, which joins in this false song. BBC says Argentina is on "the brink of anarchy". The fact is that it has never been more far from anarchy since the "dirty war". The media should stop making such disinformation. Call it what it is, i.e. an authoritarian populist chaos and ochlarchy, etc. Duhaldes' ochlarchists, both secret police and hooligans, as well as the leftists' ochlarchists are out in the streets, looting and making chaos and destruction. Pensionists and middle class people are demonstrating to get their money out of the banks. Criminal mobs are using the demonstrations as a cover for looting. Poor people looting shops are fighting with the low paid service-workers, etc.

People are putting up primitive direct exchange markets, without means of payment or money. This of course is not sufficient to hike the necessary demand to do way with the unemployment. The anarchists stick to the advice mentioned in the chapters above in this article. NRK, finally in Argentina, reports about the situation, quite similar to IJ@, also mentioning labor federations with anarchist banners are marching in the streets. 17-19.01.2002 The peso is so far devaluated about 50%, and expected to fall more, may be more than 70% as the anarchists have suggested. New chief of the Argentinian federal reserve, Mario Blejer, earlier working for the IMF, is appointed. Duhalde says he is sitting on "a ticking bomb". The hard pressed banks put the blame on the government for the bureaucratic measures that is choking the demand. The International Monetary Fund throws Argentina a lifeline by postponing $933m in loan repayments for one year. The budget of the public sector, very much used to pay public servants and bureaucrats that do very little useful, is expected to be cut 15%, and still not be balanced. However a balanced public budget, as IMF says is needed, is far from smart in this case. But it is necessary for the public sector to reallocate the workers to productive front line purposes, according to anarchist cost benefit analysis, based on efficiency and fairness, what is in the benefit of the people, not the bureaucracy broadly defined, i.e. the top above the grassroots, economical and/or political/administrative in private and public sector.

Some of the public bureaucracy and other public sector "dead meat", may also be sacked and reallocated to private sector, and money transfers to the poor and unemployd increased a bit. As mentioned, some expropriations, not nationalisation, but local for municipal and co-operative purposes, perhaps based on autogestion as far as the people are trained for such management, may be useful, but a significant increase in property taxes may also work, to redistribute wealth and income, to increase public and private demand, without too much inflation. A local and national income-political co-operation, "a new fair deal", increasing the lower wages, may help in the same direction. More bureaucratical ties on employment, as suggested by Duhalde, must be avoided. When the peso is down at a realistic level, the demand will be directed mainly towards domestic goods and services, and the anarchist law of employment may be set to work, i.e. say 25-30% increase in total demand, minus 3-8% inflation and 2% productivity hike, will increase employment ca 20%, without severe problems with the foreign trade deficit. A balanced economy in this non-bureaucratic way, will also be interesting for foreign investors, and boost real investments, so the old and little productive manufacturing industries of Argentina may be renewed or replaced by something else. A semipublic low interest rate investment bank, to boost investment in housing, industries producing goods, and infrastructure, may also be useful. Money used on little productive service industries must be avoided.

Argentina must do away with the bureaucratic neo-mercantilist policy! In politics and economics, labor federations included, everybody above all must think economic circulation at a reasonable level, and work to do away with every bureaucratic tie that strangle the circulation; according to the anarchist economic laws of efficiency and fairness, employment and full employment, and the price laws, to avoid too much inflation, seen all in all. This is the advice from the anarchists so far. The people are still marching in the streets! BBC 20.01.2002 reports once more that Duhalde says Argentina "is on the brink of anarchy". The demonstrations, especially against the banks, should not get out of hand, the anarchists say. Another "dirty war" is not in the interest of the people. The changes should be done according to anarchist economics and the anarchists advice. The protests should continue, but not be ochlarchical. The AI-Embassy demands: "Stop the ochlarchy! Protest with reason! 21-25.01.2002 Duhalde declares bank savings will be converted to peso at the official rate 1,4 peso per US $, and large demonstrations occured. Protesters call it looting of their future. IMF calls for severe cut in public expenditures as a condition for new loans. Such monetarist symbolic and semi-mercantilist politics will not solve Argentinas problems, the anarchists say, repeating their advice about hard and real economic means and actions, mentioned above. The IMF is expected to send a delegation of economic experts to Buenos Aires in late January, tasked with hammering out a recovery plan in cooperation with Argentine officials. The anarchists say the IMF "experts" are full of outdated monetarist and neoclassical liberalistic, that will do the people of Argentina no good. They will mainly only serve the rich plutarchy and bureaucracy. The floating-rate peso was flat on Friday 25.01, selling at 1.78 per dollar, buoyed by another bout of intervention by the Central Bank, which stepped in for the ninth straight session and said it would continue to do so if need be.

The Argentine government, mindful of recent bloody rioting, began a major security operation on Friday to contain a planned mass demonstration by protesters fed up with financial crisis. Loosely affiliated middle-class and leftist groups coordinating over the Internet have vowed a peaceful protest of banking curbs in the capital on Friday night. Groups of unemployed people blocked a main bridge into the capital, while small groups of banner-carrying jobless protested peacefully outside several supermarkets in the suburbs, demanding food handouts. Scattered protests from the northern province of Jujuy to Cordoba province northwest of Buenos Aires were also peaceful. 26.01.2002: Police in Buenos Aires have fired teargas and rubber bullets to disperse Argentines who had taken to the streets in protest at banking restrictions imposed to try and salvage the country's crippled economy. There were protests outside the presidency. The demonstration, which was echoed in major cities across the country, was the biggest since new President Eduardo Duhalde came to office three weeks ago, adding to pressure on his government to find a way out of the crisis. Protests began peacefully, with people ranging from middle class professionals to the unemployed banging pots and pans and jangling their keys in an almost carnival-like demonstration. But as the march petered out around midnight in pouring rain, police fired on the 1,000 or so who remained in the Plaza de Mayo, fighting running battles with the protesters. At least 10 police officers and three people in the crowd were reported to be injured. At least a dozen people were arrested, witnessed said.

Although the march ended badly, it was nowhere near as vitriolic as previous demonstrations, which had erupted into violence and anger at political leaders. Friday's demonstration was mainly organized to demand an end to the freeze on savings accounts which has been imposed to prevent a run on the banks. It has left millions of Argentines short of money. Protesters also wanted members of the Supreme Court - who approved the restrictions - to resign. But the government says it has no choice but to continue with the measures. Some demonstrators blockaded supermarkets, calling for food. The protest was a sign of the unpopularity of the bureaucratic, mercantilistic, monetary policy adopted by President Duhalde. Moreover, he has reneged on a promise that savings made in dollars can be recouped in dollars, saying there are simply not enough dollars in the banking system. The president is torn between demands from a public that wants access to its savings, and fears that relaxing the rules would trigger a run on the banks that could cripple the country's financial system. The anarchists stic to their advice about the demand management mentioned above. 28-29.01.2002: Argentina sought on Monday to secure vital U.S. financial support while thousands of jobless protesters marched against a government caught between the demands of the IMF and its recession-weary people. With the sound of beating drums in the background, several thousand unemployed Argentines gathered by the presidential palace and blocked highways to demand jobs in the latest protest against President Eduardo Duhalde as he battles to jump start the economy after a traumatic currency devaluation.

IMF Managing Director Horst Koehler on Monday again urged Argentine authorities to develop a comprehensive and coherent economic strategy that the lender can back with new loans. The anarchists say this should be socialist anarchist economics, but the IMF thinks about more hard plutarchy. Duhalde "will have to choose between the policies of ... President Bush and the Argentine people," said a leader of the "Argentine Workers Association", a radical leftist unemployed group that organized Monday's march. The leftists have however not put up a real alternative to the neo-mercantilist policy of the left populists, talking of nationalisation, etc. With demonstrators again taking to the streets of the capital Buenos Aires on Monday night, the deputy economy minister, Jorge Todesca, admitted that the economy could shrink by as much as 5% in 2002. Argentina's government has begun crucial financial talks in Washington, as forecasts show the economy is set to contract sharply this year despite the devaluation of the peso. Foreign Minister Carlos Ruckauf met White House national security adviser Condoleezza Rice and US Trade Representative Robert Zoellick, explaining the country's grim situation and the new government's hopes for financial support from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank.

30.01.2002. SUMMARY OF THE ANARCHIST ECONOMICAL PLAN SO FAR: The anarchists say this shrink indicates a large fall in total demand, while they have adviced about a necessary increase about 25%, with an inflation at 3% and ca 30% at 8% inflation, to do away with most of the unemployment. Furthermore of this demand hike a large part should go to investments, both domestic real investment to create new jobs, and financial, i.e. through an exportsurplus, to stop an increase or reduce, the foreign debt. Total demand, i.e. the general budget, is real investment plus consumption and exportsurplus. The mentioned hike in total demand of 25-30% could be devided with ca 1/3 on each post on the general budget, and most of the consumption hike should go to the poor, i.e. the new employment should not be with slavecontracts, but free contracts. The Peso must also be devaluated more, ca 70% vis-à-vis US $, as mentioned. Horst Koehler, managing director of the IMF, urged Argentine authorities to develop a comprehensive and coherent economic strategy. The anarchist plan is just such an economical strategy, and they have also indicated ways to implement it, i.e. through expropriation, property tax, redistribution of income, semipublic investment banks, and free contracts, autogestion, etc. IMF, Duhalde, and most of the Argentinian labor unions have not come up with anything serious compared to the anarchists. More details of the plan and the basical anarchist economical laws, are mentioned above in the different chapters, with links to other web-pages, in relevant context.

XXXI. The anarchists are giving more advice according to the plan. More protests. G7 meeting. Inflation hike?

31.01 - 01.02.2002. Thousands of angry Argentines lined up at banks on Thursday to protect their savings by buying dollars, frightened that government efforts to end a brutal recession and financial chaos could soon throw the peso currency into a tailspin. Argentina's December trade surplus totaled $1.013 billion compared with a $323 million surplus in the same month last year, the national statistics office said on Thursday. Exports in December totaled $1.944 billion, down 19 percent from a year earlier. Imports fell about 55 percent, to $931 million from a year earlier. Argentina posted a $6.343 billion trade surplus for all of 2001 versus a $1.166 billion surplus in 2000. Imports fell 20 percent over the course of 2001 compared to the year before while exports edged up less than one percent. According to the anarchist economical plan a major export boost together with a minor import hike (mainly investment goods) is necessary. As authorities battled to ensure monetary stability, investors said the watered-down bankruptcy bill passed by Congress Wednesday could make many debts uncollectable - a further blow for the government trying to shed a left populist image to secure vital aid from the International Monetary Fund and stop angry protests from the poor and the economical middle class .The IMF, meeting with the government, said "discussions are going well". The multilateral lending agency insists on drastic spending cuts and a floating currency as a condition for vital aid needed to avoid a financial meltdown in Latin America's third-largest economy after the peso was devalued this month.

A floating currency is a part of the anarchist economical plan, but cut in public sector spending will not do anything but shrink the economy more. The public spending should be increased and directed away from bureaucracy costs and "dead meat" towards investments, and public health and other valuable grassroots services for the people, and transfers to the poor. The spending should be financed by property and other taxes and transfers from the rich plutarchy in public and private sector, and not mainly by printing fresh pesos. During a muggy summer day in the capital, lines snaked up to three blocks long as sweating Argentines took out what peso savings they could, i.e limited, from one bank and then walked across the street to change them to dollars, a safehaven currency in Latin America. The Central Bank said it would intervene again to prop up the currency, but the peso still has fallen to more than two pesos per dollar (> 50% devaluation). More than 70% devalutation is recommended, the anarchists say.Duhalde is due to announce this weekend more reforms that could spread the burden of devaluation by further transforming a heavily dollarized economy into devalued pesos. This will probably only be more neomercantilist populist policy, and no real solution. To do away with the bureaucratical dual currency system - an official 1.40 rate for exporters and bank transactions and a floating rate for cash deals is of course a right step, but not at all sufficient to hike demand enough to do away with the unemployment, anarchists say. On Thursday, IMF spokesman Tom Dawson said the lender was not "looking for rash action" as Argentina considers floating the currency. IMF aid would also help the government loosen the hated banking freeze which has become a lightning rod for criticism of the government and politicians of any hue. Savers, especially white collar workers whose frozen dollar life savings are at risk, protest daily against the government. Mobs of well-dressed women and men in suits have accosted legislators in streets and in posh shopping malls.

Financial tricks and marching in streets will really make no solution say the anarchists - only a real non-bureaucratic demand management with free contracts, not slavecontracts, will do. U.S. Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill on Friday said that last year when he was examining Argentina's economic problems, he discovered that the nation had signed away its right to restructure its debts. "We should learn from that experience and seek to convince (borrowing) countries not to give away important flexibility for a few basis points of advantage when they issue debt," O'Neill said. Argentine plutarchy market authorities may declare a bank and foreign exchange holiday for part or all of next week after a Supreme Court ruling against banking restrictions, a Central Bank source said on Friday, thus sabotaging the supreme court's decisions . The country's top court ruled that restrictions on cash withdrawals and a freeze on savings are unconstitutional and that banks, which have been saved from a huge run on deposits by the strict measures, must return cash on demand. The restrictions were first imposed in early December and, as mentioned above, contributed to rioting that ousted elected government. The local foreign exchange market and banks have been closed for some or all activity for weeks at a time.

Argentina's new government was poised on Sunday 03.02.2002 to unveil an economic crisis strategy that it said would include partially lifting a freeze on bank accounts that has triggered public outrage and bloody riots. The government intended to lift the unpopular cash withdrawal limits on Argentines' salary accounts, implemented to stop a run on the banks by nervous savers. The strategy is tipped to include tax breaks to help jump-start Latin America's No. 3 economy after a four-year recession. The plan is also expected to contain details of a 2002 budget that must include deep spending cuts to appease international lenders like the International Monetary Fund. The plan will seek to counter the effects of a Supreme Court ruling on Friday that overturned the government's savings freeze and left the banks and the currency facing possible collapse. It will also aim to head off a holiday in the foreign exchange market that authorities are planning for Monday and Tuesday in the wake of the court ruling, which analysts fear could trigger a wave of bankruptcies among the banks. The savings freeze has choked consumer spending and left many retailers facing bankruptcy. "I don't care what rate they give me, I just want my money back," one elderly woman told a local radio show that aired people's grievances. Government curbs currently limit Argentines to monthly withdrawals of no more than 1,500 pesos a month, or less than $750 at the market rate.

Friday's Supreme Court ruling plunged the economy into fresh uncertainty just as Argentina's crisis appeared to be bottoming out, with raised hopes of fresh international aid. Duhalde has described the decision that the bank curbs are unconstitutional as tantamount to blackmail by the Supreme Court's judges, who have faced mounting pressure to quit amid allegations of corruption and cronyism. IMF Chief Horst Koehler said on Saturday the ruling complicated "tremendously" an intended gradual release of bank deposits. Economists said it could send Argentines rushing to withdraw their deposits. That, in turn, could destroy many banks, already on their knees after a debt default and peso devaluation, and possibly spark another massive depreciation of the peso. The country's leading daily newspaper La Nacion on Sunday urged Argentines not to lose hope as their economy teeters on the verge of total collapse. "Nothing is more urgent in Argentina today than the need to rebuild hope," the paper said in a front-page editorial.

The anarchists say 1. New hope is not enough to increase demand according to the plan, but may influence real investments a bit. 2. The tax cuts may increase consumption a bit, together with the released savings, but also contribute to inflation. 3. If the banks turn over, expropriate some of them to low price and make semipublic investment banks. 4. We stick to the rest of our plan - approximately it's the only good road ahead! President Eduardo Duhalde changed his mind and moved on Monday (04.02.2002) to ban the Supreme Court from meddling in his freshly announced economic plans while his government defended an embattled local currency by effectively stopping banks from using U.S. dollars. As a major constitutional crisis loomed, the government forbade Argentines from going to court to take advantage of the supreme court judges' ruling on Friday that overturned a reviled freeze on bank savings implemented two months ago to stop a disastrous run on banks.

The government-controlled Congress sped up action to fire Supreme Court members, whose shock ruling Duhalde said was tantamount to "blackmail" from judges who are being probed for alleged corruption and cronyism. Duhalde's government ordered banks to convert their dollars into devalued pesos in the latest move to force Argentines to squash dollar usage. Most deposits and loans were held in dollars after a decade of having the peso linked one-to-one to the greenback. "These financial tricks by Duhalde will probably do the real economy and total demand no good", the anarchists say: "Get the peso floating down to the real value at once, and open the banks!05-06.02.2002: As indicated, on Sunday, the Argentine government said it would fully float the devalued peso and partly lift a freeze on savings that sparked public outrage and bloody riots. The measures were scheduled to go into effect on Wednesday, but the Argentine Central Bank said late on Tuesday, after Chilean markets closed, that they would likely be implemented as of next Monday. The bank said it would extend a two-day foreign exchange holiday through to Wednesday but would permit partial bank operations that day. The stocks of enterprises exposed to Argentina fell due to nervousness of investors, in Chile.

What did we say! ... said the anarchists... How did Argentina lose its way after being a former economic power? In the 1930s Argentina was, thanks largely to beef exports, a global power, boasting income per capita similar to that of France. But from the 1940s the country tumbled from the international stage, weakened first by isolationism and a mercantilist policy, then military rule and internal conflict, and even more mercantilistic bureaucracy economics. In 1991, during Domingo Cavallo's first spell as economy minister, the government decided to peg the peso to the US dollar to restore confidence and combat hyperinflation. At the time, the strategy worked for a while, but in time Argentina suffered the disadvantages of such a bureaucratic fixed peg. By linking the peso to the dollar, Argentines adopted a currency whose exchange rate bore little relation to their own economic conditions, i.e. mainly the development in labor productivity, total demand, employment and unemployment. Furthermore, the production was twisted towards low productive services, both in private and piblic sector. The peg was a boon in times of hyperinflation. With the crisis-stricken government printing cash wholesale, instead of taxation of the rich, inflation soared to 200% a month by the end of the 1980s. Shoppers would pay more for goods in the afternoon than they had in the morning. How did the country "escape" that particular crisis? Carlos Menem, on gaining presidency in 1989, liberalised trade, privatised many state businesses and cut red tape in a bid to foster industrial growth. The payment for selling out public possessions, contributed to finance public spending, bit of course this cannot go on for long. The programme initially failed, undermined by concerns over levels of state deficits. But the decision in 1991 to peg the peso to the US dollar boosted confidence and optimism - investors deemed dealing in greenbacks a safer bet. The move also fostered financial stability - prices denominated in dollars could hardly be adjusted so quickly. With world economic conditions fair, and seeds of recovery sown, Argentina became locked in a virtuous circle of foreign investment fostering growth which attracted further cash. This was however a bubble economy, that couldn't last.

From 1991-94, Argentina's economic output expanded by an average of 7.7% a year, however not in an economically sound way. When stability returned to Argentina, the inability of its currency to respond proved more of a burden than a benefit. Argentina had, in effect, 1. ceded control over monetary policy (consider the benefit of cutting of interest rates in the US and UK, which together with optimism vis-à-vis the future, may boost real investment in private sector). 2. This invited to borrowing in US $ to pay for import instead of domestic production, which over time, together with slave contracts and powerty among a large part of the labor force, relatively reduced total demand for products made in Argentina, and increased the foreign trade deficit as well as "dead meat" among frontline workers and bureaucracy costs. Thus "Buenos Aires was left dancing disco when the tango would have been wholly more appropriate." How did the 1997-99 currency crisis affect Argentina? While Argentina was able to sidestep the fallout from the Mexican currency collapse of 1995, the so-called Asian currency crisis, which began two years later, provided a more troublesome beat. When the Brazilian real plummeted in 1999, the peso was unable to follow suit, leaving Argentine exports vastly more expensive than those of its neighbour. A decline in world prices for farm products, and the global economic slowdown of recent months, only worsened Argentina's problems. Lower export takings have limited the country's ability to earn the foreign currency needed to repay dollar-denominated debts. Decling industrial activity has denied the government the cash to balance budgets, while levels of unemployment and "underemployment" top 30%.

How will devaluation help? Argentina has now de facto devalued its currency by at least 50% and ended the fixed link with the dollar, despite of some governmental tricks to give the peso artificial breath. This will boost exports and reduce imports and help restore Argentina's foreign currency earnings which may ultimately be needed to pay off its huge foreign debts. That is because exports will become cheaper in comparison to the Argentinean peso, and foreign goods, imports, become more expensive. But it will hurt businesses which have invested in Argentina by making their investments in the country less valuable, and probably their profits smaller. And it will be bad news for those people in Argentina who have borrowed money in dollars and are paid in pesos - for example, some small businesses and many with mortgages. They would then have to pay back their debts in a currency that was worth less than before, so the real value of their debts will increase. But that could be expensive for the government. And devaluing the peso could boost inflation, as imported goods will become much more expensive, i.e. unless imports are cut to a minimum, while demand for domestic production is increased. To avoid all these problems, an economical policy approximately implementing the above given anarchist economical plan, is necessary. "Think real economics, i.e. anarchist economics, not money illusions policy.." the anarchists say. In the explanation above we have, among other relations, used the anarchist economical law of employment, written in the following ways:

(consumption + netrealinvestment + exportsurplus) = (nominal netproduct) = pricelevel x (average labor netproductivity) x employment <=>(consumption + netrealinvestment + exportsurplus)/(pricelevel x (average labor netproductivity)) = employment

When the exportsurplus is negative, i.e. an importsurplus, it contributes to negative netfinance investment, and foreign debt, here in US $. This must regularly be paid back with interest by a larger exportsurplus later on. With a relatively low or falling production, due to underemployment and unemployment because of disoptimal demand policy, consumption may go on at a relatively high level by looting the future, by cutting netrealinvestment, which usually also contributes to lower than optimal productivity in the future, and/or looting the foreigners by having an importsurplus, and refusing to pay the debt. That's in short what has been going on in in Argentina.

What about Argentina's debt? In the meantime, Argentina's huge debt problems had not gone away. The country went on borrowing on international financial markets, until debt reached more than US $140bn. Now the government has said it will default on these payments. The default may bring the country some breathing space, but it is sure to make negotiating a final deal with its creditors that much harder. And it will make it much harder for Argentina if it tries to borrow money again on international financial markets. However, the sums Argentina owes are so massive that it is very much in its creditors' own interest to eventually come to an arrangement. To paraphrase the old adage, if you owe the bank $1,000, it's your problem, but if you owe it $140bn, it's the bank's. Argentine shares rose sharply on Wednesday 06.02, as investors sought more stable investments, fearful the recently devalued peso could slide further. This however is more of being financial tricks, not really boosting realinvestments. The Argentine government chided the IMF on Wednesday for not voicing support for its recovery plans, aimed at averting economic meltdown and calming public anger, saying it was in a "chicken and egg" dilemma with multilateral lenders. "There should have been a stronger reply" from the International Monetary Fund, Economy Minister Jorge Remes Lenicov told reporters, complaining of a situation where lenders demand a solid plan before sending aid, but the plan itself depends upon aid guarantees. The minister's criticism highlighted the troubled relations between a month-old government, besieged by daily street protests, and the IMF, criticized for wasting billions of dollars on a near-bankrupt Argentina over the past year. The neomercantilist plans of Duahalde is neither sufficient from anarchist point of view, nor from liberalistic "free marketers" as the US.

In the latest demonstrations, several hundred Argentines, including businessmen in blazers, kicked at bank doors in the capital and scrawled graffiti on windows as they banged pots and pans to protest bank curbs. So far the IMF has kept mum on the plans announced at the weekend as well as the austere 2002 budget that Remes Lenicov sent to Congress on Tuesday. The U.S Treasury, a key powerbroker to win IMF help, said Argentina had more to do such as shoring up troubled banks bearing much of the cost of January's currency devaluation and the forced conversion of frozen dollar savings into pesos. From anarchist point of view there is even more to do, befor the economic policy is sound. Remes Lenicov said the beleaguered peso would be floated fully, a key plank of the country's latest economic policy. From Monday, the unit will trade at market rates and not fixed rates against foreign currencies. "OK!", say the anarchists, "but that is not sufficient to hike demand, i.e. consumption, plus realinvestment and exportsurplus; the necessary amount to do away with the unemployment".

Without vocal IMF support the peso could plummet, sparking price rises that still haunt Argentines who remember 1980s hyperinflation and who have increasingly protested on streets against the government. Prices of some key imported goods, such as medicines and sugar, have already jumped by up to 40 percent, as indicated above. "For now the prices of your coffee, croissants and newspaper are unchanged," said a Buenos Aires waitress as she served breakfast. "If these prices rise, then we'll all be on the streets protesting." Remes Lenicov has also announced deep cuts in public spending and a partial lifting of a bank accounts freeze to turn around a crisis in Latin America's No. 3 economy that in the past two months has led to food riots, massive street protests, the resignation of two presidents and the biggest ever sovereign debt default. President Eduardo Duhalde's government wanted the "icing on the cake" to be the presentation of its 2002 budget bill, seen as key to restarting a stalled $22 billion loan from the IMF. Yet IMF backing has so far been lukewarm awaiting signs of how Argentina, with a history of overspending that forced it to default on part of its $141 billion public debt in January, will save the banks and keep provincial spending in check. The government is also due to announce cuts in unpopular "political" bureaucracy spending - the inflated administrative costs of legislators and their staff. Argentina has hundreds of members of Congress, from the national legislature to small provinces. "Cut in bureaucracy costs is necessary", the anarchists say, "but that must be combined with an anarchist economical demand hike, in the above indicated way!"

Argentina's plan will cost battered banks billions of dollars and there are doubts whether many of them, including foreign-owned institutions, will be able to stay afloat. John Taylor, the U.S. Treasury's under-secretary for international affairs, on Wednesday urged Argentina to push ahead with talks on debt restructuring and reforms of its tax and budget systems. Taylor said the IMF was analyzing the government's economic plans, but he "was not aware of any particular timing at this point." The plans must be according to the anarchist economical law of full employment". the anarchists say. If the budget numbers add up and the IMF is convinced the government is serious about cutting spending, then aid could resume by March, according to experts in Washington. "Argentina should not cut public spendings", the anarchists say, "but act according to the anarchist economic plan, mentioned above."Duhalde, who came into office with a reputation for populist "free" spending and protectionism, has already had diplomatic spats with the IMF. Another local official told the IMF last month it should stop telling Argentines they should accept "painful" policies. Adding to public frustration, consumer prices rose 2.3 percent in January, the highest rate of price increases in a decade during which the peso's one-to-one peg to the U.S. dollar kept inflation in check. Food, drink and transport prices rose the most, adding to the squeeze on a population suffering 20 percent unemployment. A third of the country lives in poverty while many white collar workers have seen their savings shed a third of their value as dollar deposits were forcibly converted into devalued pesos.

"The hike in pricelevel will reduce the employment, if not compensated by increased demand," the anarchists say. Since the peg was ended in January, the peso has fallen by more than 50%, raising prices and making imports - from medicines to candy - scarce. With stringent banking curbs a black market has emerged where desperate Argentines are buying cash - peso notes - from shops with guaranteed checks at a 15 percent premium. On the street, marketeers known as "arbolitos," or "little trees" because they sprout green dollar bills, are selling safe-haven dollars despite foreign exchange markets being closed. Official figures showing that unemployment rose to a record 22% in January, up from 18.3% in December, underlined the severity of the country's problems on Wednesday. Before markets closed last week the peso traded at 2.10 to the dollar on the free market. Argentina's mainly foreign-owned banks have most to lose from the latest reforms, as loans taken out in dollars will now be converted into pesos at a rate of one to one. This means adjusting the necessary demand to do away with the official unemployment upwards ca 2%, i.e. to 27% and 32% respectively, with the same other conditions as mentioned in the scenarios above.06.02. The Argentine Government has extended the closure of banks and foreign exchange centres until 11 February, giving the market more time to prepare for a full flotation of the peso. Thursday 07.02 the people are again marching in the streets, saying Duhalde is looting them and breaking his promises. "Everybody know the people of Argentina are good, and the bureaucracy and politicians are bad", an unofficial spokesman of the people says. The anarchists say: "Duhalde should take the message! Cut the mercantilistic as well as monetaristic crap "plans", and prepare for anarchist economics, with efficient and fair demand management, free contracts - not slavecontracts, etc.," as mentioned above in several chapters... (Search in file for "anarchist economic" in the browser menu)

08.02.2002 BUENOS AIRES - Argentina scrambled Friday to win support from local exporters and international lenders alike to help avoid a mauling when it puts its peso at the mercy of the markets next week. As sporadic protests against everything from a savings freeze to unemployment simmered across Argentina, the government called for urgent help from the International Monetary Fund as the government prepared to allow the peso to float completely on Monday. The government met with agricultural firms to forge a debt deal vital to jump-start the nearly paralyzed sector, which is Argentina's biggest foreign currency earner. The government is desperate to avoid a peso crash and needs to ensure that grain and oil companies can generate U.S. dollars with new exports.Hundreds of angry savers banged pots and pans at banks downtown to protest a continued freeze on savings, while others blocked the capital's elegant 9 de Julio avenue demanding medicines now in short supply as health suppliers go broke. "Give our dollars back," read signs written in English that protesters waved in front of television cameras. One man held aloft a funeral wreath emblazoned with the word "thieves," while others thumped their fists against bank facades now protected by sheets of metal after their windows were smashed in recent protests. Argentine pharmacies stayed shut to protest against price rises by drug manufacturers suspected of hoarding stocks to avoid losing out as the newly devalued peso currency slides, forcing diabetes patients to rely on insulin handouts from abroad.

The government is struggling to appease a public fed up with a grinding recession in its fourth year, woo business and banks hard hit as devaluation followed on the heels of default on part of the $141 billion sovereign debt, and secure aid. The state owes grain exporters, which account for half of all exports, $720 million worth of tax rebates - a standoff that has paralyzed trade and choked its dollar revenues. But it is unclear how that money, held originally in pesos pegged one-to-one to the dollar, will be paid after January's devaluation left the peso trading at around 2.0 to the dollar on the foreign exchange market. Argentina's ambassador-designate in Washington, Diego Guelar, appealed for economic help fast. "We are at a stage for decisions, help in six months time would obviously be out of time and place," Guelar said. IMF chief Horst Koehler Friday welcomed the reopening of banks and imminent reopening of the foreign exchange markets as "a good step forward" ahead of a planned visit by Economy Minister Jorge Remes Lenicov next Tuesday. "The fund is continuing to work closely with the authorities in their efforts to formulate a comprehensive and sustainable economic program," Koehler said in a brief statement. A U.S. government official warned Thursday, however, the Remes Lenicov's visit did not necessarily mean IMF lending to Argentina would resume. "Neo-mercantilism or monetarism will not work properly", the anarchists say, sticking to their advice mentioned above.The IMF had until now remained silent about Argentina's new economic crisis strategy, which includes measures to ditch the dollar, completely float the devalued peso and partially lift a savings freeze that has sparked deadly riots. Argentina's government said on Friday it would begin renegotiating its debt with foreign creditors in the "near future," said to be a key condition for IMF aid. The economy ministry provided no specific details. Remes Lenicov's imminent visit suggests the government has a platform for talks on how to craft a new loan program with the IMF, which put its $22 billion loan program to the country on hold in December after Latin America's No.3 economy failed to sufficiently rein in rampant public spending.

"Follow the anarchist economical demand hike plan", the anarchists say!The timing of Remes Lenicov's trip is important because market watchers had been concerned the peso could plummet on Monday if the IMF has not signaled its support by then. An Argentine Congressional commission meanwhile sifted through charges of corruption and cronyism leveled against the country's Supreme Court judges. The judges triggered strong criticism after throwing out arms trafficking charges against ex-President Carlos Menem in November. Four of the nine judges were appointed during the 1989-1999 rule of Menem, whose administration was plagued with corruption scandals. The probe by the congressional commission follows a court ruling that declared a government's freeze on bank deposits unconstitutional. The high court decision stoked fears the teetering economy might collapse after months of inconsistent policies aimed at ending the crisis. President Eduardo Duhalde, Argentina's fifth leader since December, was forced to bar lawsuits against the freeze for six months after the Supreme Court ruled in favor of an individual who wanted access to his savings. By barring copycat lawsuits against the freeze, Duhalde has fended off the court's precedent-setting ruling for now. Some analysts fear lifting the freeze wholesale - as the judges intended - could destroy many banks, already on their knees after a debt default and peso devaluation and possibly spark another massive depreciation of the peso.

"No big problem" say the anarchists, "Then they can be expropriated cheap, and turned into semipublic investment banks to promote societal real investment at best, i.e maximal benefits minus costs, for the people." The BBC reports that Duhalde is afraid of anarchy, and has discussed the situation with the generals of the armed forces, but so far he has not got much support for a new junta rule. "Anarchy is nothing to be afraid of", - the anarchists say, "but it will probably take a long time before Argentina reach anything close to it, as, say, the Anarchy of Norway." Ottawa 08.02.2002: Rich country finance ministers gathered to discuss the issues weighing on the world economy on Friday as dozens of demonstrators, banging pots and pans, complained noisily about the capitalist way of life. The protesters, bundled up against Ottawa's sub-zero winter weather, blame policies promoted by the Group of Seven wealthy countries for the problems of the poor, and for troubles in Argentina - one of the main topics at the weekend G7 meeting. "What we are really hoping to do is to get the message out to the public and to make it clear to the ministers themselves that a lot of people who know what is going on and abhor it," said Jamie Kneen, of "Global Democracy Ottawa", which organized the protest, modeled on those that erupted in Argentina in recent weeks.

"Support actions may be very well", the anarchists say, "but they should be in support for anarchist economics, and not marxism." Canadian Finance Minister Paul Martin, chairing the meeting, singled out Argentina, Japan and Germany as countries under the spotlight and he said he was more optimistic than in the past about economies of Canada and the United States. He said the G7 hoped very much that Argentina would be able to come to an accord with the International Monetary Fund. "We obviously stand ready to support Argentina in their discussions with the IMF and are very hopeful that they will result in a satisfactory outcome," he said. A senior French source, asking not to be identified, warned that Argentina's democratic system could be at risk if, in a worst-case scenario, the country failed to come up with ways to. "We hope that they will arrive at a solution," the source said. "If not it will pose major social and economic problems. I don't even want to think about it, but at the end of the process you could have threats to democracy." Argentina, struggling to cope with recession, its own pots and pans street protests and the impact of a painful currency devaluation, wants support from the international community for its packages of economic moves, including a currency float. G7 officials said other issues on the agenda for Saturday included ways to prevent Argentina-style crises in other countries, debt relief for poor countries, and economic problems at home. 09.02.2002: Thousands of Argentines took to the streets in the early morning hours on Saturday, banging pots and pans in the latest peaceful protest against a "government of thieves" unable to end a chaotic recession in its fourth year.

"Yes", the anarchists say, "the upper classes has been looting the people, the future as well as foreigners, and this must be put to an end as soon as possible." The Group of Seven industrialized countries said on Saturday that Argentina was moving the right way with its newest policies, and told the Latin American nation to work with the International Monetary Fund to climb out of its economic morass. "We welcome as steps in the right direction recent announcements by Argentine authorities," said a G7 statement issued after a two-day meeting. "We encourage them to continue to work closely with the IMF and the international community on a financially and socially sustainable economic reform program that will enhance prospects for growth and future foreign investment." Argentina, struggling to cope with street protests, debt default, recession, devaluation and a crumbling financial system, had been looking for G7 backing ahead of negotiations with the IMF next week. It wants the IMF to resume lending to help cushion the float of the peso currency, pegged to the dollar until pressures on the system became untenable last year. "I think there's clarity that the G7 are anxious for Argentina to establish a sustainable base and go forward, that no one's happy...about the social unrest that exists in Argentina," said U.S. Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill, who has long rejected the idea of early help. "But at the same time there's a strong sense of resolve that...conditions that are associated with sustainability be put in place." Spanish finance minister Rodrigo Rato, attending the G7 talks in his role as chairman of the European Union's Economic and Finance Committee, said there had been positive "new elements" in Argentina in the last three weeks.

"The Argentine government has presented its budget. It still needs some clarifications in the sense of relationships between spending at the central level and spending at the regional level, but nevertheless it certainly has aims that are positive," he told a news conference. Referring to Argentina's decision to float its currency, rather than trying to tough it out with a special rate for exporters, he added: "We also value as positive the disappearance of the dual exchange rate and we consider it very important that the Argentine authorities implement a sound...policy that will give credibility to its monetary policy and to its price stability policy," Rado said. "In the near future Argentina would need to reschedule its foreign debt and restructure its banking system, he added." "Of course the double currency must be done away with," the anarchists say, "and the banking system must be changed for anarchist economical purpose."The one bright spot in the Argentine crisis, from the point of view of the G7 ministers, is that its problems have not spread to other developing countries, unlike the situation in the emerging markets crisis of 1997-99 when a currency crash in Thailand infected countries around the world. G7 officials said that was partially due to improvements to the world financial system since the crisis and the group promised to play "a leading role" in crisis management. It welcomed an IMF proposal to create what would effectively amount to a bankruptcy court for sovereign states. "Recent events have highlighted the importance of an improved, predictable and fair framework, involving the private sector, to prevent and resolve international financial crises," the G7 communique said. "This may be very well", the anarchists say, "but we want deeds, not words! The Argentinian system should be set for progressive anarchist economics!" Argentina's month-old government said on Sunday 10.02.2002 it would fight to keep the peso currency from plummeting when it is fully floated on markets this week, but people on the street nervously prepared for a new bout of financial chaos. With the recently devalued peso set to trade freely on Monday after a week-long ban on foreign exchange trade ends, many Argentines stocked up on groceries and canceled normal weekend dinner plans out of fear spiraling inflation could be just around the corner.

"The Argentinian system should be set for progressive anarchist economics!" - the anarchists say, "this is the best means against hyperinflation." 11.02.2002: Argentina's currency, the peso, has fallen sharply on the currency markets after a one-week suspension of trading. It was the first day banks opened and the peso was allowed to float freely since the failure of the government's dual-exchange rate system of fixed international rates and floating domestic rates. Long lines formed at many banks, as Argentines fearing peso devaluation rushed to convert their cash into US dollars. Soon after the markets opened, it took up to 2.5 pesos to buy $1, compared with the $2.05 a week ago before the suspension of the market, reports said. But by afternoon, the peso had recovered to a range of 1.9-2.2 to $1. Averagely the peso has been devaluated clearly more than 50%. 2.5 pesos to buy $1, is 60% devaluation. 12.02.2002: Some people fear about 90% devaluation, but the anarchists say about 70% may be realistic, if the anarchist economical plan is implemented, i.e. the demand hike should be financed mainly by increased property tax a.s.o., and not by printing to much fresh pesos. However if Duhalde will ommit the taxation and print fresh pesos to hike the demand to do away with the unemployment, he would be on the wrong track, and inflation may take off very much. If so, the total demand must hike even more to do away with the unemployment, according to the anarchist law of employment and full employment. This is of course the same problem if any new system are taken over for Duhalde. No system is able brake the most basic relations of anarchist economics, which is practically always valid, i.e.regardless of system, populist/fascist, marxist, liberalistic or anarchistic alike. The special significant non-bureaucratical relations of anarchism are however only present in an anarchist system, while the populist/fascistoid system of Duhalde is typically bureaucratic and chaotic. (See links to anarchist political economy at the foot of the page)

XXXII. Report and summary - December 2001 - January 2002 from F.L.A. with commentA. LA ARGENTINA ENTRE LA MISERIA Y EL «CACEROLAZO»

La «crisis» en la Argentina ha tenido vasta repercusión internacional y, como están las cosas, seguramente la seguirá teniendo. Por eso creemos que información no es lo que falta, aunque siempre es difícil distinguir entre la veraz y la distorsionada, entre la de buena y la de mala fe. Y esto vale tanto para los que están fuera de la Argentina cuanto –y quizá en mayor medida– para quienes estamos dentro de ella. De modo que intentar un análisis medianamente acertado del fenómeno argentino no es, desde luego, una tarea sencilla. En primer lugar porque los hechos están mediados por múltiples factores de muy diversa índole –históricos, sociales, económicos, políticos, culturales–, que hacen imposible su comprensión si no se los abarca en su conjunto. Pero, como por algún lado debemos comenzar, creemos conveniente hacerlo a partir de nuestras convicciones (o de nuestros «pre-juicios», si se prefiere).

Sería simplista, además de torpe, tratar de explicarse el estallido de los días 18 a 20 de diciembre pasado como una reacción ante las medidas que el tándem De la Rúa-Cavallo disparó contra el pueblo en las últimas semanas o meses de su gobierno. La reacción ante esas situaciones irrumpió cuando el expresidente De la Rúa estimó proteger a la sociedad capitalista denegando el principio de libertad del pueblo mediante el decreto de estado de Sitio. Es decir el significado de que, sumado a su hambre y desesperación, se le quitaba su máxima expresión de dignidad : la libertad. Ya antes de terminar De la Rúa su discurso, los vecinos (familias enteras, con niños, ancianos y hasta discapacitados) ocuparon los silencios autoritarios caminando al son de las cacerolas ya vacías, en comunión de objetivos. Gritando: ¡Que se vayan todos, que no quede ni uno sólo! ¡que boludos, el estado de sitio se lo meten en el culo! los vecinos recorrieron las calles de la ciudad para enfrentar a los poderes ejecutivo en la Plaza de Mayo, legislativo en la Plaza de los dos Congresos, y político-financiero, representado este último por los bancos y empresas instalados en los alrededores de la plaza y en Avenida de Mayo. En verdad, la caldera de la bronca popular venía acumulando presión desde mucho antes. Ya durante su administración, Menem aplicó un programa inverso a lo prometido, en vez de un salariazo hizo un desalariazo, empezó a corromper abiertamente todos los ámbitos, despreciando todos los principios de humanidad. Hace varios años que vienen produciéndose en distintas regiones del país manifestaciones sociales, algunas pacíficas y otras violentas. Sería largo enumerarlas, pero digamos que las protestas recorrieron el país de Norte a Sur – desde La Quiaca a Tierra del Fuego, no obstante los 4.500 kilómetros que las separan–, siendo destacables, por su magnitud y por el saldo de víctimas fatales a mano de la policía, los casos de Neuquén, Corrientes, Salta, Ushuaia y, recientemente, en la Capital y el conurbano bonaerense, donde la represión cobró alrededor de 30 muertos. Las causas: falta de pago de salarios a empleados estatales, la desocupación incesante (ronda el 25 por ciento, sin contar la subocupación), el no cumplimiento de los llamados «planes trabajar» (unos 150 pesos que no alcanzan para cubrir una quinta parte del consumo mensual de una familia), la falta de medicamentos e insumos esenciales en los hospitales, en fin, la inactividad en las escuelas por huelgas de maestros que pasan meses sin cobrar sus salarios; todo esto potenciado por la caída de los ingresos – no admitida oficialmente en términos reales.

Lo grave no es sólo que los sueldos no llegan y la asistencia tampoco, sino que la mayoría de las veces, a pesar de estar contemplados en los presupuestos nacional o provinciales, ellos van a parar a los bolsillos de funcionarios corruptos y su «clientela», que no sólo actúa como «fuerza de choque» sino que en ciertos lugares se constituye en factor preponderante para volcar el resultado de una elección en favor de aquéllos. Se ha dado el caso, inclusive, de que un político cuya vivienda había sido incendiada en una pueblada resultara al poco tiempo electo gobernador en «democráticas» elecciones. El feudalismo con que aún se gobiernan muchas provincias en la Argentina asombraría a más de un observador extranjero acostumbrado a las reglas de ese juego que se llama democracia. . Esto unido al narcotráfico, posibilitó el ingreso de la mafia política con la fórmula electoral Menem-Duhalde, la que luego se vende a la hermandad carnal con los EE.UU. y Bill Clinton. Tradicionalmente, la Argentina fue considerada un país «potencialmente» rico, por sus recursos
naturales, por la extensión de su territorio, por sus praderas, sus bosques, su litoral marítimo, su petróleo. La situación actual es totalmente diferente. Las políticas económicas implementadas por los diferentes gobiernos en beneficio de entidades como el Citibank, Federal, Boston, HSBC, BBVA (aquí Francés), Santander, Galicia, entre muchas otras, y de las empresas privatizadas y las multinacionales, refrendadas por los legisladores de todos los partidos políticos (con muy escasas excepciones) dieron como resultado la destrucción de todas las empresas nacionales, públicas y privadas. Esta situación se hace hoy evidente con mayor claridad en el caso Repsol-YPF: el estado argentino – por medio de sus corruptos administradores y legisladores – enajenó el recurso mineral y el subsuelo, favoreciendo a la empresa española con increíbles exenciones del pago de impuestos a la renta, entre otras prebendas; sólo las comunidades originarias y el pueblo donde se encuentran los yacimientos defienden al ecosistema desde el principio, llegando a subirse y atarse a los árboles para impedir el avance de las topadoras por donde se pretende instalar oleoductos.

Felizmente, el pueblo argentino parece despertarse de ese sueño de grandezas que suelen repetir los manuales escolares, y hace tiempo que desconfía de las promesas preeleccionarias y de quienes las propalan, pero hasta ahora había adoptado una actitud de egoísta indiferencia con tal de disfrutar las migajas que los vaivenes de la política le deparaban. El «sálvese quién pueda», el consumismo, la aspiración de devenir un buen burgués o la posibilidad de «estar en la cosa», parecían ser las consignas, cuando no se les ofrecía abiertamente la posibilidad de privilegios y de formar parte de ese show del que participan con fruición políticos y funcionarios de todo pelaje y con los cuales, a bajo costo, la TV satura nuestras pantallas. Nuestro periodismo, con pocas excepciones, no realiza investigaciones independientes, sino que simplemente adhiere a las directivas de las empresas mediatizadas en connivencia con los poderes político-financieros.Dijimos que el pueblo «parece despertarse», pero...no debemos bajar la guardia. Persiste también en la sociedad argentina una fuerte presencia de una cultura fascista de derecha – de la cual el gobierno es un fiel exponente – y en menor medida de una izquierda autoritaria y verticalista. No creemos que haya margen para esas experiencias. Pero el coronel Seineldin pretende mostrarse como una opción para los nacionalistas de derecha. Desde la izquierda, atomizada y desangrada por eternas disputas, no cabe esperar grandes aportes. Como novedad, podría apuntarse la irrupción en la escena política del partido Autonomía y Libertad, liderado por el hoy diputado Luis Zamora, otrora líder de un fuerte grupo trotsquista – el MAS, Movimiento al Socialismo–, quien aparece con un discurso fuertemente crítico al sistema.

La confiscación de los ahorros, la desocupación, el hambre y el desamparo generaron una forma de lucha inédita en nuestro país: los cacerolazos y las asambleas barriales. Estas asambleas barriales y sus comisiones nuclean a los desocupados, subocupados, los marginados y excluidos de la sociedad capitalista: profesionales, obreros, pequeños comerciantes, artistas, artesanos, todos vecinos. Cada una tiene características propias, pero no delegar, autogestión, horizontalidad y no voto son consignas libertarias que escuchamos con frecuencia. En este punto debemos señalar que estas asambleas barriales, que se reúnen en esquinas de varios barrios de Buenos Aires (Belgrano, San Telmo, Almagro, Caballito, entre otros), además de realizar semanalmente una reunión general de coordinación en Parque Centenario, se han constituido en valiosos espacios de debate y deliberación, no sólo por su concurrencia sino también por los temas que se plantean. Son abiertos y participa todo quien quiera hacerlo, por lo que es frecuente que algún dirigente político o sindical pretende llevar agua hacia su molino. Pero la concurrencia ha aprendido a distinguir cuando escucha algún discurso con olor a «cocinado».

Como anarquistas, sabemos que las soluciones no se encontrarán «dentro» del sistema, aunque no debemos descartar que con un recambio a todos los niveles de esta dirigencia la situación podría encauzarse hacia el atemperamiento de las condiciones actuales.

En otro orden de cosas, la remoción de la Corte Suprema de Justicia es uno de los puntos exigidos con mayor énfasis. Creemos ilustrativo señalar una pocas «hazañas» de este tribunal: las privatizaciones de Menem – viciadas de nulidad por las coimas que las facilitaron –, el «Plan Bonex» de Cavallo en el 92, la flexibilización laboral, el sobreseimiento a funcionarios corruptos y, como broche final, la liberación de Menem de su decisiva participación en el tráfico de armas –que incluye la voladura del polvorín de Río Tercero. Para colmo, sus miembros tienen sueldos exorbitantes – que no se pueden disminuir según la Constitución –, y están exentos de impuestos pordecisión de ellos mismos .

Cada expresión de nuestros vecinos se convierte en un pensamiento comunitario cargado de preguntas, donde lo importante justamente son las preguntas y no sus respuestas conjeturales. Hoy podemos decir con alborozo que la acción directa comenzó a coincidir con la palabra. Sería de esperar que todos los argentinos tengamos en claro quiénes fueron los que coartaron nuestras libertades, marginaron, excluyeron y empujaron al exilio a nuestros familiares y amigos e hipotecaron el futuro de nuestros hijos y de nuestros nietos.

Hoy el miedo en nuestra sociedad se convirtió en coraje...

Federación Libertaria Argentina
Consejo Local B. ANEXO - CRONOLOGIA DE UN PAIS A LA DERIVA

1º de diciembre de 2001:

El gobierno de Cavallo-De la Rúa lanza la primera versión del «corralito». Se «dolarizan» los depósitos, pero se pone un tope de $ 1.000 mensuales para su retiro.
3 de diciembre/01:

Mensaje de De la Rúa: «Estamos ganando la batalla». Y agregó: «No habrá devaluación», para terminar aconsejando «volver a depositar con toda tranquilidad»( en un solo día, el viernes 30 se habían fugado 1.000 millones de dólares de los bancos). En verdad, más que un consejo, fue una imposición. El gobierno bancarizó toda la economía hasta para las más minúsculas operaciones. Dejó a la gente sin plata en el bolsillo.

5 de diciembre/01

Domingo Cavallo admite que la convertibilidad (1 peso = 1 dólar), esa ficción que el creó y auguró que sería para siempre, cayó como un castillo de naipes.

6 de diciembre/01

El Fondo Monetario Internacional anuncia que no girará los 1.260 millones de dólares prometidos para el corriente mes de diciembre. Segunda versión del «Corralito».

18 y 19 de diciembre/01

Saqueos a supermercados en todo el país. CINCO MUERTOS Y DECENAS DE HERIDOS POR LA REPRESION. El gobierno, paralizado, sólo atina a decretar el estado de sitio, que, entre otras cosas prohíbe la reunión de personas. El pueblo, en reuniones multitudinarias, responde con un «cacerolazo» generalizado, que determina la renuncia (o despido) de Domingo Cavallo. Masivas concentraciones en Plaza de Mayo y del Congreso. Las centrales sindicales anuncian paros generales.

20 de diciembre/01

RENUNCIA DE LA RUA, quien prácticamente se fugó en helicóptero de la Casa de Gobierno. LOS MUERTOS YA SON VEINTICINCO. La mayoría de éstos son jóvenes que la policía eligió como «blancos». El peronista Ramón Puerta, presidente del Senado, asume interinamente la presidencia hasta que la Asamblea Legislativa (Senadores + Diputados) designe un nuevo presidente. El peronismo (no se sabe bien qué fracción de él) otra vez en el gobierno.

22 de diciembre/01

Contra todas las hipótesis previas, el gobernador de San Luis, Adolfo Rodríguez Saa –peronista, ex menemista–, asume la Presidencia con el mandato de convocar a elecciones generales en el lapso de 60 días.

27 de diciembre/01

Como si fuera a quedarse para siempre, el presidente Rodríguez Saa anuncia enfáticamente lo siguiente:
SUSPENSION DEL PAGO DE LA DEUDA EXTERNA; creación del «Argentino», una nueva moneda que circularía juntamente con el peso; la devolución del 13 por ciento de los salarios que Cavallo le había quitado a empleados estatales y jubilados, y la derogación de la ley laboral cuya sanción se lograra mediante coimas a senadores durante el gobierno de De la Rúa. Tercera versión del «corralito».

29 de diciembre/01

GRAN CACEROLAZO EN BUENOS AIRES. ¿Motivos?: los políticos corruptos (se incluye al novísimo pres idente) y el «corralito» bancario. Por la noche, un polícia que trabajaba como custodia en un comercio mata a mansalva a tres jóvenes que en un bar veían las manifestaciones por televisión y desaprobaban la represión policial.30 de diciembre/01
RENUNCIA DEL GABINETE. Se descarta la idea del Argentino, la moneda que no fue. Bush le dice a Rodríguez Saa que «debe» negociar con el FMI. Por las dudas, el gobierno anuncia un severo ajuste en el presupuesto del 2002.

31 de diciembre/01

RENUNCIA DE RODRIGUEZ SAA. Aduce que el partido lo abandonó (¿qué parte del partido?). Su sucesor constitucional, el senador Ramón Puerta, también renuncia. Por algunas horas no hay gobierno, pero nadie se da cuenta, hasta que un ignoto diputado, Eduardo Camaño, de la provincia de Buenos Aires, asume el cargo, a fin de convocar a la Asamblea Legislativa para que ésta decida cómo sigue la historia. Los «padres de la patria» se pasan la brasa ardiente que tienen en sus manos.

2 de enero de2002.

DUHALDE PRESIDENTE. La Asamblea Legislativa lo elige para completar el mandato del renunciante De la Rúa, es decir, hasta diciembre de 2003. Es el quinto presidente en doce días. Anuncia: que el país está quebrado, que terminará con el modelo económico, que constituirá un gobierno de unidad nacional, que investigará si hubo fuga de divisas por parte de bancos y funcionarios (¿no lo sabía?) y, sobre todo que «el Estado garantizará los depósitos en la moneda en que fueron hechos» (¡ja!). Todo esto acompañado con un nuevo –y sabio– cacerolazo.

3 de enero/02

DEVALUACION. Se fija la paridad oficial de 1 peso = 1,40 dólar, pero habrá también un mercado de cambios libre. Sigue el «corralito» pero los dólares de los depositantes se alejan.

4 de enero/02

Las empresas privatizadas ponen el grito en el cielo. Pretenden que se las indemnice por la suba de sus deudas –en dólares– con los bancos y un aumento del 40 por ciento en las tarifas. El jefe de gobierno español, Aznar, reclama a Duhalde por las medidas, que afectarían a las compañías españolas de petróleo, teléfonos y electricidad.

5 de enero/02

Largo feriado bancario y cambiario por las descomunales protestas del día anterior frente a los bancos.

7 de enero/02

Ley de Emergencia Económica. Quinta versión del «corralito».

10 de enero/02

Gran cacerolazo en Plaza de Mayo y del Congreso. Sexta versión del «corralito», que extiende la devolución de los depósitos hasta el 2005.

11 de enero/02

DEBUT DEL DÓLAR «LIBRE»: 1 dólar = 1,70 pesos

14 de enero/02

Duhalde lanzó una «Mesa de diálogo» liderada por la Iglesia Católica

15 de enero/02

Pueblada en Casilda, provincia de Santa Fe, durante la que se destruyen los cinco bancos de la ciudad. En Jujuy sólo les tocó al Citibank y al Boston.

17 de enero /02

Bloquean en Suiza cuentas de Carlos Menem por 10 millones de dólares.

18 de enero/02

Protestas y cacerolazos en Santiago del Estero, Entre Ríos y Córdoba, con el saldo de muchos heridos y decenas de detenidos. Octava versión del «corralito». La jueza Servini de Cubría investiga la fuga de entre 10 a 30 millones de dólares que consiguieron «saltarlo» fugándose al exterior.

20 de enero/02

Mil vecinos de distintos barrios se reúnen en asamblea en Parque Centenario para coordinar sus actividades.

22 de enero /02

«No hay salida sin sufrimiento», dijo en Buenos Aires el titular del FMI, Horst Köhler.

23 de enero/02

Novena versión del «corralito. Uno de los banqueros de Menem, Carlos Rohm, es detenido por «subversión económica» y por favorecer la fuga al exterior de los depósitos de notorios personajes de la aristocracia y la farándula.

25 de enero/02

Otro gran cacerolazo en Buenos Aires. Miles de personas marcharon hacia la Plaza de Mayo. Al final, cuando se dispersaban por la lluvia, la policía persiguió con saña a pequeños grupos de jóvenes que se alejaban pacíficamente.

27 de enero/02

Palabras de Duhalde al preguntársele por esa persecución tan feroz e injustificada: «Entiendo el sufrimiento, pero...los países no toleran la anarquía; no caigamos en la tentación de creer que los temas se solucionan haciendo líos o barullo». Aparentemente, el periodista se calló la boca.

29 de enero/02

Gran marcha de desocupados de La Matanza (provincia de Buenos Aires) a Plaza de Mayo (30 km). En el camino se los acompañó con las cacerolas y se les ofreció comida y refrescos (el calor alcanzaba los 34º C).

English translation of report: The "crisis" in Argentina has had a lot of international attention. And, given the way things are going, this is certain to continue. But, we feel that, although there is no shortage of information, it is difficult to distinguish between truth and distortion, reliable and false accounts. It is difficult for both those outside Argentina and, to a large extent, those of us in the country as well. So, making an analysis of the Argentine phenomenon with a degree of accuracy is no longer a simple task. Facts have been affected by many historical, social, economic, cultural and political factors. This makes it impossible to understand them unless one approaches them in their entire context. But, since we need to begin somewhere, we think it is appropriate to start with our beliefs (or our "prejudices" if you prefer). It would be simplistic, and worse than inept, to try to explain the explosion of December 18 to 20, 2001 as simply a reaction against the la Rúa-Cavallo government, and its accomplices in the media, for destroying the lives of the people during the preceding weeks and months. The reaction to these hardships erupted when the ex-president, De la Rúa, decided to protect capitalist society by denying ordinary people their basic freedom by declaring a state of siege. This meant, on top of their hunger and desperation, taking away their last form of dignity: their full freedom. Even before De la Rúa finished his speech, people in the neighborhoods (whole families, including children, the elderly and the disabled) were filling the authoritarian silences with the sound of banging on empty pots, all with a single purpose. They shouted, "They should all get out, none should stay!" "What jerks, they can take this state of siege and shove it!"

The neighbors went out on the streets of the city, they challenged the executive powers at the Plaza de Mayo, and the legislature at the Plaza de los dos Congresos. To confront the political-financial powers of the banks and corporations, they filled the sidewalks of the Avenida de Mayo. In fact, the popular discontent had been uilding up for some time. Even during his administration Menem put into effect a program that was the opposite of what he had promised. Instead of salary increases he instituted decreases, which started a cycle of degradation that affected all fields of work. This showed contempt for all humane principles. In response, for many years there have been social protests in many parts of the country. Some have been peaceful, some violent. We cannot name them all here, but we can say that the protests have covered the whole country, from north to south, from La Quiaca to Tierra del Fuego, more than 4,500 kilometers apart. They have been notable for their size and the numbers of deaths at the hands of the police, especially in Neuquén, Corrientes, Salta, Ushuaia and, most recently, in the capital and surrounding areas. There the repression accounted for about thirty deaths. The protests were caused by the government's failure to pay state employees, continuous high unemployment (with levels of 25 per cent, not to mention underemployment), a shortage of medicines and supplies for hospitals, and, finally, the closing of the schools due to strikes by teachers, who had gone without pay for months. All of this was exacerbated by the general decrease in incomes in real terms, which was never officially acknowledged.

The absence of pay and public assistance are very serious in themselves. But, in addition, quite often national and provincial budget appropriations have found their way into the pockets of corrupt functionaries and their "clients." These people have acted not only as the functionaries' "shock troops," but in some places they have become dominant enough to reverse electoral decisions in favor of themselves. In one case a politician whose home had been burned during a popular rising was soon elected provincial governor in "democratic" elections. The feudalism with which whole provinces in Argentina are governed would be astonishing to a foreign observer ccustomed to the rules by which so-called democracies are judged. The same things that enabled the narcotraffickers to unite made it possible for the political mafia to come in, with the Menem-Duhalde formula, which went on to sell itself as an Argentine version of and partner with the U.S.'s Clinton administration.Because of its natural resources, its size, its extensive grasslands, forests, maritime litorals, Argentina has traditionally been considered a "potentially" rich country. The current predicament doesn't live up to this expectation. The economic policies implemented by various administrations, have benefited corporations such as Federal, Boston, HSBC, BBVA, Santander, Galicia, among many others. They have also benefited privatized and multinational enterprises. These policies, which effectively called for the destruction of the nationalized enterprises, public as well as private, have been overwhelmingly backed by elected officials from all political parties.

The situation is becoming obvious today with the case of Repsol-YPF. The Argentine state, through its corrupt executives and legislators, have appropriated the mineral resources in favor of the Spanish company, giving it incredible tax exemptions, among other benefits.From the start, only the indigenous communities where the deposits are located have defended the ecosystem, mobilizing, tying themselves to the trees to prevent the advance of crews preparing for the installation of pipelines. Fortunately, the Argentine people seem to be discarding the illusion of the value of great leaders, which is endlessly repeated in elementary textbooks. For a long time they have distrusted the election promises and those who make them. But until now they have adopted an attitude of self-centered indifference, enjoying the crumbs that the swings of policy deigned to give them. The idea of each for him/herself, consumerism, the aspiration to become a worthy bourgeois or the possibility of "living through things" seemed to be disappearing, despite the meager chances of joining the show along with the politicians and functionaries of all stripes being constantly paraded across our TV screens. Our journalists, with few exceptions, do not investigate independently, but simply follow the media company executives, who are in connivance with the political-financial powers that be.

We said that the people "seem to be awakening," but that doesn't mean we should lower our guard. There is still a strong fascist and rightwing cultural presence in Argentine society, of which the government is a faithful exponent. To a lesser extent, it is also an exponent of the authoritarian and hierarchical left. We don't think there is much room for the former tendencies, but Colonel Seineldin is trying to appear as an option for the right nationalists. The left is atomized and weakened by endless disputes, so there is no reason to expect any major contributions from it. A new development is the entry on the political scene of the Partido Autonomía y Libertad (Selfgovernment and Freedom Party), currently headed by Luis Zamora, a former leader of a strong Trotskyist group, MAS, Movimiento al Socialismo (Movement for Socialism).

The party's rhetoric appears to be strongly critical of the system. The destruction of savings through the devaluation of the urrency, and the increase in unemployment, hunger and neglect have given rise to a form of struggle in our country beyond the sphere of established politics and public life: the cacerolazos and the neighborhood assemblies. These neighborhood assemblies and their committees have been formed by the unemployed, the underemployed, and people marginalized and excluded from capitalist society: including professionals, workers, small retailers, artists, craftspeople, all of them also neighbors. Each assembly has its own characteristics, but non-delegation of power, self-management, horizontal structure and opposition to voting are libertarian socialist slogans one hears frequently. We should also point out that these neighborhood assemblies, which meet on corners in several districts of Buenos Aires (including Belgrano, San Telmo, Almagro, Caballito, among others), also hold weekly general coordinating meetings in the Parque Centenario (Centennial Park). These have become invaluable spaces for debate and deliberation, not only because of the large numbers attending, but also because of the subjects brought up and considered. The meetings are open and anyone who wishes can participate, so often one hears self-serving speeches by political or union leaders. But the attendees have learned to pick out this kind of "cooked" verbiage.As anarchists, we know that the solutions will not be "within" the system, although we should not discount the fact that with some replacements at all levels of this leadership the situation could be redirected towards the improvement of the present conditions and away from basic change.

Many people have also been demanding the removal of the Supreme Court of Justice. This is because of the court's "feats": throwing out challenges to Menem's corrupt privatizations and the bribery that facilitated them; Cavallo's "Bonex Plan" of 1992; the loosening of labor laws; the staying of suits against corrupt civil employees and, as a finishing touch, the pardoning of Menem for his decisive participation in arms trafficking, which is related to the blast at the Río Tercero powder magazine. To ake matters worse, the court's members receive exorbitant salaries that cannot be reduced according to the Constitution, and they are exempted from taxes due to a decision they themselves made.Each of our neighbor's expressions becomes a communitarian thought, charged with questions, where the presentation of questions is what counts the most, not their imagined answers. Today we can say joyfully that words and direct action have begun to coincide. There is reason to hope that all Argentinians now know for certain who has been blocking our freedoms, excluding people, forcing our relatives and friends into exile and mortgaging the future of our children and grandchildren.Today the fear in our society has turned into courage.27-28.02.2002 Updated comment on the Trotskyite type "wannabe libertarian" party, i.e. the so called "Partido Autonomía y Libertad". A new development in Argentina, is the entry on the political scene of the Partido Autonomía y Libertad, currently headed by Luis Zamora, a "former" leader of a strong Trotskyist group, MAS, Movimiento al Socialismo (Movement for Socialism).

We know very well that "one time Trotskyite, all time Trotskyite", is the probable rule, more than for any other "wannabe libertarian" fundamentalistic authoritarian marxist and leninist tendency falsely using "freedomly" rhetoric.

The party's rhetoric appears to be strongly critical of the system. The destruction of savings through the devaluation of the currency, and the increase in unemployment, hunger and neglect have given rise to a form of struggle Argentina beyond the sphere of established politics and public life: the "cacerolazos" and the neighborhood assemblies.

These neighborhood assemblies and their committees have been formed by the unemployed, the underemployed, and people marginalized and excluded from the plutarchist society: Non-delegation of power, self-management, horizontal structure and opposition to voting are libertarian socialist slogans one hears frequently. This may be very well but:

Such slogans without any real anarchist political-economical, social and industrial organizational content, including anarchist demand management based on efficiency and fairness, are however of little value. In this situation we will only remind our readers and the people of Argentina in general, that such a mess may easily be manipulated by authoritarians as the Trotskyites, and of the following: 1. the basic Trotskyite type treason, first time manifested at Kronstadt in the Russian revolution, see web-page of IJA via the AIIS links-site; 2. that the Trotskyite's, and probably P.A.L's, real aim and policy behind quasilibertarian rhetoric always is ruthless militarization of the production and all forms of life in a one-party dictatorial Orwellian type "1984" totalitarian state, probably worse than Lenin's and Stalin's, 3. to the left, not upwards, but downwards on the Economic-Political map, we have the followers of the former Soviet communist party rooted back to Lenin and his follower Trotsky, etc. The radicalist state-socialists in many countries have had a bad habit of putting up several black flags fronting their mass of red flags at demonstrations in the latest years and/or are using quasilibertarian rhetoric.

Such marxists, Trotkskyites included, posing as "libertarian" "autonomous", "anarchists", i.e. also "anarcho-syndicalists", "anarcho-bolsheviks", etc. included, are authoritarian, and sometimes terrorists or similar, and of course have no relations to the anarchist movement. This type of bad habit is not new: The echoes of the "social democrat" Lenin's marxist, tactical posing as "anarchist", talking about "anarchist's theories" in a positive way and "withering away of the state" in his book "The state and revolution" of 1917, while he and his comrades Stalin and Trotsky and other state-socialists were doing everything to create a totalitarian state and union behind the back of the people, and imprisoning and killing anarchists, are still to be heard! (see link to IAT at AIIS homepage)4. the Troskyites are authoritarian "wannabe libertarians" of the left, and thus not really fighters for autonomy and/or libertarian/anarchistic political economy, i.e.a) marxism typically is a quasi-religion/ideology and quasi-science which have one "devil", capitalism; per definition seen as the root of almost all social evils; b) liberalism is an ideology, among other things, trying to explain large income-differences, plutarchy, as fairness, "free" markets as the "wholy spirit" ruling with an "invisible hand" to the benefit for all, and statism as a "devil"; (The "divine" connection is especially outspoken in, say, Portugal, with the well known "Commercial Bank of the Holy Spirit") c) dogmatic "wannabe libertarian" or "autonomous" ideology has two "devils", capitalism and statism (more or less obscurely defined), which are seen as the roots of almost all social evils.

This is often combined with 1) a too optimistic view of man without "the two devils", being 2) very "anticapitalist", "antistatist" and/or "antiauthoritarian", i.e. rabid anti- but 3) only dreams for, say, "ideas" more or less about "an idle life with love, peace, wealth and freedom and everything for free". That is 4. with no real scientifical, realistic, constructive organization theory of alternatives for life without statism and plutarchy, i.e. significant; - just vague arch-optimistic utopian radicalist ideas, and 5) sometimes guru-hierarchical organizations, loose movements and/or blocs/blocks included, lead by symbolistical "tåkefyrster" , i.e. "fogarchs" with 6) more or less militant hate against the "two Satans" and destructive, also being 7) irrationally optimistic about own strength, totally underestimating the powers of the armed and other forces of their "devils" and 8) the problems with organization based on socialism and autonomy, sometimes trying to implement their "dreams" not by own work, but by occupations, theft, robbery, cheating on welfare, as "free riders", a.s.o., i.e. in reality capitalistic and/or statist, ochlarchy/terrorism included, on small or large scale; and 9) overestimating the possible popular support and participation for such a quasilibertarian and/or direct reactionary, unrealistic policy; etc. "Tåkefyrster" , i.e. "fogarchs", that have vague, obscure ideas and unrealistical "workfree" dreams about the alternative future, often postponing it to a far future, and are great at uniting people against one or two "devils" of the establishment, say, doing "class war", but such movements in practice only are repeating plutarchy and/or statism, and thus may be semilibertarian or more or less authoritarian, - marxism, populism/fascism or liberalism, but not anarchistic.

At best such people are semilibertarian marxistical to the left, individualistic liberalists to the right, or "populist light", at worst they are more than 67% authoritarian, dogmatic, intolerant, totalitarian, terroristic, fundamentalists, etc. In reality they are never located in the anarchist quadrant on the Economical-Political Map, despite of their (quasi-) libertarian rhetoric. A typical example is "van der Lubbe-ism", named after a marxist council communist utopian radicalist, probably burning down the parliament building in Berlin 1933, only serving authoritarian tendencies (nazism/fascism and marxist-leninism), and thus acting like a "useful" idiot of Lenin (and Hitler). The marxist-lubbeism is not very far from the marxist-leninism of the German terrorist organization "Baader-Meinhof", RAF - Rote Armé Fraktion - Red Army Faction, - on the economical-political map, and both are far from anarchism on it. And RAF is not so far from the neonazis who again are not so far from the "libertarian" "Freihetliches" party of Jürg Haider in Austria. Say, a (former?) RAF-member in Germany joined the neonazis and supported the al-Qaeda terrorists, who attacked both Pentagon (symbol of the state) and World Trade Center (symbol of capitalism) in 2001. The American "FC55 -Unabomber" and his arch-primitivist followers are also in the same nest broadly defined, and they are not so far from the brown and blue "antigovernment" Oklahoma-bombers, and the Swedish "Olympiabomber".

All these political groups and tendencies are more than 67% authoritarian on the economical-political map, ideologically and/or in practice, spread not far from the bottom of the E.P. map from the left to the right respectively; Osama bin Laden's and "Doctor Dead" Ayman al-Zawahiri's, RAF, FC-55, Oklahoma and Olympia bombers' aims in ideological manifestos may be "anti-capitalist", "anti-imperialist", anti-globalisation" and/or "anti-state", "anti-goverment" or "anti-authoritarian" with more or less "good intentions", but this is not relevant. The real aim is always the consequences of the means that are used, and nothing else, and "wannabe libertarians" never take that significant into account. That's why they are "wannabes" - and never libertarians, i.e. anarchists. Marx himself was also quite a quasiscientifical "fogarch" as well as Trotsky and his followers.d) anarchism has no religion/ideology, and no devils, but look scientifically and critically on the matter and different cases, having capitalism and statism as possible working hypothesis for evils in the society, but also look on other items, proportional to realities, trying to be as objective as possible. The most of the analysis is about realistic alternatives, a scientifical social organization theory for life without statism and plutarchy, i.e. significant; - for autonomy and socialism, not rabid "anti-....", and with realistic strategies and tactics. Furthermore, anarchism take fully into account that the real aim is always the consequences of the means that are used, and nothing else.No anarchist would suggest that these and similar marxistoid, Trotskyite "libertarians" should be taken seriously as libertarian, i.e. anarchists!

XXXIII. Updated figures and new scenarios of anarchist economics. Duhalde continues on the wrong track. Protest marches. More comments. Brown Card to La prensa. More riots. Unemployed marching. No to marxist-lubbeism. Hike demand to hike employment

First we must remind our readers about what is indicated above, that Argentina is not bankrupt in real terms. It is a quite resourceful country, i.e. much real capital, with an approximately optimal size of the population. What is "bankrupt" is just the present populist-mercantilistic system, the bureaucray broadly defined has been looting the people, the foreigners and the future to such an extent that it is not working anymore at all. There is a 140-150 billion US $ foreign debt . Usually this must be paid back through exportsurplus, but it is alternatively possible to do away with the debt by public buying of some of the natural resources/real capital, financed by printing fresh pesos, by taxation or expropriations, or a combination, and then sell these natural resources/real capital to foreigners for US $, and pay back the foreign debt, and/or sell out some already public property in the same way. Thus, the so called Argentinan "crisis" is just a system fault, not a real economical problem, as, say, the problems in Afghanistan and Palestina. The whole "problem" is mainly due to monetarist money-illusions and the corrupt, bureaucratic, almost totally inefficient and unfair economic-political system in Argentina. One, floating exchange rate, is one step towards an improvement, but may also have reactionary consequences, if not combined with the rest of the anarchist economical-political plan.

The price hike on bread, pasta, oil and other basic food products is now about 30% and increasing. The government's aim at about 15% inflation from 2001 to 2002, seems a bit unrealistic, but we may use this as a lowest inflation case in our scenarios. Furthermore the now about 22 % officially registered unemployment is probably just a tip of the iceberg. Thus the labor force may increase a bit if /when total demand is hiked towards full employment. Thus we may analyse the following scenarios for approximately full employement by demand management:

1. The "official" (not very realistic) scenario, 15% inflation, 23% employment hike and 2% productivity hike etc, indicating the following necessary demand hike:
Demand hike = 15% + 23% + 2% = 40%, i.e. => 40% increase in nominal net national product.

2. A moderate alternative, based on the already registrated tendencies, 30% inflation, say, 28% employment hike and 2 % productivity hike:
Demand hike = 30% + 28% + 2% = 60% i.e => 60% increase in nominal net national product

3. A likely alternative, based on 50% inflation, 28% employement hike and 2 % productivity hike etc.:
Demand hike = 50% + 28% + 2% = 80% => 80% increase in nominal net national product

4. A moderate hyperinflation alternative, if demand is hiked with too much printing fresh pesos, - 70% inflation, 28% employement hike and 2% productivity hike etc: Demand hike = 70% + 28% + 2% = 100% => 100% increase in nominal net national product, i .e. two times the 2001 net national product.

If a demand hike is financed mainly by printing fresh pesos, a hyperinflation - stagflation spiral may happen, the unemployment problem will increase, and inflation may perhaps be as much as 500-1000%. This will not happen if the anarchist economical plan is approximately implemented, but may very well happen if the bureaucracy economical looting-policy is still going to rule. This will probably also make the poor even more poor.Thus, Duhaldes policy and "plans" so far are no solution.An approximation towards the anarchist economical plan is a must for a positive solution in Argentina. The scenarios 1-4 above indicate a quite dramatical change of redistribution of income, hike of wages for the poor, taxation of the rich, expropriation, credits, a public deficit, semipublic investment banks, etc. to give the necessary demand hike to do away with the unemployment in a fair and efficient way, based on free contracts - not slavecontracts, etc.; in short progressive anarchist economics,... the anarchists say: "A joint action from the labor unions and the more progressive political organizations, the libertarian included, the people's movements in general, and the media, to put pressure on the government, or perhaps replace the present system with a new, to get a movement compatible with the anarchist economical plan, seems to be necessary...." In a television interview late Tuesday 12.02.2002, Duhalde put a brave face on the daily protests against the cash crunch and growing unemployment, saying: "It's ridiculous to believe a president will step down because of protests. I'm even less likely to step down if the crisis gets worse." Attributing his determination to his Basque roots, the stocky former vice president from the Peronist Party promised that within "two months these things that bother people like roadblocks will disappear and things will calm down.

" That depends among other things on the economical policy!"... the anarchists say.13.02.2002: The Argentinian government has had talks with the IMF, but no deal is done so far. The peso has strengthened from its lows right after devaluation to close on Wednesday at 1.95 to the dollar on the retail market and 1.98 for large-scale deals. But traders agree the relative stability is due to the cash crunch rather than any newfound faith in the peso from people who have always stashed away their savings in U.S. dollars. Another reason may be that with the economy so depressed, there simply is not enough money in circulation to create a run on the currency. Argentines' savings are still restricted by limits on cash withdrawals, imposed to stop a record run on banks last year. Since the public sector and local businesses have no access to credit, many shops and factories have been forced to close, driving up unemployment.While prices on imported goods rise, fueling fears of a return to the hyperinflation of the 1980s, barter markets offering goods and services from food to plumbing have spread. Bankers say Argentina has a month to secure foreign aid before it falls into the grip of hyperinflation. January's 2.3 percent rise in consumer prices in a country accustomed to zero inflation for years and mindful of the daily and even hourly price rises seen back in the 1980s, showed how panic-inducing a real bout of hyperinflation would be.

14.02.2002: " The new 20% taxation on oil export, cut in public spending, and more loans from IMF, plus a general price hike, will contribute to cut demand even more, and increase unemployment and the problems in general!", - the anarchists say: "Duhalde continues on the wrong track!" For the past three days exchange houses in Buenos Aires have been the scene of long queues, with many ordinary Argentines lining up under a hot sun to carry out currency transactions. Elsewhere in the capital and around the country protest marches by various groups have been continuing, with savers demanding access to their money and teachers demanding that their salaries be paid. German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said that troubled Argentina needs to present a viable economic and political reform program to win aid from the International Monetary Fund. Schroeder, who met with Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso on Thursday and later in the day will travel to Argentina, said Buenos Aires needs to come up with a credible plan to haul itself out of financial crisis and to demonstrate that it has the political will to implement it. Provided that is done, the "IMF should help Argentina to help itself," Schroeder said at a joint news conference with Cardoso. "Argentina needs a well-calculated and viable reform program," he said. Schroeder said bilateral aid from Germany to help Argentina was not under discussion and that aid for Latin America's No. 3 economy was an issue for the IMF. German government sources traveling with Schroeder say that a program presented by Argentina to the IMF is pointing in the right direction but it is not ambitious enough. One question yet to be addressed is full reform of the banking system and a guarantee of economic growth, they say. "This should be a reasonable implemention of the anarchist economical plan", the anarchists say, -"and it should be more of a small revolution than a reform. Furthermore, Germany, with ca 8-10% registrated unemployment and huge bureaucracy costs is perhaps not the right country to talk loud in this matter..."

A U.S. official working on Duhalde's request about more borrowing from IMF said it would not be surprising if Argentina has to change the assumptions made in its budget. Newspapers in Buenos Aires reported on Thursday that the IMF had demanded large spending cuts in the proposed budget during the Washington meetings. "With respect to changing assumptions, any time you're putting together a budget...assumptions change," he said. "It's always a question of how frequently you need to update them and I'm sure they'll be updating the assumptions...just like any other country would." The United States is urging Argentina to treat all investors fairly when deciding how to deal with recent changes to its exchange rate. Several major U.S. companies and banks have large investments in Argentina and, fearing violation of property rights, have asked the U.S. Treasury to try and ensure their interests are protected. "What we're doing now is trying to indicate to Argentina they need to treat all investors fairly so there is no discrepancy in any of these matters," he said. He repeated that Treasury has lawyers looking at investment treaties to see whether any rights have been violated.

15.02.2002: "The USA seems to be afraid of more looting of foreigners from the upper classes of Argentina", the anarchists say: "Furthermore, USA with enronomical plutarchy in the economical and political spheres is perhaps not the right country to talk loud in this case. It's about time to change the chaotic bureaucratic populist looting system of Duhalde to something more fair and efficient. i.e. towards anarchist economics! The plutarchical bureaucratic looting of the people, the future and the foreigners must soon be brought to and end!"15-16. 02 2002: Argentine Central Bank Governor Mario Blejer said on Friday the government plans next week to ease some of the harsh restrictions on bank withdrawals to allow people to make large purchases such as homes or cars. He credited the relatively calm performance of the peso in its first week as a freely floated currency, saying it gave the government the ability to lift some of the onerous limits on bank withdrawals. "We will allow the transfer of deposits from individual to individual for the purchase of houses or cars or other registerable assets," Blejer told Wall Street analysts and investors at an Americas Society meeting here. The central bank governor said the new measures may take effect early next week. Argentina in December imposed draconian banking restrictions, limiting the size of cash withdrawals from consumer bank accounts in a desperate and ultimately failed bid to prop up the peso's peg to the U.S. dollar. Blejer, on his first visit to Wall Street since taking office less than a month ago, said the flotation of the peso had gone relatively well, with the currency defying predictions of a sharp slide. "We were very concerned about how the beginning of the foreign exchange markets will be. We are very pleased with the way this has happened. There was a thin market, it is true, but it was a very peaceful beginning. But he acknowledged that one reason the peso had been stable around 2 per dollar was because people do not have full access to their money.

He said Argentina had to ease bank restrictions cautiously to make sure the peso will not tumble."If you have to float, it is much better to go slowly than to jump into the unknown," he said. Blejer noted that the peso's full float came on the same day that the government allowed Argentines to fully withdraw current wages from the banks. "People did not take the money and run to buy foreign exchange ... This could be a good indication we may be able to liberalize more and faster," he said. A sharp fall in the peso would greatly increase the pain of those who must repay dollar-denominated debt with a devalued currency. Blejer reiterated that one of the country's goals is to find a way to convert dollar-denominated debt into pesos. "The intention of the Argentine government is to "peso-fy" the economy, to de-dollarize,", Blejer said. He said Argentina wants to de-dollarize some of its own debt issued by provinces or the centrial government, but gave no further details. Blejer said the central bank, which did not have to bother with setting monetary policy for the past decade when the peso was tied one-for-one to the dollar, lacked many of the tools to effectively manage monetary policy. He said the central bank would not adopt inflation targeting this year because it and the broader banking system lacked the institutional capability to do so. He said the central bank was trying to find a way to introduce overnight peso bills so that the bank will have the tools to conduct open-market operations, a key instrument in day-to-day monetary policy.Given the limited range of tools available to control the money supply, Blejer said the central bank would mainly rely on controlling the amount of pesos it would print and inject into the system.

He said the government would limit peso issuance to 3.5 billion pesos this year, an amount he said would not stoke inflation beyond price rises expected following the peso's devaluation. He said the 3.5 billion pesos would be divided between financing the public sector and providing support to the banks. Blejer also expressed concern over the proliferation of multiple currencies in the form of bonds issued by the provinces, and he said the central bank would work hard to make sure they do not dilute the bank's monetary targets.16.02.2002 "This is far from sufficient measures to do away with the unemployment in a fair and efficient way", the anarchists say. 15.02.2002: The German Chancellor, Gerhard Schroeder, has called on the International Monetary Fund to begin releasing financial aid to Argentina. Speaking in Buenos Aires following a meeting with the Argentine President, Eduardo Duhalde, Mr Schroeder said the money should be released gradually at the same time as Argentina carried out economic reforms. Correspondents say his comments mark a departure from the position of the IMF, which has told Argentina that there will be no money until the government puts its finances in order. Mr Schroeder later met German relatives of those who were killed or disappeared in Argentina during the period of military rule. Argentina is the final leg of a Latin American tour by Mr Schroeder, who also stopped in Mexico and Brazil. The Anarchist International Embassy sent a note summarizing the anarchist plan to embassies, the media etc. world wide, also commenting the situation:

THE NEW SITUATION IN ARGENTINA: The AIE reports about the new anarchist economical recovery plan for Argentina including scenarios and comments, and a full overview of the situation so far, from THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ANARCHISM NO 6 (31) updated - including reports from F.O.R.A. & F.L.A., the syndicalists & anarchists in Argentina: I. The last news and comments & II. The new plan and updated scenarios: I. The last news and comments 08-15.02.2002 The protests continue! The people fear inflation! Down towards 60% devaluation! Report and summary from F.L.A., in Spanish. Updated figures and new scenarios of anarchist economics.

Duhalde continues on the wrong track. Protest marches! Germany, USA, IMF and the anarchists have something to say about the chaotic populist looting system of Duhalde. "The USA seems to be afraid of more looting of foreigners from the upper classes of Argentina", the anarchists say: "It's about time to change the chaotic bureaucratic populist looting system of Duhalde to something more fair and efficient. i.e. towards anarchist economics! The plutarchical bureaucratic looting of the people, the future and the foreigners must soon be brought to and end!" II. The new plan and updated scenariosFirst we must remind you that Argentina is not bankrupt in real terms. It is a quite resourceful country, i.e. much real capital, with an approximately optimal size of the population. What is "bankrupt" is just the present populist-mercantilistic system, the bureaucray broadly defined has been looting the people, the foreigners and the future to such an extent that it is not working anymore at all. There is a 140-150 billion US $ foreign debt . Usually this must be paid back through exportsurplus, but it is alternatively possible to do away with the debt by public buying of some of the natural resources/real capital, financed by printing fresh pesos, by taxation or expropriations, or a combination, and then sell these natural resources/real capital to foreigners for US $, and pay back the foreign debt, and/or sell out some already public property in the same way. Thus, the so called Argentinan "crisis" is just a system fault, not a real economical problem, as, say, the problems in Afghanistan and Palestina. The whole "problem" is mainly due to monetarist money-illusions and the corrupt, bureaucratic, almost totally inefficient and unfair economic-political system in Argentina. One, floating exchange rate, is one step towards an improvement, but may also have reactionary consequences, if not combined with the rest of the anarchist economical-political plan.

The price hike on bread, pasta, oil and other basic food products is now about 30% and increasing. The government's aim at about 15% inflation from 2001 to 2002, seems a bit unrealistic, but the we may use this as a lowest inflation case in our scenarios. Furthermore the now about 22 % officially registered unemployment is probably just a tip of the iceberg. Thus the labor force may increase a bit if /when total demand is hiked towards full employment. Thus we may analyse the following scenarios for approximately full employment by demand management:

1. The "official" (not very realistic) scenario, 15% inflation, 23% employment hike and 2% productivity hike etc, indicating the following necessary demand hike:
Demand hike = 15% + 23% + 2% = 40%, i.e. => 40% increase in nominal net national product.

2. A moderate alternative, based on the already registrated tendencies, 30% inflation, say, 28% employment hike and 2 % productivity hike:
Demand hike = 30% + 28% + 2% = 60% i.e => 60% increase in nominal net national product

3. A likely alternative, based on 50% inflation, 28% employement hike and 2 % productivity hike etc.:
Demand hike = 50% + 28% + 2% = 80% => 80% increase in nominal net national product

4. A moderate hyperinflation alternative, if demand is hiked with too much printing fresh pesos, - 70% inflation, 28% employement hike and 2% productivity hike etc: Demand hike = 70% + 28% + 2% = 100% => 100% increase in nominal net national product, i .e. two times the 2001 net national product. If a demand hike is financed mainly by printing fresh pesos, a hyperinflation - stagflation spiral may happen, the unemployment problem will increase, and inflation may perhaps be as much as 500 - 1000%.

This will not happen if the anarchist economical plan is approximately implemented, but may very well happen if the bureaucracy economical looting-policy is still going to rule. This will probably also make the poor even more poor.Thus, Duhaldes policy and "plans" so far are no solution.An approximation towards the anarchist economical plan is a must for a positive solution in Argentina. The scenarios 1-4 above indicate a quite dramatical change of redistribution of income, hike of wages for the poor, taxation of the rich, expropriation, credits, a public deficit, semipublic investment banks,etc. to give the necessary demand hike to do away with the unemployment in a fair and efficient way, based on free contracts - not slavecontracts etc.; in short progressive anarchist economics,... the anarchists say: "A joint action from the labor unions and the more progressive political organizations, the libertarian included, the people's movements in general, and the media, to put pressure on the government, or perhaps replace the present system with a new, to get a movement compatible with the anarchist economical plan, seems to be necessary...." Furthermore of the mentioned demand hikes a large part should go to investments, both domestic real investment to create new jobs, and financial, i.e. through an exportsurplus, to stop an increase or reduce, the foreign debt. Total demand, i.e. the general budget, is real investment plus consumption and exportsurplus. The mentioned hike in total demand could be devided with ca 1/3 on each post on the general budget, and most of the consumption hike should go to the poor, i.e. the new employment should not be with slavecontracts, but free contracts. The Peso must also be devaluated more, ca 70% vis-à-vis US $.

Horst Koehler, managing director of the IMF, urged Argentine authorities to develop a comprehensive and coherent economic strategy. The anarchist plan is just such an economical strategy, and they have also indicated ways to implement it, i.e. through expropriation, property tax, redistribution of income, semipublic investment banks, and the free contracts, autogestion, etc. IMF, Duhalde, and most of the Argentinian labor unions have not come up with anything serious compared to the anarchists. More details of the plan and the basical anarchist economical laws, are mentioned in IJ@ 6(31). Click on URL http://www.anarchy.no and then the rollebanner of International Journal of Anarchism, if you are interested in seeing more of it. See also: 1. The system theory of anarchist political economy and social organization research at URL http://www.anarchy.no/a_e_p_m.html. 2. The general theory of anarchist economics at URL http://www.anarchy.no/aneco1.html 3. The anarchist class analysis, i.e. economic-political sociology and industrial organization research, at URL http://www.anarchy.no/klasse.html for a theoretical update. Cordially .... C. d'a. A. Quist for AIE

16-7.02.2002. IAT REPORTS ABOUT CHAOS AND OCHLARCHY IN ARGENTINA - NOT ANARCHY - BROWN CARDS TO DUHALDE, BBC AND LA PRENSA20.12.2002: BROWN CARD WARNING FROM IAT-APT: Some of the international newsmedia have called the present riots and ochlarchical situation in Argentina "anarchy", or close to "anarchy". This polyarchical, chaotic situation has however more than 67% authoritarian degree on the Economical Political Map, and thus far from anarchy, i.e. less than 50% authoritarian degree. The International Anarchist Tribunal reacts immediately to this authoritarian mix of anarchy and chaos. Anyone who calls this chaotic situation "anarchy" may receive a Brown Card from the tribunal. A chaotic mix of polyarchy, ochlarchy and plutarchy, rivaling "states within the state" have nothing to do with anarchy or anarchism.04.01.2002: BBC calls the ochlarchy and chaos in Argentina "anarchy", and thus gets the first "Brown Card" from IAT in this case. 16.01.2002 BBC reports about Duhalde calling the populists' selfmade economical chaos "anarchy", indirectly calling for an "arch", i.e. strong rule and dictatorship, and Duhalde gets a Brown Card from the IAT, together with BBC, which joins in this false song. BBC says Argentina is on "the brink of anarchy".

The fact is that it has never been more far from anarchy since the "dirty war". The media should stop making such disinformation. Call it what it is, i.e. an authoritarian populist chaos and ochlarchy, etc., not anarchy, which is the quite opposite. 16-7.02.2002 Brown Card to La Prensa in Argentina from IAT. The International Anarchist Tribunal - The Anarchist Press Tribunal - International Branch, shows the Argentinian newspaper "La Prensa" the Brown Card for mixing up anarchy and ochlarchy (mob rule) in Argentina, wrongly calling the trace of mob rule for "Postcard of Anarchy", i.e. "Postal de la anarquía : Con martillos y herramientas, ahorristas enfurecidos procuraron abatir las gruesas defensas de la Casa Central del Citibank, en la City. Los desocupados cortaron calles en el Gran Buenos Aires y en el interior. En Santa Fe invadieron la sede municipal. En Dock Sud fue liberado el acceso a la planta del Polo Petroquímico, impedido por piqueteros y que amenazaba el suministro de combustible a las estaciones de servicio." Mob rule(rs) - ochlarchy - is quite the opposite of anarchy - (management) without rule(rs). Newspapers etc. spreading such authoritarian disinformation, in a severe case or several times, get the Brown Card, according to the Oslo Convention of 1990.The authoritarian, brown, strategy of making chaos, falsely rename it anarchy and call for the arch, "the strong man", is well known. Anarchists wan't have any of that! (See more information from/about the IAT by clicking the link for "The Int. Anarchist Tribunal" at the AIIS-homepage: http://www.anarchy.no )17.02.2002: OAXACA, Mexico, - Argentina's plan to revive its economy could succeed although the country will sink into a deep recession this year, the World Bank's chief economist for Latin America and the Caribbean told Reuters.

Guillermo Perry said the crippling crisis that has sent the Argentine economy into a tailspin will also drag down average growth rates across Latin America in 2002 to between 1 percent and 2 percent. Without Argentina, growth would average 2percent. "The cost of the Argentine crisis is fairly heavy, there will be a deep recession (in Argentina) this year and the new economic plan that is coming together has very strong possibilities of succeeding," Perry said in a weekend interview. Argentina is going through a profound economic crisis that has already forced it to default on its debt and ditch its currency regime that pegged the Argentine peso one-for-one with the dollar. Two weeks ago, South America's second-largest economy unveiled its new economic plan, fully floating the peso and partially lifting a savings freeze that had sparked protests across the country. "Now there is a clear and defined direction that is workable," Perry said. "If (Argentina) comes out of this well and if confidence returns in the future among Argentines with their bank deposits, there will be a more flexible Argentina, although this year is going to be tough."

Perry was interviewed on the sidelines of a two-day conference in this colonial city southeast of Mexico City, on emerging market economies, organized by the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and Mexico's Finance Ministry. Economists and analysts expect Argentina's economy, which has floundered for four years between stagnation and recession, will shrink again in 2002 some 6.0 percent to 10.0 percent. "Right now the main topic is how to rebuild the solvency of the financial system ... and how to rebuild completely a system of payments," Perry said. Argentina's Economy Minister Jorge Remes Lenicov led a two-day visit to Washington last week and successfully defrosted relations with international lenders, which he hopes will turn into a much-needed cash injection. Argentina already has a $22 billion loan program with the IMF but it was frozen in December after the country missed a set of stringent fiscal targets. More than $8 billion remains in that program. But given that the government and economic circumstances in Argentina have changed, the program must be reworked or completely rewritten before any more money can be withdrawn, or new money lent. Perry said the Argentine recession would drag down economic growth across Latin America in 2002. "It is difficult to hazard a number (for growth in Latin America) at this moment," Perry said. "My estimate this year is for between 1 and 2 percent, taking Argentina out of the equation, it would be 2 percent. In coming weeks, an IMF mission was expected to travel to Buenos Aires to start formal talks about the new economic program, although Perry said it was premature to talk about possible amounts of cash help that could be disbursed. "There have been some announcements from multilateral entities to the affect that once there is a complete plan, once there is clarity on how external borrowings will work ... at that moment I believe there would be a clear willingness to support the process," Perry said."Now, in terms of how much, it is very premature to think about that," he added. Argentina's Deputy Economy Minister Jorge Todesca said recently that the country needed $22 billion to $23 billion in financial aid to enable the economy recover.

18.02.2002: The anarchists say the talk of Perry, and not to mention Todesca, are just vague talks, and nothing else. "The financial system is in itself not at all important. It is the real economy that is important, not the financial. A plan not starting with the real economics, and continuing to deal with the real economy, is not a real economical plan! No real plan without progressive anarchist economics". To put it frankly Guillermo Perry sounds incompetent! Argentine industrial production fell a seasonally adjusted 18 percent in January, compared with the same month a year earlier, according to preliminary figures issued by the Economy Ministry on Monday. Hundreds of Argentines angry over a freeze of their bank deposits smashed banks' windows with hammers and rolling pins and pounded on their doors on Monday as the government struggled to halt snowballing inflation. Protesters cut off traffic and spray-painted "Gangsters!" on banks' boarded-up walls in an unusually intense version of now daily demonstrations against the emergency freeze, decreed by the government to keep Argentina's brittle financial system from collapsing during a chaotic four-year recession. Exchange houses in Buenos Aires' financial district beefed up their security, fearing a repeat of the December riots that killed ca 27 and helped topple two presidents as Argentina's increasingly militant and frustrated middle class lashes out. "We feel ripped off because we're not the owners of our own savings," said Eduardo, 54, a former machinery operator, his voice barely audible as many banged on pots and pans in noisy protest. "We are all honorable, working people, but the injustice of all this enrages us."

With price mark-ups on bread and even treasured local beef stoking the weary public's anger further after last month's devaluation, President Eduardo Duhalde's government met with oil companies to prevent a dreaded rise in fuel prices. The companies say they must raise prices to compensate for the cash-strapped government's recent decision to levy a new tax on fuel exports, but Duhalde said he would try to secure a promise from the companies not to pass on costs to consumers. "I let the oil companies know that for a long time they had huge earnings and under no circumstances are we going to allow increases in fuel prices like Argentina's newspapers say," Duhalde told reporters. Analysts say Duhalde risks being booted out like his predecessors unless he can prevent rampant inflation, which looms as the latest in a series of disasters amid a recession that has left a third of Argentina's 36 million people in poverty and over 20 percent unemployed. Just a dozen blocks away from where protesters slashed the tires of an armored car carrying banknotes, about 1,500 people lined up outside Buenos Aires' main courthouse to try and recover their frozen savings by filing lawsuits. A previous government slapped the curbs on deposits in December to halt a crippling run on banks, but the restrictions have suffocated already moribund consumer spending, dried up tax revenues and sparked ceaseless public outrage. Duhalde has since tried to ease the restrictions but is caged in by the fragility of banks, which economists and ratings agencies say are insolvent, and the need to keep liquidity low to prevent a massive depreciation of the peso.

19.02.2002 The anarchists are warning Duhalde! " Generally speaking mercantilistic import and export taxes/regulations are usually bad bureaucracy economics. Just cut the export tax on oil, find another way to get a public part of the oil-profits (say, look to Norway), mainly tax the plutarchs instead, and begin with the anarchist economical plan in general," the anarchists say, " - if not - the worst case stagflation-hyperinflation scenario may more and more become a reality. The time is running - tick - tick - tick...!"Every day in depressed Argentina, students, grandmothers and unemployed truck drivers alike flood city streets to ask for "the impossible". Hundreds gather outside insolvent banks to demand the return of deposits that no longer exist, not even on paper. Others bang on pots and pans in front of Congress, screaming that all the country's politicians should just go away. The vast majority of demonstrators grudgingly admit their cause is probably hopeless. But they still feel strength. Many say the only time they feel able to change their corrupt, decaying country is on the streets. "Am I supposed to just stand here and watch while my country goes to hell?" asked Luisa, a 62-year-old housewife with diamond earrings, as she and others gathered for a protest against banks on Tuesday. "All we can do is march," she added, declining to give her last name as she eyed a line of police across the street from the protest. Anger over a devastating freeze of bank deposits, put in place by the government to keep the financial system from collapsing, has sent entire families streaming out of their houses well after midnight. Fathers whisper to their school-age children they are there for the good of the country. Almost all agree this year will be even worse than the last, with record unemployment set to soar above 22 percent no matter what measures are taken.

The same protesters who demand the resignation of new President Eduardo Duhalde doubt anyone better is around to replace him. But a burning notion that, somehow, the power in Argentina has shifted away from the "political class" and into the hands of the masses has made strange bedfellows out of many in a country that for decades was bitterly divided along class and ideological lines. "Some people say the protests are not constructive, but I think they accomplish a lot," said Diego, a 31-year-old truck driver who came to one of Buenos Aires' poshest neighborhoods to join the protest. "The people feel united, and together we're strong. That is a change for the better." Many have gathered outside the Supreme Court, widely seen as partisan and corrupt, to clamor for the judges to resign, only to later file lawsuits to try and force banks to return their deposits. One man briefly threatened to hang himself from a court building on Tuesday unless his pleas were heard. Observers say the protesters' demands may be unrealistic, but their daily presence is a welcome form of catharsis. "People are making their presence felt," said James Neilson, a political analyst. "They're saying: 'We're here. We exist.' They feel they're fighting, doing something. It may be a totally irrational feeling, but it's enough for some." "Just to march in the street will of course in itself not bringing something new about, but it may be a signal, say, to the parliament, Duhalde and/or the labor federations, do something according to the anarchist economical plan," the anarchists say.20.02.2002: Thousands of unemployed Argentines chanted "We want jobs!" outside Congress on Wednesday, turning up the heat on the government as it fought to keep inflation from tumbling the economy into even deeper chaos. President Eduardo Duhalde warned he would not allow a repeat of deadly riots that helped topple two previous leaders in December, but turnout at the protests was lower than some had expected and no violence was reported by police. In an effort to prevent a return to once-rampant hyperinflation, Duhalde promised to battle rising fuel costs and reverse the peso's slide of 55 percent against the U.S. dollar since a decade-old currency peg snapped last month.

But with a hated freeze on bank deposits suffocating consumer spending and unemployment soaring above 20 percent, many Argentines demanded change by taking to the streets in what have become daily nationwide street protests. "Enough poverty and enough Duhalde!" screamed a woman into a microphone at the rally at Congress as protesters prevented planned legislative debate of an austere 2002 budget, a key condition for international aid. "All the politicians are corrupt and they should all go," she shouted. With recent polls showing more Argentines disapprove of his leadership than support it, Duhalde must fight a battle on many fronts against insolvent banks, price rises in basic goods, a steadily depreciating currency and bubbling social unrest. Tempers frayed at a line stretched more than a mile (1.5 km) long outside one court in Buenos Aires as hundreds of angry savers and their lawyers hurried to file lawsuits to try to force banks to return their deposits. Other savers simply banged their fists on the rails and sheets of metal that are now commonly used to protect banks from daily protests. Duhalde said he would "restore order" if protests got out of hand. Police have made a habit of standing batons in hand on the sidelines at protests, but rarely intervene out of fear of sparking further violence. After some downtown banks had their windows smashed in widespread demonstrations earlier this week, some banks told their workers to dress casually on Wednesday so as not to stand out and risk attacks by angry savers. "The people's plight is understandable, but what I understand less is when they start committing acts of violence," Duhalde told local radio. "A country can't live without a minimal amount of order." Duhalde also told local television his government aimed to strengthen the sliding peso to between 1.60 and 1.70 pesos per U.S. dollar from current levels of about 2.20. Argentina's economy has descended into what Duhalde admits is an all-out depression. Political and financial analysts widely agree that Duhalde, appointed by Congress last month to finish De la Rua's aborted term until 2003, could be forced to call early elections if he cannot control inflation or find a way to ease the suffocating deposit freeze in place to halt a run on banks. trusted the bank with my money because I can't trust the government, but now I can't trust either of them," said Anjelica, a 40-year-old woman who declined to give her last name.

"They are robbing my children's future." Duhalde told oil companies he would not tolerate rises in fuel prices, which have already been raised in some service stations by about 5 percent. Few things scare Argentines as much as the prospect of a return to hyperinflation, which reached 5,000 percent in 1989. Bankers say consumer prices, up 2.2 percent so far in February, will soar soon unless the government can secure billions of dollars in aid from the International Monetary Fund. Energy companies say they must raise prices to compensate for the traumatic currency devaluation and a hefty new tax on fuel exports denting their bottom lines. "It seems fair to me that those who earned so much money for so much time should understand that with the country in crisis, the moment comes where they will have to lose a little," Duhalde said. Analysts doubted, however, if Duhalde actually wielded any power to prevent fuel price rises. "We do not expect the government to do anything about the price hike like freezing prices," said a report from Wall Street think-tank IDEAGlobal. "Keep in mind the (IMF) ... will not endorse interventionist policies, and since Duhalde needs cash, he will not rock the boat. At least not yet." 21.02.1002: "There are reports about radicalist utopian marxist-lubbeists planning "molotov-coctail-parties" in Argentina. There must be no popular support for such "useful" idiots of authoritarians, marxists and fascists alike", say the anarchists:"It's time for anarchist demand management to hike employment!"

XXXIV. Discussions at the parliament, economical data, more protests and more anarchist comments

21.92.2002: BUENOS AIRES, - As protests continued in the streets outside, Argentine lawmakers dragged their feet on Thursday in the debate over steep budget cuts despite the president's insistence that they were the only way to snare desperately needed IMF aid. Lower house deputies said they planned to begin the oft-delayed debate on Thursday of a 2002 budget bill that some economists criticized as a "pipe dream" with only a fraction of the spending cuts that will eventually be needed. Meanwhile, in the latest chapter of Argentina's long, mostly futile battle to rein in the free spending that helped land it in financial crisis, President Eduardo Duhalde struggled to get provincial governors, who mostly hail from the president's own divided Peronist Party, to accept a reduction in the amount of federal tax revenues they receive each month. "Cuttig public spending will probably reduce total demand, the anarchists say; "Keep the public deficit, get rid of the "dead meat" bureaucracry and unproductive frontline service workers, and do some more public services for the people, say, education, healthcare, daycare, etc. "It is just amazing how the politicians fail to get the damned point," said Alberto Bernal, an economist for think tank IDEAglobal in New York. "They don't want to accept that the problem of fiscal accounts is due to corruption and the state being several times bigger than it needs to be." "It is not really the size of the public sector being the problem, i.e. the amount of public spending/demand, - the problem is the money are used on "dead meat", the anarchists say.

Approval of a realistic budget is a key condition for fresh aid from the International Monetary Fund, which Argentina sorely needs to keep insolvent banks from collapsing and help end a widely unpopular freeze on bank deposits. U.S. Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill said on Thursday that Argentina was moving "in a direction that seems correct," but added that IMF money would not come until a workable plan was in place. "You need to create sustainable economic conditions and then we'll be helpful to you again and that's where this problem is at the moment," O'Neill said. "The only way to go to get a sustainable economy is via anarchist economical demand management, etc," the anarchists ssay.Dozens of retirees banged pots and pans outside a state bank in downtown Buenos Aires demanding the release of their savings while small but peaceful protests were held in several neighborhoods in the capital. Residents said they were shocked by Argentine politicians' continued resistance to budget cuts despite the ongoing protests by a weary middle class demanding the government find a way to end widespread graft and corruption. "Argentina lived extravagantly for so long, and now we're poor," said Hugo Crisoti, a doorman outside an elegant turn of the century apartment building laced with graffiti. "The sooner we all realize that, the better."

"This "problem" is just due to money illusions and system faults - not a real-economical problem", the anarchists say: "If the demand is hiked sufficient to do away with the unemployment, the real income may increase the following way according to the scenarios mentioned in chapter XXXIII: Increase in employment, say 23-28 %, plus a productivty hike about 2%, i.e. the purchasing power/realincome will increase with ca 1,02x1,23 = 1,25 or 1,02x1,28 = 1,31, i.e. 25% and 31 % respectively, compared to the present purchasing power/realincome with ca 22% registered unemployment and some hidden (underemployement). This may be done by following the anarchist economical plan. As mentioned Argentina is a rich country on natural realcapital and have a well educated laborforce, so this may work out fine if Argentina is following the anarchist plan.As a deal with provincial governors eludes Duhalde, he reiterated that a breakthrough was near but also referred to Argentina's complete lack of credibility internationally after years of broken promises. Duhalde, Argentina's fifth president since December, must convince the governors to sign off on a deal to reduce the 1.36 billion pesos ($658 million) they receive monthly from the federal government, which needs the extra cash as tax revenues plummet amid the four-year recession.But Duhalde has so far been unable to succeed in talks that predecessor Fernando de la Rua began last August."I'm confident that we can arrive at deals, because this Argentina isn't good for anybody. Nobody in the world believes in us, and we don't have financing for our needs," Duhalde told local radio.

"Mr Duhalde has mostly been working theoretically with drug problems earlier, and seems to have no competence in real economy and anarchist demand management. For employment it is approximately the same if public money are spent locally or by the central administration. He is just doing fiction and money economical politics, that will have no real impact on the total demand, employment, production and realincome/purchasing power," the anarchists say.Duhalde is "fighting" to 1. prevent inflation with bureacratic inefficient "means", 2. stop daily protests by police instead of dealing with the problems making people protesting, and 3. stop a weakening peso currency", that is really only a sound devaluation. Interior Minister Rodolfo Gabrielli warned of possible "social explosions" in the country's provinces, adding: "There's a sense of instability in Argentine society but Duhalde's government is containing it." Some economists say Argentina's excessive public spending last decade was mostly to blame for last month's default on part of its $141 billion public debt and a traumatic currency devaluation that has seen the peso weaken by more than 50 percent against the U.S. dollar.

22.02.2002: "It is the accumulated importsurplus that is to blame, not directly the public spending, - also the private spending has contributed. The importsurplus problem was mainly due to the overvalued peso, which increased imports and reduced exports relatively;" the anarchists say. "The problem probably cannot be solved without a ca 70% devaluated peso or more and a sufficient total demand hike, both private and public, according to the anarchist economical plan. Duhaldes policy cutting public spending and borrowing more from the IMF will probly just give a status quo or increase the present unemployment and the other problems. How can anybody get Argentina all in all to think and act a bit libertarian?" - the anarchists say..."Where stupidity rules - even a gods advice will be in vain!".... and the anarchists are certainly not gods! The bureaucracy economically and political/administrative broadly defined, in private and public sector in Argentina, the people responsible for the present chaotic "system", are to blame - nobody else. The system must be changed, one way or another, in a libertarian direction. But Duhalde still continues on the wrong track.22.02.2002: Argentine President Eduardo Duhalde said on Friday early elections were possible if and when social calm was restored in his crisis- ridden nation. Duhalde took over the troubled nation last month after looting and violent riots forced elected president Fernando De La Rua to quit half way through his four-year term. Duhalde was appointed by Congress to finish De la Rua's aborted term, which ends in 2003. The Peronist leader had set elections for mid-September 2003 and had promised not to run. "When we are out of these problems, being a transitional president, one can think that with six or seven months remaining before the elections we could call them earlier because everything is fine," Duhalde told local radio. Duhalde, however, said Argentina is going through "the greatest depression of its history" and it would be "crazy" to call early elections in the present context. Argentina is in its fourth year of recession with official estimates showing 4.5 million people unemployed and 45 percent of its 36-7 million citizens living in poverty.

Argentina's peso and stocks traded flat on Friday in light volume as investors awaited the Central Bank's reply to cash-starved Banco Galicia's request to swap part of its debt for shares, traders said. Argentina's largest private bank, Banco Galicia GAL.BA, asked the Central Bank to forgive part its 2 billion peso debt to the institution and offered new stock in exchange, Banco Galicia director Daniel Llambias said. "Galicia has returned to set the tone of the stock market, given that it is the leading private bank," trader Carlos Belgrano of Rabello y Compania said. Argentina's MerVal stock.MERV index was virtually flat, edging up 0.16 percent to 371.89 points in light volume of 4.3 million pesos. Overall, 10 shares traded unchanged with eight declining and eight gaining at the midsession. The peso traded at an average 2.03/2.06 per dollar for large-scale transactions in the foreign exchange market, compared with Thursday's close of 2.03/2.06. Foreign exchange houses in downtown Buenos Aires quoted the peso at 1.90/2.10, up slightly from Thursday. Last month the Argentine government yielded to years of financial pressure and broke the currency peg that for a decade made one peso equal to one dollar.

After a brief dual exchange system, the peso was fully floated a week ago. Argentine police raided a Spanish-owned bank and a local oil firm in a growing dragnet cast by a judge probing allegations of illegal capital flight, police said on Friday. Under orders by the same judge who earlier this week banned about 20 top banking executives from leaving Argentina while the case is under investigation, federal police raided the boarded-up headquarters of Banco Rio and the headquarters of Pecom Energia SA. After weeks of protests, banks have been forced to shield their offices with metal shutters and tell employees to remove their ties and wear casual clothes to avoid recognition by angry protesters. Argentine banks published full page advertisements on Friday to plead with angry customers to stop attacking their staffs. Oil and petrochemicals firm Pecom Energia PER.BA is the main unit of Argentine holding group Perez Companc PCH.BA. Foreign banks have come under increasing scrutiny in the past months amid depositor protests, following December's banking curbs and January's arrest of an Argentine manager of Banco General de Negocios for alleged money laundering. "The order came from judge (Mariano) Berges and the raids were done this morning, but we have nothing more to state at this time," a federal police spokeswoman said Friday. A spokeswoman for Banco Rio, which is owned by Spain's biggest bank Santander Central Hispano SAN.MC, confirmed that its headquarters were raided but said the raid was conducted earlier this week, while officials at Perez Companc were not immediately available for comment.

A judge investigating another case last month ordered raids on banks suspected of sending armored cars laden with U.S. dollars to airports and ports for shipment abroad. Berges on Wednesday imposed a travel ban on senior executives of the Argentine operations of Citigroup's Citibank C.N of the United States, Italian-controlled Banque Sudameris BFIT3.SA of Brazil, Argentina's Banco Galicia GAL.BA, U.S. bank FleetBoston Financial Corp.'s FBF.N BankBoston and Canadian Bank of Nova Scotia's BNS.TO ScotiabankQuilmes. The order does not mean that any of the bankers is accused of illegal activity, but only that they are the subject of an investigation. Last week another judge ordered Eduardo Escasany, the chairman of Argentina's largest financial holding company Grupo Financiero Galicia GFG.BA, from leaving Argentina while she investigated other allegations of illegal capital flight. Bankers and diplomats said Berges' travel ban sent a chilling message to foreign investors in Argentina but said there is little legal recourse. One bank executive said Berges himself was counting cash in a vault because he does not trust the banks' accounts. "There is no international law that regulates the freedom of movement of foreign business executives. To the contrary, when there is evidence to begin proceedings against a person under suspicion, judges can ban them from leaving the country," Argentine lawyer Tomas Pardina said. About a quarter of all deposits fled Argentina's banking system last year, until the government in early December banned cash withdrawals over a strict monthly limit. Argentina has, as mentioned above, since defaulted on part of its $141 billion public debt and devalued its currency; but its bank curbs remain in place. A middle class Buenos Aires' resident beated a frying pan on the closed doors of a branch of Citibank during a protest against the banking curbs, February 22, 2002. Argentina's largest private bank, Banco Galicia, pummeled by a run on deposits amid nationwide financial populist chaos, said it had asked the Central Bank to take over around half the company in return for massive debt forgiveness.

Traders said a partial freeze on bank deposits in place to stop a run on the brittle financial system continued to keep liquidity low and limit the number of Argentines looking to protect their savings by buying dollars.23.02.2002 "The freeze on bank deposits is "artificial breathing" of the peso", the anarchists say, " such measures are just choking demand and thus contribute to the lack of growth and unemployment problems. Production is real income, not money in the bank - you can't eat money, the things with real economical value are produced goods and services and natural resources. Think real economics - not fiction/money quasieconomics. Argentina should approximately follow the anarchist economical plan, or it will not get the problems solved! - The sooner the better!"Dresdner Bank, the banking arm of Germany's Allianz AG, expects a loss of 80 million euros as it pulls out of Argentina's Banco General de Negocios, a magazine reported on Saturday. Without citing sources, German weekly Der Spiegel said in an article released ahead of publication on Monday that the 80 million euros ($70.18 million) loss would include 40 million from the write off of the book value of its 25 percent stake in BGN. Banco General de Negocios is being investigated by Argentine authorities for alleged irregularities. A spokesman for Dresdner Bank declined to comment on the figures but said its Latin American unit Dresdner Bank Lateinamerika had made "sufficient provisions" for BGN in its 2001 financial accounts. He also said Dresdner would take legal steps to recover its losses.

Earlier this week, other foreign banks, including Credit Suisse Group CSGZn.VX and J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. JPM.N, said they planned to leave the management board of the bank, which is being investigated for allegations of money laundering. The foreign banks involved, which have roughly 31 percent in BGN, have pledged to cooperate in the investigations. Though Argentina and the International Monetary Fund once again have been discussing new loans to help ease the country's economic crisis, a fundamental obstacle has emerged. The Argentine government says it cannot carry out the economic changes that the fund and other creditors are demanding unless it receives fresh money from abroad first, but foreign lenders say they cannot advance the country any new money until after it has shown some results. "We need to break the circle," Economy Minister Jorge Remes Lenicov said last week before heading off to Washington to talk with I.M.F. officials. But neither side is willing to blink first. Argentina argues that it has already taken a pair of steps that ought to be enough to win a resumption of credit, default or no default. The peso has been cut loose from a decade-long peg at one to the United States dollar and allowed to float — it traded for about 49 cents Friday — and President Eduardo Duhalde has submitted a budget for 2002 that sharply limits government spending. But analysts say there is less to either measure than meets the eye. The budget is based on assumptions about tax revenue and growth, exchange rates and inflation that are considered unrealistic. And with so little cash in circulation because of the 11-week-old freeze on bank deposits, the government has found it easy to manipulate currency trading. Argentina has not said much of anything about how it intends to solve a long list of other problems. These include recapitalizing a banking system that has absorbed billions of dollars in losses, amending a new bankruptcy law seen as discriminating against foreign companies, reducing the size of the state bureaucracy and curbing runaway spending by the provinces.

"It still seems that some things are in a fairly preliminary stage of discussion," said Joyce Chang, head of emerging-markets research at J. P. Morgan Securities. "They made some progress in Washington, outlining common objectives, but the fund still wants to see more of a strategy from Argentina, and Argentina still needs to do more."The muted reaction of creditors has disappointed Argentine officials, who have repeatedly assured an anxious and angry citizenry that aid will soon be on the way. Before leaving for Washington, Mr. Remes told reporters here that he was disappointed that Argentina had not received "more resounding" support and praise for its initiatives. "I think the Argentines felt there was nothing more they could do, and that the I.M.F. would recognize that," said Christian Stracke, a Latin America analyst at Commerzbank in New York. "They don't seem to recognize that the I.M.F. has been so seriously burned by Argentina in the past that it is determined to hold Argentina to a higher standard." The fund cut off assistance to Argentina on Dec. 5. The government then in power fell two weeks later and failed to deliver on promises to cut spending sharply. Though Horst Köhler, the managing director of the fund, described the discussions last week as "very positive and cordial," other officials of the fund and officials of the United States government say that Argentina must still come up with a "sustainable plan" to reform the economy.

Speaking to the United States Chamber of Commerce in Washington on Thursday, Treasury Secretary Paul H. O'Neill said he saw Argentina's problems as largely self-inflicted, born of borrowing too freely to finance consumption rather than investment. Though there have been steps in the right direction in recent weeks, he said, more must be done before new loans are warranted.Argentine officials have said that they will need as much as $23 billion to get the economy moving again, and they clearly expect that the bulk of it will come from the fund. But a spokesman for the fund, Thomas Dawson, said that "it is certainly premature to be talking about numbers" and that "there are no packages on the table." Since Mr. Remes's return, the government has gone back to the drawing board to tinker with its economic plan. But President Duhalde has stepped up a diplomatic campaign that seems intended to force the fund to relent on conditions for a new loan. Argentine officials said they were heartened by the visit late last week of the German chancellor, Gerhard Schröder; they said he agreed to plead their case with Mr. Köhler, a fellow German. Mr. Schröder was said to favor a "step by step" plan that would give the Duhalde government some of the needed money early on but dole out the rest in stages based on Argentina's performance.Argentina's neighbors have been especially outspoken. At a meeting here on Monday, the six countries of Mercosur, the South American common market, issued a joint statement that called on lending institutions to "understand Argentina's complex situation" and to agree to aid the country while it pursues "internal policies that will permit economic growth" rather than more austerity, as the fund is demanding. "There is a better way to help Argentina," the president of Brazil, Fernando Henrique Cardoso, said at a news conference that was also attended by Mr. Duhalde and the presidents of Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay. "We don't believe that it is fair to ask Argentina to get things accomplished first and then to get the aid."

"As long as Argentina is not showing signs of thinking real economy, and thus approximately following the anarchist economical plan, they should not get any more loans", the anarchists say.24.02.2002: Recovery from a four-year recession in Argentina will be more painful without fast relief from the International Monetary Fund, President Eduardo Duhalde told a local newspaper on Sunday. "If we resolve everything, if we vote on the budget, if we progress on a new coparticipation (tax sharing) law, I think they (the IMF) will help us. It would be very good for Argentina if they do so quickly. If they don't, Argentina will pull out of this anyway, with more sacrifice, but it will recover," Duhalde told La Nacion newspaper in an interview published on Sunday. The lower house, which had been scheduled to debate the budget bill last week, delayed debate until this week, saying that the lack of a deal between the government and the provinces on the tax sharing plan meant they could not discuss the bill. Duhalde wants governors to agree to receive a percentage of total tax collection each month, rather than a fixed figure. The Peronist president must seal a new federal tax sharing agreement with governors, most of whom are also Peronists, that will reduce the total provincial deficit and trim government spending if Argentina is to win IMF aid. He must also push an austere 2002 budget through Congress to possibly get new loans from IMF. The number of pesos in circulation in Argentina is growing as the central bank prints money to help finance public spending, Deputy Economy Minister Jorge Todesca told local radio on Sunday. "There is an increase in the money in circulation" in pesos in the country because of "emission by the central bank," Todesca said, adding the forecast for "monetary emission was 1 billion pesos to finance public spending." A study released by independent think tank Fundacion Capital said the central bank had injected at least 1.3 billion pesos into banks to increase liquidity in February. The study also said that in 50 days, the central bank had issued 72 percent of the projected 2.5 billion pesos it was expected to print to help shore up the financial system. Argentina is stuck in a four-year recession that forced it to devalue its peso currency in January. After the devaluation, the central bank changed its regulations to allow it to print money. The peso closed at an average of 2.08/2.11 per dollar on Friday for large-scale transactions compared with Thursday's close of 2.03/2.06.

25.02.2002: "The peso is going the right way", the anarchists say, "but printing too much fresh pesos to hike public spending, instead of taxing the plutarchists, will soon hike inflation, and thus probably contribute to reduce the purchasing power and employment. Instead Argentina should cut bureaucracy costs and other "dead meat services", and go for demand management according to the anarchist economical plan!"The Argentine government on Monday raced to win political support for belt-tightening measures seen as crucial to earning new loans from a wary International Monetary Fund. Figures showing a 25 percent drop in tax revenues during Feb. 1-22 from the same period last year underlined the urgent need to tackle the high public spending that has plunged the South American nation into its worst economic crisis. Government officials said they would seal an accord with powerful local governors this week to cut the $650 million a month that the central government hands out to the provinces in subsidies. President Eduardo Duhalde said the deal could be reached as soon as Tuesday. Although seemingly possible on paper, spending cuts would cause more pain for Argentina's 36 million people -- already out of patience after nearly four years of recession and months of government restrictions on bank withdrawals. Around 100 angry savers protested outside banks in the city of Mar de Plata to demand the return of accounts frozen by the government to prevent the collapse of the banking system. Protesters threw bags of garbage at the entrance to one of the banks, local media said, in the latest daily street demonstration from both middle class groups and militant unemployed groups.

An official from the government of Buenos Aires province, Argentina's largest and most indebted, warned that the province may cut public salaries and print more of its own currency as industry collapses and tax revenues fall. A US-based think tank warned of large demonstrations. "Do not be surprised to see massive protests this week from state employees." Duhalde, from the Peronist party, said Argentina was considering applying an "extraordinary" one-time tax on profitable companies to help pay for social welfare programs. "As for those who have earned huge sums, significant companies (and) exporters, they should pay an extraordinary tax. It's an issue we in the executive are studying," he told a news conference. No more details of the plan were available. "Better than export tax", the anarchists said. The provinces, poorer than the capital, have been hit by social protests and road blockades from unemployed groups and state workers who have often seen delays in the payment of their wages. Duhalde also wants the provinces to take on some of the responsibility for the collection of national taxes.Argentina's construction sector, one of the hardest hit amid a four year recession, saw output plummet 44.2 percent in January compared to the same month a year earlier, the Economy Ministry said on Monday. Government restrictions on the withdrawal of cash from banks since December is one of the main factors behind the sector's sharp fall, industry officials said. The tumble in construction activity is accompanied by January's 18 percent fall in industrial output, year-on-year, in seasonally adjusted terms.

26.02.2002 "It's time for anarchist economical demand management", the anarchists say, "- or it's possibly going fast towards the bottom of the anarchist political map!"Several hundred Argentines, demanding food and money, protested at banks and supermarkets on Tuesday and blocked highways in a sharp reminder of the social tensions the government faces as it struggles to approve spending cuts to win vital IMF aid.Small groups of unemployed and neighborhood residents demanded food at two supermarkets and a meatpacking factory in the capital, in an eerie echo of protests in December that sparked looting, killed 27 people and ultimately helped overthrew the government. While the incidents were isolated, it was a further worry for President Eduardo Duhalde as he struggled to convince powerful provincial governors to accept cuts in the $650 million a month of federal taxes they receive. Argentina's government failed to reach an agreement on Tuesday on a new tax-sharing deal with the provinces needed to reduce spending and gain access to crucial IMF loans. Duhalde thinks he must seal a new agreement with governors, most of whom are fellow Peronists, to reduce provincial deficits and refinance provincial debt to win International Monetary Fund loans badly needed to restructure Argentina's banking system. Agreement on a new tax sharing plan is also key to gaining support for approval of an austere 2002 budget bill, another of the IMF's conditions for aid. The government aims to reduce the consolidated provincial deficit by about 80 percent to about 1 billion pesos ($463 million) in 2002 from nearly 5 billion pesos last year. Under its proposal the provinces would be required to collect more taxes.

The deficit-cutting requirement means provinces would have to reduce public spending, some drastically. On Tuesday, the governor of Buenos Aires province, the nation's most populous and economically important, to say he would not sign a pact with such a requirement. "I'm not in a condition to sign with the steep drop in tax collection and the increase in spending we have because of the social situation," he said. Roberto Iglesias, Radical governor of Mendoza, said the government's proposal was not viable for most provinces. "The accord is not viable for the provinces, or for the vast majority of the provinces as the proposal is written. But that doesn't mean that we can't make changes that will give us a way out and that is what we have to do," Iglesias said. Duhalde has offered a plan to the governors under which the provinces would receive a percentage of total tax collection each month, rather than a fixed figure. Under a deal signed in 2000, the nation is currently obligated to transfer 1.36 billion pesos to the provinces monthly, though the drop in tax collection in recent months has reduced that figure to 1.187 billion pesos. In exchange for changing the tax rules, the government has said it would share with the provinces money it collects from a tax on financial transactions - some 300 million pesos a month - currently channeled into the federal treasury. The government offered the provinces 25 percent of the receipts of the financial transaction tax, but some provinces want that number to be higher and that has been one of the main contentions in the talks, the Economy Ministry source said. The second issue causing concern among the provinces is the impact the January devaluation of the peso has had on their bottom lines, the source said. The peso has lost more than 50 percent ( now ca $1=2.17 pesos) against the dollar, increasing the size of provinces' dollar debts in local currency terms. The two sides must negotiate at what rate to convert the debts the provinces have with local banks to pesos.

"Cut "dead meat" quasi-employment in public sector instead of cutting public total demand", the anarchists say!27.02.2002: Argentina paid Spain a first installment of interest on Wednesday on a $1 billion loan made through the International Monetary Fund (IMF) , Spanish Economy Minister Rodrigo Rato said. Argentina's industrial output fell 17.2 percent in January from a year ago, according to preliminary data reported by private consultants FIEL released on Wednesday. FIEL said in a statement that industrial production fell 5.5 percent in 2001 and that output in the fourth quarter fell 12 percent compared with the same period in 2000.

Argentina's governors on Wednesday made a surprise demand for $600 million in back tax payments when resuming tax sharing talks with the government that are key to unlocking IMF aid for the bankrupt nation. Several thousand state workers protested in front of Congress against the 2002 budget bill that plans deep spending cuts. The governors' surprise demand is the cumulative sum of value added tax revenues they say is owed them since the VAT was hiked to 21 percent from 18 percent in the 1990s. Argentina expects to receive IMF aid if a tax sharing deal is reached and the budget is passed. "These talks with the governors will continue until a deal is reached," said Horacio Pernasetti, head of the opposition Radical party's lower house caucus. If a tax sharing deal were reached on Wednesday, Congress could debate the 2002 budget bill on Thursday, officials said. "The budget has a direct relationship with these talks because it sets the amount of money to be transferred to the provinces," Pernasetti said. 28.02.2002:The fall in industrial output, and the probable cut ahead in public demand, may indicate the total demand will fall, and thus it is going the opposite way of anarchist demand management, and then probably more unemployment is on the way. When will these monetarist and neomercantilist populists ever learn to think and operate real economy, not fiction/money economics? - the anarchists say.

The International Monetary Fund on Thursday welcomed Argentina's progress on economic policy and said it hoped to send a negotiating mission to Buenos Aires as soon as next week to discuss restarting financial aid. But Dawson cautioned there remains a "considerable amount of work to be done" and that sealing a new economic program was still a "major challenge." BUENOS AIRES: Buoyed by a hard-fought deal with Argentine provinces on spending cuts, the government on Thursday sought the speedy approval in Congress of a 2002 budget that it hopes will unlock up to $25 billion in crucial IMF aid. The lower house Chamber of Deputies, dominated by the ruling Peronist party, opened debate on Thursday of the budget bill that will slash spending this year by over 14 percent. Analysts and legislators expect it will be approved. The accord with governors eliminates the monthly minimum of $650 million in federal grants to provinces that is blamed for punching a hole in the national budget. Facing daily protests, Duhalde is desperate to pass the budget, a condition to win IMF aid to prop the country's nearly-bankrupt banking system after a messy devaluation. Duhalde has said he was "convinced we are going to receive this aid." Having run out of patience after four years of recession, middle class Argentines have seen billions of dollars lost after their bank account holdings were frozen and then converted into devalued pesos. The government, unable to pay hundreds of thousands of state workers, is anxiously looking for ways to ensure there is no repeat of the food riots in December. Police forces, fearing more looting, have stepped up patrols around markets in the industrial outskirts of the capital. State teachers have joined the escalating protests by announcing a strike next week to coincide with the start of the school year. Provincial governors have, as mentioned above, warned of the dangers of a "social explosion" in this nation of 36-7 million people if the recession continues unabated. Analysts wondered if the new provincial accord - the fifth in a year with the governors - only papered over the growing problems of Argentina, battling to avert a return to hyperinflation after January's devaluation of the local peso currency. "All this activity by the country's politicians is akin to rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic," said investment bank WestLB in a research report.. Some other economists say the budget's macroeconomic estimates - such as 15 percent inflation in 2002 - are overly optimistic.

01.03.2002: "With other words, that's what we said... "the anarchists say. Argentina has constantly failed over the last few years to meet promised economic and fiscal targets as agreed with the IMF. As complaints of rising prices of basic foods such as eggs and bread in supermarkets grow louder, the peso has steadily weakened. In a sign of the pessimism that pervades the Argentine public over the ability of its political leaders to solve the crisis, Duhalde and top government officials have had to answer questions at news conferences over rumors of military coup d'etats. Analysts and the government say they widely dismiss any chance of a coup after the military - which gave up power in 1983 - lost credibility after the "Dirty War," when a military dictatorship ruled from 1976-83 and thousands of opponents, aminly leftists, were tortured and killed, - "disappeared". But polls show that there is no public figure in Argentina who is widely seen as a possible savior. Indeed, most politicians now avoid busy restaurants and walking on the streets, after increasing incidents of attacks by mobs of angry Argentines. Duhalde, who was appointed by Congress as president in January at the end of a month of political chaos, has seen his efforts to end the recession with dramatic austerity plans, hampered by criticism that he did not win power by popular election. In a sign of the impact of the Argentine crisis worldwide, Spain's largest company, Telefonica, posted a 16 percent fall in 2001 net profit on Thursday, its first earnings decline for nearly a decade, after Argentina's economic crisis bored a hole in its accounts.

"More and more time for anarchist economics, including demand management", the anarchists say. Argentine President Eduardo Duhalde waves from the steps of Congress after he inaugurated the Annual Assembly, March 1, 2002. Thousands of flag-waving Peronist militants massed outside Congress in the first large show of public support for Argentina's embattled government, lifted by progress of a budget bill seen as vital to unlocking IMF loans.Argentine President Eduardo Duhalde, who ordered the devaluation of the local peso currency in January, rejected on Friday calls to adopt the dollar as national currency to solve the recession. "Dollarization would have condemned the country to definitely lose its monetary and foreign exchange policies, would have aggravated the problem of our inability to compete and the disintegration of our means of production," Duhalde told a joint session of Congress in an annual presidential speech. For once the anarchists agree with Duhalde. Arch-rival and fellow Peronist party member Carlos Menem, who served as president from 1989 to 1999, had asked the Central Bank in the final months of his mandate to study ways to dollarize Latin America's third-largest economy. Menem continues to argue dollarization would pull Argentina out of a recession that has hurt virtually every sector of the economy, while many economists have said parity to the strong dollar bloated the value of local goods and services. The anarchists say Menem is far out. The peso traded unchanged on Friday from Thursday's close at 2.17/2.20 pesos to the dollar in large scale transactions on the foreign exchange market. President Eduardo Duhalde on Friday took the political initiative in Argentina's long crisis, sending Peronist militants onto the streets hours after winning a vote for a dramatically austere budget in Congress. Thousands of flag-waving loyalists rallied by the parliament building in a stage-managed show of support for the two-month-old government, besieged by daily protests against hated bank curbs and unemployment that touches one in five of the workforce. Witnesses said some 1,300 police sealed off streets around the parliament building where Duhalde supporters bearing banners and side drums began arriving for the "Yes March". The Peronists often bring shanty town dwellers into the city center on buses for big rallies with the help of free food and transport. The event is the first mass show of support for politicians since President Fernando de la Rua was forced from office by protests and food riots in December. Argentina's political elite, accused of bringing what was once a rich country to its knees by economic mismanagement and corruption, have kept a low profile in recent months. With banners reading "put the shit where it belongs" under a picture of former Presidents Carlos Menem and De la Rua, 200 protesters threw bags of excrement at Congress on Thursday. State teachers have joined anti-government protests by announcing a strike next week at the start of the school year. Foreign companies have suffered. Spain's Repsol YPF announced on Friday a 58 percent plunge in net profits to 1.03 billion euros ($891 million) last year, after a crisis in its key Argentine market and weaker oil prices hammered the energy giant.

XXXV. Report from F.O.R.A. - Organización Obrera Nº55 - in Spanish. More news and comments.

Órgano de la Federación Obrera Regional Argentina • Adherida a la A.I.T.
____________________________________________Nueva época • Año LII • Nº55 • Enero de 2002
Coronel Salvadores 1200 • C/P 1167 • Buenos Aires • E-mail: fora5congreso@hotmail.com
____________________________________________EL LÍMITE DE LA OPRESIÓN DE UN GOBIERNO ES LA FUERZA QUE EL PUEBLO ES CAPAZ DE OPONERLE (E. MALATESTA)
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LA DICTADURA DE LA CACEROLA
Vemos las distintas alternativas de nombres que suceden al frente del Estado, cuya descomposición no es más que el producto de las escasas respuestas del poder a las necesidades del hombre. Menem, Duhalde, De la Rúa o Ruckauf no son más que matices sobre un mismo pensamiento: someter al hombre a leyes y no a justicia. Las distintas expresiones de repudio van de acuerdo a sus propios anhelos. Está el que golpea una cacerola por sus dineros, otros por justicia y también por hambre; no faltando violentos guiados por punteros de oscuros propósitos de poder.
Que lejos de lo hegemónico de la llamada Semana Trágica en que el obrero lucha por alejar la explotación. En la F.O.R.A. pensamos en la transformación de la sociedad en busca de Igualdad y Libertad siendo la única que nos lleva al camino de la vida misma.
D. S
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NOS SIGUEN MINTIENDO
Los últimos días de noviembre marcaron el desmoronamiento hacia el abismo de la economia argentina, el empujón final fue dado por el retiro del circuito financiero de dieciocho mil millones de dólares por parte de los grandes inversores, los mismos que durante la última década se beneficiaron con todas las prerrogativas posibles para su bienestar económico y que significó el mayor padecimiento para la clase trabajadora que se recuerde, la cual durante ese mismo periodo vio como avanzaba el desempleo y la pérdida de sus derechos. Para salvaguardar a los banqueros, socios indispensables del gobierno, al ser los únicos que le prestaban dinero al Estado, hipotecando la vida de sus habitantes, pone en manos de estos el manejo y la administración no solo de la mayoria de los depósitos presentes (considerese que unicamente se retiraron el 23%) sino del futuro generado por los trabajadores sea por sueldos, comisiones u otro tipo de forma de cobrar un trabajo; llamándolo con el patético nombre de «corralito» como si hiciese falta dejar bien definido quien tiene de hijo a quien. Estas medidas tuvieron su mayor impacto en la llamada clase media, ya bastante empobrecida, que en buena parte depende del cuentapropismo y vio con estas medidas el fin de su ubicación social; estos han sido los que generaron las protestas más dolorosas para el gobierno, un cacerolazo de vecinos de Palermo lo corroía más que el saqueo a un mercado en Villa Caraza, ya que sobre estos primeros tenía su base de sustentabilidad política el gobierno radical. Cuando la protesta se hizo incontrolable el gobierno tuvo que irse, dejando lugar al posterior paso de comedia generado por la designación e inmediata renuncia de una seguidilla de presidentes en tiempo record, todo fiscalizado por los «buenos muchachos» del Congreso Nacional, verdaderos piratas modernos al servicio de sus propios intereses económicos.

Poniendo el broche de oro con la designación del sátrapa de Duhalde, el mismo que está sospechado de manejos mafiosos y enriquecerse en tiempo record ocupando la función pública. Pero todo sea por la gobernabilidad, la paz interior y evitar que el pais caiga en la anarquía, como no se cansaron de repetir políticos y medios de comunicación, buscando generar temor en esa misma gente que salió a protestar e intentar con esto justificar la represión sangrienta que quisieron sostener con los grupos manejados por la policía que realizaban desmanes fuera de la protesta acotada a cambiar la política económica. Nosotros los militantes y adherentes a la Federación Obrera Regional Argentina, pertenecemos a una organización obrera que tiene como finalidad social el comunismo anárquico y eso no significa que estemos todo el día rompiendo vidrieras, esto es parte de lo que te quieren hacer creer esos mismos que te viven mintiendo para seguir manteniendo su bienestar económico generado por el poder político que manejan. Anarquía por el contrario significa una nueva sociedad con una estructura horizontal, sin beneficios para unos en deprimenda de otros, donde cada uno por el solo hecho de pertenecer a dicha sociedad puede decidir en el ámbito de la libre asamblea sobre los temas económicos y cotidianos que se presenten. Esta sociedad solo era posible en un marco de igualdad económica y social de todos sus componentes, que trabajaran en foma mancomunada para lograr satisfacer sus necesidades, siempre con la base de la libre asociación donde cada hombre pueda disentir en el momento que lo crea conveniente pudiendose revocar, si la mayoría lo desea, las resoluciones y acuerdos tomados por otros hombres en tiempos anteriores. A esto es lo que le tienen miedo los políticos, por eso mienten y tergiversan las cosas para generar temor en una sociedad que ya no les cree y de esa forma mantener el actual sistema de organización social que se encuentra en estado de descomposición.
Se.S.
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¿QUÉ HACER?
Los acontecimientos del mes de diciembre de 2001 por todos conocido, tiene sus raíces en el pasado histórico del movimiento obrero antiestatista y por lo tanto enfrentado a las corrientes políticas que aspiran a tomar el poder en dicho Estado, llamados generalmente partidos políticos. El pueblo por medio del voto obligatorio es llevado a ser cómplice perjudicado e invitado de piedra de la bacanal estatal, por las «bandas» que toman el poder en los distintos periodos de la historia que nos toca vivir o estudiar de nuestro pasado. La Federación Obrera Regional Argentina (F.O.R.A.) fundada en 1901 de hecho y no de derecho, despreciando la ley que da impunidad y privilegios a las «bandas» parasitarias y genocidas que saquean, rapiñan, asesinan al pueblo laborioso y a la riqueza social producida por él mismo. Dichas «bandas», llamadas democráticas, hasta el Golpe de Estado de 1930, se cansaron de decretar el Estado de Sitio para reprimir al pueblo laborioso que luchaba por mejores condiciones de trabajo, jornada limitada, etc. Cuando nombran la educación, los hechos demuestran que no les interesa; a un pueblo culto no se lo puede robar o engañar facilmente, tal accionar es típico en los políticos profesionales de cualquier parte del mundo, por ejemplo la destrucción de imprentas, bibliotecas, escuelas racionales de artes y oficios en las Sociedades de Resistencia del movimiento de la F.O.R.A., la deportación de compañeros; a esto llaman gobernar. Desde 1930 hasta 1976 el «maridaje» entre las Fuerzas Armadas y los políticos profesionales en general es conocido por gran parte del pueblo. Este «maridaje» engendró y parió la salida electoral de 1983 - 1989, 1989 - 1995, 1995 - 1999, 1999 - 2001.

1983 - 1989: Indulto, amnistía a los malhechores militares, banqueros, industriales, etc...

1989 - 1999: Se amplía el indulto y la amnistía. Se negocian las empresas públicas, se duplica la deuda externa, la región Argentina crece como lugar confiable para el lavado de capitales, producto del narcotráfico, tráfico de armas, etc... ¿Será esto la Paz Interior? La desocupación, la pobreza, la trata de blancas, es la única producción que sigue en aumento, al igual que la ignorancia de donde toman la clientela cautiva los partidos plolíticos.

1999 - 2001: Esta «banda» es más de lo mismo, asociados con los grupos parasitarios, saquean los salarios de los jubilados, no pagan los salarios de los trabajadores públicos, saquean los depósitos de los ahorristas por un valor de 65 mil millones de pesos. Permiten que los monopolios económicos financieros transfieran al exterior sumas siderales, produciendo el vaciamiento y quiebre por todos conocido.

En base a lo expuesto proponemos:
• Asambleas barriales organizadas manzana por manzana.
• Pliego de condiciones avalado por Asamblea de delegados con mandato revocable por dicha asamblea.
• Los delegados serán: locales, regionales e internacionales.
• A nivel interno: control y administración de la producción y el consumo.
• A nivel internacional: la F.O.R.A. en su método de organización tiene bases para evitar el robo y la rapiña provenga de donde provenga.Compañero N.
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LA SITUACIÓN ACTUAL
La F.O.R.A. vive en este pais y sufre como todos esta trágica situación económica, ha combatido desde su origen el principio de autoridad que impone el Estado con su secuela de jerarquias y privilegios y el sostén del ejército que posee miles de hectáreas de campos y edificios ampulosos y escuelas y liceos para perfeccionar el crimen, si agregamos a este vampiro, la Iglesia que desde la Quiaca a Tierra del Fuego y desde Buenos Aires a la cordillera de los andes con sus miles de escuelas que solo sirven para anular la razón del estudiante y a las que el Estado tiene la obligación de pagar más de quinientos millones de pesos al año por mencionarlo en sus notas. Ya que estamos en tren de analizar este descalabro social puntualicemos las diferencias que existen entre un ser humano que produce con su trabajo las riquezas del pais frente al empleado público, un parásito que consume y gana sueldos incomparables a los del productor, este va cada día acumulando más bronca hasta que esta estalla ruidosamente y se contagia todo el país.

La educación y cultura impartida desde las cupulas del poder son al servicio del Estado, con el acopio de privilegios y jerarquias autoritarias, el Estado guarda en su seno esta condición y la ejercita desde el origen de su formación, la autoridad, el hombre es su portador y lo refleja en todo lo que crea.
El siglo XVIII ha sido pródigo por sus disputas, libertad contra autoridad y triunfó la autoridad y el capital que ofrecia la posibilidad de las riquezas y esta a conducido al ser humano a ser capaz de cear vicios y corrupciones que superan la imaginación de sí mismo; los hombres y mujeres que aún conservan un poco de rectitud de conducta moral tienen la oportunidad de hacerla valer con el ejemplo, mostremos que una sociedad corrompida se corrige destruyendo las causas que lo engendran, el capital y el Estado.

La F.O.R.A. hace suyas las ideas comunistas anarquistas porque son el más bello y razonado pensamiento forjado por la humanidad através de los tiempos y las mantiene sin claudicar en ningún aspecto, propaga y defiende la libertad integral del ser humano, la igualdad moral y material para todos que borra las fronteras y el color de cada pueblo.J. G.
____________________________________________«LOGROS» SINDICALES
• En los últimos seis años (1995-2001), dirigentes de la CGT Daer y la CGT Moyano firmaron 941 convenios colectivos con cláusulas de flexibilización.
• 474 convenios permiten a los patrones prolongar la jornada o birlarle el cobro de horas extras al trabajador.
• 365 convenios permiten a las empresas requerir otras tareas, además de las habituales, al trabajador.
• 319 convenios «autorizan» a los empresarios pe-ríodos de prueba de hasta 6 meses. En su mayoría, son sin indemnización en caso de despido sin causa.
• 307 convenios resignan el derecho a tomarse vacaciones de invierno, que concuerdan con el reseso escolar de los hijos.
• 392 convenios «conceden» a las patronales clausulas limitantes del derecho constitucional de Huelga.
• 287 convenios dejan en manos patronales la recategorización de los trabajadores.
____________________________________________Ediciones F.O.R.A. ha editado recientemente La anarquía al alcance de todos, de Federico Urales. Consulte por otras publicaciones.
____________________________________________ANARQUÍA LAS PELOTAS
El ex ministro de economía José Luis Machinea acusó de «anarquista» al empresario sindical Hugo Moyano cuando este llamó demagógicamente a no pagar los impuestos. El gobernador de Salta, Juan Carlos Romero, mientras se encontraba de vacaciones en Mar del Plata y en su provincia había un estallido social dijo que había «anarquistas infiltrados». Hace unos meses, el jesuita Jorge Bergoglio advirtió en un documento de la Iglesia sobre el peligro de «la anarquía social». Y así podríamos seguir enumerando los múltiples casos en que las distintas autoridades asocian el término «anarquía» al desorden y al caos. Por supuesto que la tergiversación del significado de las palabras empieza en la escuela, donde nos enseñan que el gobernante, dirigente o jefe es alguien bueno que nos guía hacia el bien, que es alguien que sabe mucho, tiene grandes responsabilidades, hay que obedecerlo y por eso debe tener un sueldo mayor al resto. Pero un análisis mínimo de nuestra vida nos enseña con los hechos que todo gobernante lo único que hace es vivir de los sometidos que tiene a su mando y cuando haya una rebelión, en vez de escuchar al pueblo, lo aplastará con la policía o el ejército, dependiendo de la magnitud del conflicto.

Pedro Kropotkin puede ilustrarnos sobre el sentido que hoy se le da a la palabra orden. «(...) El orden es la miseria y el hambre convertidos en estado normal de la sociedad; es la mujer que se vende para alimentar a sus hijos; es el niño reducido al presidio de una fábrica, o a morir de hambre; es el obrero convertido en máquina...»

En otro artículo, Kropotkin define al anarquismo «como el nombre que se da a un principio o teoría de la vida y la conducta que concibe una sociedad sin gobierno, en que se obtiene la armonía, no por sometimiento a ley, ni obediencia a autoridad, sino por acuerdos libres establecidos entre los diversos grupos, territoriales y profesionales, libremente constituidos para la producción y el consumo, y para la satisfacción de la infinita variedad de necesidades y aspiraciones de un ser civilizado...».

En estos momentos, donde cada semana hay un nuevo presidente, nuevamente circula por los medios la frase catástrofe «vivimos en la anarquía». Nada más alejado de la realidad, no es verdad que no hay autoridad. Hay autoridad y mucha, lo que ocurre es que un grupo de políticos se sacan los ojos peleando con uñas y dientes para ver quien es el que toma el poder. A unos les conviene asumir ahora, mientras que otros necesitan tiempo para reconstruir su imagen y hacer campaña. Con respecto a las protestas del 19 al 21 de di-ciembre de 2001, donde los agentes estatales asesinaron a más de 30 personas, hirieron a 400 y secuestraron a más de 1000, es evidente que el pueblo no soportó más la parálisis mental de Fernando De la Rúa y los caprichos de Domingo Cavallo. Después de tomar los alimentos, el pueblo salió espontaneamente para hacerse oir y hacer valer su determinación contra el gobierno. Pero la brutalidad policial no se limitó a la zona céntrica de la Capital; una semana después, en la madrugada del 28 de diciembre y a raíz de un simple comentario sobre los disturbios en el Congreso, tres jóvenes fueron asesinados a sangre fría por un policía en el barrio de Floresta.

Es significativo que en los enfrentamientos con la policía, los partidos políticos de izquierda –vanguardia revolucionaria, cuadros organizados, partidos esclarecidos, etc.– no prestaron el mínimo apoyo a los que enfrentaron valiente y dignamente a los re-presores del gobierno. Esta actitud reafirma que al aparato partidario solo lo activan para ganar puestos en el Congreso y no para ayudar a la gente que muere bajo las balas de la policía. Los que si activaron su aparato fueron Carlos Ruckauf y algunos grupos de derecha que fomentaron en provincia de Buenos Aires y Capital Federal el enfrentamiento entre barrios creando una paranoia generalizada por los «saqueos».

Sospechoso también es que la noche del 28 de diciembre de 2001 hayan podido entrar manifestantes al Congreso, hacer grafitis en la Casa Rosada y patear a algunos policías (por supuesto de bajo rango), cuando la semana anterior ni siquiera se podía estar en Plaza de Mayo. Antes que un avance del pueblo, es evidente que el gobierno fue deliberadamente permisivo para luego influenciar a la opinión pública que antes repudió la salvaje represión del 20 de diciembre. En otro contexto hitórico, en 1933 el incendio del Reichstag (parlamento) en Alemania, atribuido a los comunistas, fue aprovechado por Adolf Hitler para aplastar a sus opsitores e implementar una serie de medidas represivas y sancionar una ley que le conferia «plenos poderes». ¿Alguien se acuerda lo que vino después de los «plenos poderes» que el Congreso otorgó a Cavallo y De la Rúa, y que ahora recibirá Eduardo Duhalde? Lo que no debemos perder de vista es que las protestas populares pueden ser manipuladas; así desfilaron por la Casa de Gobierno los dirigentes y dirigentas de la C.T.A., C.C.C., Madres de Plaza de Mayo, etc. ¡Incluso el ex presidente Adolfo Rodríguez Saá llegó a reivindicar a los muertos del 19 y 20 de diciembre! También existen ciertas contradicciones; muchos de los que golpeaban sus cacerolas en Plaza de Mayo el 19 de diciembre, antes se quejaban de los cortes de ruta, y los fiscales que condenaron a luchadores sociales por exigir comida pacíficamente, ahora se callan la boca frente a la toma compulsiva de comida por las multitudes hambrientas. Hay que permanecer atentos, «la mejor policía del mundo» tiene más poder que nunca gracias a Duhalde.Su.
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¿QUÉ FUE LA SEMANA TRÁGICA?
Corrían los primeros días de enero de 1919 en Buenos Aires, el calor se tornaba insoportable, los obreros de los Talleres Metalúrgicos Vasena se encontraban en huelga desde hacía días, los reclamos eran por la reducción de horas de trabajo de 12 a 8, restitución de obreros y mejoras en el salario. El día 7 un grupo de huelguistas se encontraban esperando a los carneros que hacían el trabajo de los obreros en huelga y al salir estos de la casa Vasena en 5 chatas cargadas, custodiadas por policías y los mismos carneros armados, fueron insultados por los huelguistas ¡Carneros! ¡Cosacos! Inmediatamente comenzaron a disparar, los huelguistas corren a refugiarse, el tiroteo dura aproximadamente 2 horas; a los custodios se le suman bomberos apostados en la plazoleta de Alcorta y Pepirí, particulares armados y una tropa oficial que tiran desde la casa Bozzola y desde la escuela «La banderita». Disparan sin interrupción. Todas las casas y comercios de la zona quedan totalmente baleados, curiosamente el lugar más castigado por las balas fue el local de Metalúrgicos Unidos, ubicado en Alcorta 3483.

El saldo de tan feroz ataque fue de 4 muertos y más de 40 heridos. La Federación Obrera Regional Argentina (F.O.R.A.) inmediatamente declara «La huelga para hoy y aconseja a las sociedades adheridas que estén en la columna que acompañará a las víctimas del capitalismo a su última morada». Llaman a la huelga también Metalúrgicos Unidos, la Federación Obreros Metalúrgicos, la Unión Obreros del Calzado, la Sociedad Obreros Toneleros y Obreros del Tabaco. Vasena es conocido en el barrio por ser un parásito explotador y en un diario de la época se puede leer que dicen «Desde que los trabajadores de la casa lasena, cansados de soportar jornales de hambre y jornadas abrumadoras han resuelto declararse en huelga, este vecindario simpatizando con el movimiento por la justicia del mismo no vacila en prestar su ayuda moral y material». En la vereda de enfrente, la policía y los fascistas por esos días estaban nerviosos y exaltados, aún estaba en el recuerdo los acontecimientos del centenario y empezaban a organizarse con más fuerza.

Además de bomberos y la policía, grupos «independientes» pro-represión se sumaban a las filas, entre otros las brigadas de asesinos voluntarios presididas por el doctor Joaquín S. de Anchorena, quien había constituido la «Asociación del Trabajo» (aunque él no trabajaba), institución con subvención de la patronal. Además en el centro naval un millar de «defensores del orden» eran entrenados para la caza del «ruso», como llamaban a judíos y comunistas; se constituye el comité pro-argentinidad que forma la guardia cívica que más tarde será la primer orga-nización fascista en el mundo, llamada Liga Patriótica Argentina presidida por Manuel Carlés, asesinos de judíos y obreros anarquistas.

El día 9 se forma una manifestación de 200000 personas que acompañan los restos de los caídos el día 7. Desde temprano, en la mañana, más de 5000 personas ya están reunidas. Los huelguistas prenden fuego un portón de la casa Vasena y al llegar el jefe de policía para calmar los ánimos, le vuelcan el auto en que se conducía y apuñalan a su oficial de compañía. Para el medio día el paro es total. Al llegar la procesión al cementerio de la Chacarita, luego de varios altercados y pese a que los obreros habían asaltado una armería para su defensa, la policía y los fascistas armados abren fuego contra la multitud. Cayendo hombres, niños y mujeres sin distinción. Entre los que dan órdenes se puede identificar al mismo hijo de Pedro Vasena.

La F.O.R.A. declara la huelga general revolucionaria, pide la libertad de todos los detenidos y la liberación de Simón Radowitzky y Barrera. El día 10 amanece paralizado. Mientras el partido socialista muestra la hilacha hablando de factores extraños en el gremialismo y de que hay que volver al trabajo, en las calles son secuestrados y arrestados miles de hombres, los extranjeros son deportados inmediatamente y el resto es llevado a la isla Martín García. Para el sábado 11 el sindicato reformista llamado F.O.R.A. del IX Congreso se sienta con el asesino L. Dellepiane, recientemente designado gobernador militar de la Capital y con Vasena a negociar la traición a los obreros. Para poder volver al trabajo les prometen la libertad de los detenidos y la futura gestión para liberar a los demás presos políticos sociales y res-titución de todo el que quiera trabajar. La F.O.R.A. mientras tanto mantiene la huelga por tiempo indeterminado «a las iras populares no es posible ponerles plazo, hacerlo es traicionar al pueblo en lucha. Se hace un llamado a la acción. ¡Revindicaos proletarios! ¡Viva la huelga general revolucionaria!». En el interior del país las huelgas solidarias se alzaban en las principales ciudades y fueron apagadas por las tropas mandadas para dominarlos de parte del gobierno. La Cámara de Diputados aprueba el 15 el estado de sitio. Ferroviarios levanta la huelga y poco a poco lo que pudo ser un comienzo de Revolución Social se transformó en una laguna de sangre que marcaría el futuro del movimiento obrero. La Semana Trágica dejó un saldo de 1500 muertos, 4300 heridos y más de 32000 detenidos, además de un dolor mortal en la historia de las luchas obreras.No.
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ORGANIZARSE CONTRA EL CAPITALISMO NO ES EVADIRLO (I)
Abstenerme de consumir lo que produce el sistema no me va a llevar a ningún cambio social de abajo arriba, o lo que los anarquistas llamamos Revolución Social. Es sabido que las leyes del Estado se imponen por la fuerza para que todo tenga un precio en este mundo. Por lo tanto, una de las medidas que se podría tomar en dicha revolución sería la de abolir el dinero. Esto implicaría la no intervención de ninguna organización autoritaria ni militar en la toma de decisiones dentro de la nueva sociedad.

Pero decir que hoy se puede vivir sin dinero es inaudito (sobre todo en la sociedad de consumo industrialista) y es desentenderse de la realidad que nos oprime. Demás está decir que la explotación del hombre por el hombre comienza con la rapiña y el vivir de arriba de algunos seres despreciables que se comportan como si estuvieran inválidos y se acostumbran a mendigar la comida para terminar viviendo con la sencillez de un monje o enriqueciéndose a expensas del trabajo ajeno (más bien dicho «robándolo»).

Esto es lo que transforma el trabajo en un castigo, en vez de llevarse a cabo como ejercicio libre y natural de las facultades humanas. Sería hermoso, desde mi punto de vista, vivir en una comunidad donde cada uno elija el trabajo más útil y necesario para todos; donde pueda uno también, cultivar las artes y dar rienda suelta a la curiosidad científica sin contradecir los ordenamientos de la naturaleza. ¡La naturaleza necesita seres humanos integrales! Que sean productivos, reproductivos, creadores, que dancen y canten y que sepan luchar. Así como las funciones que cumplen los diferentes integrantes de una colmena de abejas, así todas juntas debe cumplir cada ser humano: productor, creador, luchador y pensador al mismo tiempo. Si encontrara una comunidad en el mundo, donde se pueda vivir sin dinero y como la naturaleza manda, pues sería hermoso como un paraiso terrenal; pero también sería injusto y como castigo saber que en otros lugares las gentes vivirían oprimidas por el Estado y sumergidas en la miseria por la acción inmoral de curas, mendigos, comerciantes y ladrones. Que más quisiera el pueblo honrado que alejarse de todos estos delincuentes para buscar tierra fértil donde sembrar la semilla de la libertad. ¡Qué más que vivir libremente, en sociedad, desarrollando todas nuestras potencialidades y respetándonos los unos a los otros, sin ataduras! ¿Pero qué van a hacer? ¡Si están sumidos en la ignorancia! Tanto, que creen que su vida llena de sufrimientos es la mejor escuela. ¿Qué hacer entonces para terminar con toda esta opresión? ¿Qué hacer para lograr el bienestar para todos? Una de las claves la dio el viejo príncipe ruso Pedro Kropotkin, en su escrito La conquista del pan: «Hoy, a medida que se desarrolla la capacidad de producir, aumenta en una proporción espantosa el número de vagos e intermediarios. Al revés de lo que se decía en otros tiempos entre socialistas, de que el capital llegaría a reconcentrarse bien pronto en tan pequeño número de manos, que sólo sería menester expropiar a algunos millonarios para entrar en posesión de las riquezas comunes, cada vez es más considerable el número de los que viven a costa del trabajo ajeno».
D.M. (Esta nota continuará)
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ELLOS O NOSOTROS
Son ellos o nosotros, hasta hoy implícitamente con nuestra apatía y nuestro insuficiente esfuerzo hemos cedido el terreno que ha dado lugar a que la respuesta sea un terrible y doloroso nosotros. Nosotros los explotados, los excluídos, esos cuatro millones de seres humanos que sobramos según «ellos», nosotros los que cedemos, los que nos humillamos, quienes debemos recuperar la dignidad. Cuando digo dignidad intento imaginarme los rostros de aquellos compañeros, esos anarquistas que llegaron desde Europa a principios del siglo XX, aquellos quienes se unían en el camino por la libertad, la justicia, la igualdad, la fraternidad. Esas personas que dieron sus vidas, quienes se dedicaron de cuerpo y corazón a la idea del comunismo anárquico; quienes murieron, desgraciadamente, sin que sus ojos y corazones llegaran a ver y sentir la belleza de la plenitud humana, aquella armonía que fue el sentido de sus vidas; vidas que fueron apagadas a sangre y fuego por quienes hoy nos siguen torturando.

De ahí nuestro compromiso, de ahí nuestra obligación para con aquellos que murieron en busca de ese abrazo eterno por la libertad. Y allí nos vemos, de rodillas, cortados desde las entrañas mismas, cegados por este sistema genocida. ¿Y qué? ¿Qué hacemos compañeros?

Otra vez la inmundicia electoral, la farsa sucia politiquera de los asesinos que nos llevan hasta nuestro fin. Y nosotros ¿qué vamos a hacer? ¿qué pensamos hacer? Como libertarios que decimos ser ¿qué vamos a hacer? ¿vamos a permitir que se nos sigan riendo en la cara? ¿seguiremos dejando que nos atropellen?
Usted señora, señor que no entiende de que hablo, no entiende o es que es tan doloroso para mí como para usted, pero a usted le parece más fácil pensar o intentar pensar, que usted no tiene la culpa y que en sus manos y posibilidades no entra el poder cambiar las cosas. Terrible error, así es como se alimenta la destrucción.

Estamos frente a nuestro fin, este es el terror, este es el verdadero terrorismo, la incertidumbre de quien ya casi ha muerto pero aún sufre. Y nosotros ¿qué estamos haciendo? ¿qué pensamos hacer? Quién no haga algo en contra de esto, quien no tome cartas en el asunto es cómplice del exterminio del mundo, es culpable, es responsable, es peor aún que el verudugo mismo, pues este saca provecho de su situación, en cambio esta víctima / cómplice carga sobre sus espaldas el peso de su propio homicidio cobarde.

¿Somos cobardes? Pues si lo somos, tanto peor para nosotros, pues disimulamos con estos aires de libertad; y si no lo somos tenemos la mayor de las obligaciones, para con todos nuestros hermanos, si así es tenemos la más grande de las misiones, así nos cueste el último aliento, debemos luchar hasta lograr la revolución social, debemos cambiar al mundo, pues si no que-remos ser cómplices de nuestro suplicio estamos obligados a luchar, llevando nuestra fuerza y nuestros ideales a cada persona que nos rodee, tenemos en nuestro camino un objetivo y ese objetivo es la libertad, ni más ni menos que la liberación de los seres humanos. Pues bien compañeros a luchar hasta lograr la liberación, o deberemos resignarnos a ser los miserables esclavos, que son doblemente desgraciados, pues esta conciencia que poseemos nos obliga a luchar. Por esto debemos luchar hasta lograr la libertad y la igualdad o debemos resignarnos a ser el esclavo que en su corazón sólo tiene lugar para esperar la muerte, en manos de su amo, esto en un intento desesperado por ser libre, no realmente libre, pues ésta es la «libertad» de quien no encuentra la fuerza para pelear. De esta forma, aunque muriese en busca de la libertad, sería libre por el solo hecho de haber peleado, por haberse comportado como un ser libre que lucha por su felicidad.

Porque no hay oprimido que tenga la culpa de serlo, salvo aquel que conciente de su agonía atenta contra su propia vida, más aún que el mismo opresor, pues al no luchar por su emancipación le da piedra libre a aquel para que lo torture hasta su desvanecimiento. Por eso hay que unirnos para que nuestros brazos, corazones y nuestros llantos ante éste dolor sin fron-teras se convierta en la fuerza necesaria para acabar con esta tortura sistematizada y se convierta en el grito libertario que ensordezca al mundo de los avaros. V.
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El Movimiento Obrero de la F.O.R.A. tiene:
Como Principio: LA LIBERTAD
Como Medio: LA ACCIÓN DIRECTA
Como Finalidad: EL COMUNISMO ANÁRQUICOLa F.O.R.A. es:
ANTI-ESTATAL
ANTI-POLÍTICA
Y ANTI-DOGMÁTICA
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LAS VÍCTIMAS QUE NADIE LLORA
El 11 de septiembre de 2001 todos lloraron por las víctimas de las torres gemelas.
El 11 de septiembre de 2001 también 35615 niños murieron de hambre.
Víctimas: 35615 (F.A.O.)
Lugar: países pobres del Planeta
Ediciones especiales de las televisiones: cero
Artículos de prensa: cero
Mensajes del Jefe de Estado: cero
Convocatorias del gabinete de crisis: cero
Manifestaciones de solidaridad: cero
Minutos de silencio: cero
Conmemoraciones de las víctimas: cero
Forums sociales organizados: cero
Mensajes del Papa: cero
Las bolsas: no están mal
El euro y el dólar: remontando
Nivel de alerta: cero
Movilización del ejército: ninguna
Hipótesis sobre la identidad de los criminales: ninguna
Probables autores del crimen: países ricos.
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LO QUE QUEREMOS
Queremos abolir radicalmente el dominio y la explotación del hombre por el hombre; queremos que los hombres hermanados por una solidaridad consciente y decidida, cooperen todos voluntariamente en el bienestar de todos; queremos que la sociedad se constituya con el fin de suministrar a todos los seres humanos los medios de alcanzar el máximo bienestar posible, el máximo posible de desarrollo moral y material; queremos para todos, pan, libertad, amor y ciencia. Y para conseguir este fin supremo, creemos ne-cesario que los medios de producción estén a disposición de todos y que ningún hombre o grupo de hombres, pueda obligar a los demás a someterse a su voluntad ni ejercer su influencia de otro modo que con la fuerza de la razón y del ejemplo. Por consiguiente: expropiación de los detentadores del suelo y del capital a beneficio de todos y abolición del gobierno. Mientras interinamente esto no se haga, propaganda del ideal; organización de las fuerzas populares; lucha continua, pacífica o violenta, según las circunstancias contra el gobierno, contra los propietarios, a fin de conquistar toda la libertad y todo el bienestar que se pueda.Enrique Malatesta
____________________________________________GREMIOS Y SINDICATOS
Existe confusión hoy, entre los términos gremialismo y sindicalismo que se emplean aveces indistintamente al ocuparse de la organización de los trabajadores. Equivocadamente, según nuestro criterio, está mal que se llame «anarco sindicalista» al que en verdad es «gremialista anarquista», gremios o sociedades obreras de resistencia se titularon las entidades obreras asociadas en federación, con tácticas de acción directa y finalidad idealista, de justicia social. Así surgió la Federación Obrera Regional Uruguaya (F.O.R.U.), de orientación anarquista que dio al Uruguay las páginas más brillantes de la historia proletaria en la defensa de la dignidad y en pro de la emancipación de los trabajadores.

Expresan claramente las actas constituyentes gremialistas que la sociedad obrera de resistencia se organiza para la lucha social, con la finalidad de la desaparición del actual sistema del mundo, que está dividido en dos clases: opresores y explotadores por una parte, y oprimidos y explotados por la otra. Se asocian los trabajadores y se solidarizan para la defensa de sus derechos, de su dignidad y de sus intereses individuales y colectivos, a la vez que por la desaparición del Estado y este sistema social de privilegiados, que se oponen a la creación de una sociedad de trabajadores creadores del bienestar de todos. Hay diferencias esenciales en móviles y normas, de los gremios igualitarios, las sociedades de resistencias organizadas por los anarquistas y los titulados sindicatos. Los gremios que aún quedan en actividad y su subsistente en el tiempo (F.O.R.U.), siguen repudiando a los consejos de salarios y toda la intervención estatal en el movimiento obrero.

En tanto que los sindicatos constituyen un movimiento de servicio económico combinado con el político, coincidente con la conservación de la realidad social presente, cerrado a toda idealidad revolucionaria. La organización sindicalista es manejada por un sistema más acentuadamente centralista que por el federalismo, y está de espaldas a la emancipación de los trabajadores y la justicia social. No hay posible analogía entre gremios idealistas y revolucionarios y sindicatos para aumentos de salarios y de conservación de esta sociedad, mientras los primeros no admiten la existencia de empleados rentados, de obreros explotando a obreros dentro de la organización, los segundos tienen un funcionariado pago y una casta de dirigentes en sus entidades que constituyen lo que ya se denomina «burocracia sindical». Cerramos el comentario con algunos párrafos de la declaración de principios de la «Sociedad de Resistencia de Oficios Varios» abierta siempre para todos los trabajadores idealistas, que está adherida a la F.O.R.U. y a la A.I.T. (Asociación Internacional de los Trabajadores).

«Nuestro objeto no puede ser otro que tratar de establecer una sociedad más racional y más justa en armonia con las leyes de la naturaleza y la libertad integral de todos los seres humanos, sin distinción alguna de clases ni razas. (...) Queremos una solidaridad conciente donde cooperen los trabajadores voluntariamente por el bienestar de todos. (...) Queremos para todos: pan, libertad, amor y ciencia».Extraído de Solidaridad (Órgano de la desaparecida F.O.R.U.) mayo de 1969 nº 280. A pesar de su antigüedad sigue teniendo vigencia.
____________________________________________Se encuentra en proceso de formación la videoteca de la F.O.R.A., consulte por los títulos existentes.
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YUTA - YUTA - YUTA...
Continuando la nota «Más seguridad es menos policía» de Organización Obrera de octubre de 2001, ahora pretendemos aportar información sobre algunos casos concretos protagonizados por los representantes de «la ley y el orden». Somos concientes que solo conocemos lo que publican los medios, y los medios trabajan para el sistema, que necesita de las fuerzas represoras. Harían falta cientos de páginas para abarcar los crímenes que el gobierno ejecutó solo en estos últimos meses; aquí mencionamos nada más que algunos hechos genéricos importantes. Por otro lado aclaramos que las muertes de «delincuentes» también las consideramos como asesinatos cometidos por la policía, pero es difícil recolectar la información neceraria por motivos obvios. Gatillo fácil: 870 personas fueron asesinadas por las fuerzas de seguridad desde 1983. Los casos reportados en esta estadística corresponden a ciudadanos que no representaban riesgo alguno para las fuerzas de seguridad o para terceros en el momento de ser asesinados por agentes estatales. Esto significa que no se computan las muertes en enfrentamientos, reales o inventados. Nuevas leyes: El 13 de junio de 2001 el Senado de la Nación aprobó la Reforma al Código Procesal Penal que otorga a la policía una ampliación de facultades que permite interrogar, requisar, realizar allanamientos y detener sin previa autorización judicial. Los nuevos poderes para la policía aprobados por el gobierno de Fernando De la Rua continuan los proyectos del gobierno anterior de Carlos Menem. Juego clandestino: El juez penal de La Plata, César Ricardo Melazó, llevó adelante la llamada «mega-causa» contra el juego clandestino que procesó a 250 personas entre capitalistas, pasadores, suboficiales y oficiales de la policía bonaerense que se llenaban los bolsillos. Mientras Eduardo Duhalde era gobernador de la provincia de Buenos Aires, un millón de pesos se movían por día en la clandestinidad. Los comisarios de la bonaerense se enriquecían con las coimas por hacer la vista gorda. En la causa quedó implicada la comisaria 9a de La Plata, el entonces jefe de la bonaerense, comisario Adolfo Vitelli, y el jefe de la Unidad Regional de La Plata, comisario Rubén Oscar Araneo.

Prostitución: En noviembre de 1998, tras la investigación del fiscal Pablo Lanusse, fueron desplazados 38 de los 52 comisarios a cargo de las seccionales de la Capital Federal. La investigación se centró en tres altos jefes: el comisario general Luis Fernández, el comisario mayor Carlos Navedo y el comisario inspector Alejandro Di Nunzio. La fiscalía estimó que el botín que se repartían superaba los tres millones de dólares mensuales y se sabe también que la droga es un elemento cercano. Pero el juez de la causa, Vicente Cisneros, se negó a extender la pesquisa y fragmentó la causa para esquivar la figura de «asociación ilícita». El control del negocio de la prostitución generó enfrentamientos entre la Federal y la SIDE. En agosto de 1999, por causas nunca esclarecidas, fue muerto a balazos el agente de la SIDE Daniel Rossini. Lo acribillaron cuando iba en su automóvil importado acompañado por una menor de 16 años que ejercía la prostitución.

Bonaerense: El jefe de la policía bonaerense Pedro Anastasio Klodczyk fue investigado por la posible comisión de siete delitos de acción pública: malversación de caudales públicos, blanqueo de dinero, enriquecimiento ilícito, falsedad documental, presunta estafa, cohecho y amenazas agravadas. El 15 de junio de 1996 Eduardo Duhalde dijo que era el «mejor jefe que ha tenido la policía, desde que yo recuerde». José Luis Cabezas había fotografiado a Klodczyk, para la revista Noticias. La nota fue titulada «Maldita Policía». El 25 de enero de 1997 el cuerpo incinerado, esposado y baleado de Cabezas apareció en una fosa en Pinamar a sólo 80 metros de la mansión de Eduardo Duhalde. Más tarde la investigación dejó ver un enfrentamiento entre mafiosos de alto rango: Alfredo Yabrán, Domingo Cavallo, Carlos Menem, Eduardo Duhalde y varios funcionarios policiales.Bacunin de trapo
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RETORNO
Sucede con las ideas, las nuestras, las anarquistas, que no siempre tienen la virtud de alzada, de gallarda arremetida que desearíamos; que a veces traen, como noción sustantiva, una humildad cicatera desesperante; que en vez de saltar desnudas como bombas en la calle, se aprietan a la penumbra, se respaldan, y apenas si dan un paso que ya no lo traigan de años como rumiado. En cambio, a veces sucede que brotan hasta en las piedras, contando; que los conceptos más limpios se quedan como clavados al aire; que les dan forma y color, modeladura vital a los proyectos más vastos, como a obras de arte. Sucede con las ideas, las nuestras, las anarquistas, todo esto. Y sólo aquellos que estamos por convicción y por fe, en el trabajo de echarlas camino avante con el pecho y con las manos, podemos decir si es dura la alternativa de atacar, hoy una roca melódica bajo el pico, y mañana hundir la garra hasta el pelo bajo el barro... Siempre fue así, sin embargo. Las ideas trascendentales, los esfuerzos varoniles para descuajar de su álveo a los más viejos conceptos, cumplido que es el momento de selección y cosecha, es de ley que sufran crisis, recesos inesperados...

Pero esto, que es privativo de todas las obras grandes, es lo que más desanima a los luchadores nuevos; les hace cambiar el paso, cuando no pararse en seco, desorientados. Y es de verlos, taciturnos ante la tierra con tanto ardor ¡ay! Labrada, clamando por los esfuerzos que se les pierden como granos en el barro. Si hasta añoran el obstáculo, la mala broza rampante que obliga a accionar, al menos, el hacha desmontadora. Y tristes y desolados en la inmensidad vacía, otean, buscan molinos en que ir a estrellar sus vidas como unas lanzas...

Almas de sacrificados, románticos como cristos, no saben de expectativas ni de compases de espera: o el triunfo definitivo de sus ideas maduras por sus esfuerzos como un trigal por el sol, o la renuncia, la muerte en una cruz como un reproche a la tierra. Siempre fue así, sin embargo. La siembra de las ideas no puede eludir la ley que rige a la vida. Y ley es que todo esfuerzo, llegado a su plenitud, recese, retorne a su antigua fuente, para otro esfuerzo. Y para otro. Pues la moral labradora no nos la dan las cosechas perecederas, sino la tierra, la Eterna... Todo lo grande recesa. Todo lo grande retorna. Y estas ideas, las nuestras, son grandes entre las grandes. Suceda lo que suceda.R. G. P.
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____________________________________________LUGARES DONDE SE CONSIGUE ORGANIZACIÓN OBRERA
F.O.R.A.: Coronel Salvadores 1200, Capital
F.L.A.: Brasil 1551, CapitalSubte D
Estación Facultad de Medicina (Trenes hacia Catedral)
Subte C
Estación Diagonal Norte (Trenes hacia Retiro)
Estación Constitución
Subte A
Estación Acoyte (ambos andenes)
Estación Rio de Janeiro (Trenes a Plaza de Mayo)
Estación Castro Barros (ambos andenes)
Estación Loria (Trenes a Plaza de Mayo)
Estación Miserere (ambos andenes)
Estación Pasco (Trenes a Plaza de Mayo)
Estación Congreso (Trenes a Plaza de Mayo)
Estación Lima (Trenes a Plaza de Mayo)
Estación Piedras (ambos andenes)
Estación Plaza de Mayo
Estación Perú (Trenes a Primera Junta)
Estación Alberti (Trenes a Primera Junta)
Estación Primera JuntaKiosco, Corrientes 1438
Kiosco, Corrientes 1719Librería «El Aleph - Liberarte», Corrientes 1555
Librería de las Madres, Hipólito Yrigoyen 1584
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02-4.2002: Argentina plans to levy a one-time tax on corporations to fund social programs for the swelling ranks of the poor who now make up almost half the population in the recession-wracked nation, President Eduardo Duhalde was quoted as saying on Sunday. About 45 percent of Argentina's 36-7 million people live below the poverty line and the jobless rate has, as mentioned, soared to more than 20 percent as a recession in its fourth year deepens after the government defaulted on its debt and devalued in January. "The only decision taken by the government is to levy a tax on large companies that took loans in dollars and benefited from their conversion in (devalued) pesos. And it is just for one time," Duhalde told La Nacion's Sunday edition. The one-time tax aims to raise $1.14 billion to $1.37 billion that will be used for an unemployment insurance and social programs supplying the poorest households with $68 per month, reported La Nacion and Clarin newspapers. The tax would be announced on Monday, Duhalde said.

"These taxes seem to be ok, and money for the poor also, but it is about time to do demand management according to the anarchist economical plan," the anarchists say..Argentine farm groups, whose exports have also benefited from the steep devaluation, fear the government could impose a new tax on agricultural exports so they are studying whether to create a social welfare fund as a counter measure. "Farmers would rather pay into a voluntary fund managed by their own group than an export retention tax to the government because they think their own group will spend more of that money on the people who need it," agronomist Lisandro Couzelo told Reuters from Las Flores, in the agricultural heartland of Buenos Aires province. "Yes, almost anything is better than a mercantilistic approach." - the anarchists say.Tax revenues in Argentina have fallen every month since last June with collection in February down 20.3 percent from a year ago. Farm groups reckon their social fund could reach $685 million in 2002.Public rage is running high in Argentina where protests against the government and banks are an almost daily event. A run on banks that saw more than 20 percent of deposits withdrawn last year led the government to impose a hated freeze on bank accounts in December. The measure helped push the beleaguered nation into chaos, with looting and riots ensuing later that same month that ended withca 27 people killed and elected president Fernando de la Rua resigning .

Argentina plans to levy a one-time tax on corporations to fund social programs for the swelling ranks of the poor who now make up almost half the population in the recession-wracked nation, President Eduardo Duhalde was quoted as saying on Sunday. About 45 percent of Argentina's 36 million people live below the poverty line and the jobless rate has soared to more than 20 percent as a recession in its fourth year deepens after the government defaulted on its debt and devalued in January. Public rage is running high in Argentina where protests against the government and banks are an almost daily event. A run on banks that saw more than 20 percent of deposits withdrawn last year led the government to impose a hated freeze on bank accounts in December. The measure helped push the beleaguered nation into chaos, with looting and riots ensuing later that same month that ended with ca 27 people killed and elected president Fernando de la Rua resigning. Duhalde was chosen by legislators in January to take the presidency and he has pleaded for the ailing middle class' patience while his officials try to figure out how to disarm the banking curb "time bomb" without triggering a financial collapse. Patience, however, is wearing thin as protesters pelted a bank and Congress, where debate of an austere 2002 budget had just begun, with feces on Thursday.

Now, the government said it plans to announce this week the conversion of those frozen bank deposits into bonds, two in U.S. dollars and one in pesos, for term deposits of up to 30,000 pesos in value, La Nacion and Clarin reported. Argentina on Wednesday won a hard-fought reduction in tax transfers to its provinces which is one of the essential elements in unlocking billions of dollars in foreign aid. Another condition, passage of an austere 2002 budget, is in the hands of the Senate this week after the lower house Chamber of Deputies passed the bill on Friday. The Senate is dominated by the ruling Peronists and is expected to vote on Wednesday. An International Monetary Fund mission headed by Anoop Singh, director for special operations, is due in Buenos Aires the day before to begin talks on unlocking aid. Argentina, looking for up to $25 billion from the IMF and other international lending institutions, has constantly failed over the last few years to meet promised economic and fiscal targets agreed with the lending body. 04-5-03 2002: Argentina will impose export taxes primary, industrial and agricultural goods in a bid to boost tax revenues, Economy Minister Jorge Remes Lenicov said Monday. The cash-strapped government, desperate for fresh revenue, will implement a 10 percent tax on exports of primary goods and a 5 percent levy on exports of industrial and farm goods. Tax revenues in Latin America's No. 3 economy have plunged during the four-year crisis. About 45 percent of Argentina's 36 million people live below the poverty line and the jobless rate has soared to more than 20 percent. Faced with daily protests against the deposit freeze and budget cuts, the government of President Eduardo Duhalde has said it expects exports, which became cheaper with the devaluation, to drive a recovery from a recession and has already slapped a 20 percent tax on oil exports.

"The export-demand hike from the devaluation will be reduced by the mercantilistic export-taxation", the anarchists say; - "What's the reason to devaluate then?" Millions of Argentine students missed their first day back at school on Monday as teachers demanded overdue wages from a government struggling to end the country's chaotic recession. Teachers in several provinces canceled the resumption of classes after the summer vacation and gathered outside schools to explain to kids and angry parents that the government owed them long-overdue back pay. The latest intrusion of the devastating slump into everyday life, which also froze the distribution of milk on Monday, turned up the heat. Duhalde must reconcile the tug-of-war between its responsibility to those like the teachers, who are clamoring for more funds to ease the recession's pain, and the demands of the IMF, which wants decades of runaway government spending to end. "The IMF doesn't act according to the necessary demand hike to do away with the unemployment". the anarchists say.Roughly 4.5 million students in Buenos Aires province, home to a third of Argentina's 36-7 million people, were unable to attend school which many depend on for their daily meals. Tax collections have, as mentioned, plummeted as the recession has dragged on, making financing difficult for the federal and provincial governments and forcing creative solutions. The relatively prosperous city of Buenos Aires said on Monday it would be forced to join the ranks of several provinces and print scrip to pay suppliers and possibly city workers as tax receipts slump.

The city said it would print 180 million pesos ($84.9 million) worth of the scrip at the end of March. Some economic "analysts" say only IMF cash would allow Argentina to ease the deposit freeze and cobble together a rescue package for local banks, which ratings agencies say are insolvent. The IMF has indicated it will take a hard line in the negotiations, eager to end Argentina's long habit of spending more than it earns in the wake of this year's disastrous default on part of its $141 billion public debt. But the clock is ticking, as the economy has ground nearly to a halt and street protests continue. The price increases on basic imported medicines has forced many hospitals to stop performing some surgeries. Dairy farmers formed human chains outside milk factories on Monday to protest the low prices at which the government has forced them to sell to prevent inflation. Producers said supermarkets in some parts of the country could start running short of milk if the blockades continue through Wednesday, adding they would donate their milk instead to the nearly 45 percent of Argentines below the poverty line. "We'd prefer to give it to the needy rather than just start throwing out milk," said a spokesman for a rural association in Cordoba province.

"If we do have to start throwing it away, it will definitely be the industry's fault." 05-06.03.2002: .The Argentine Government has announced a series of measures it says will strengthen social spending and launch a new economic cycle. The unexpected announcement came as International Monetary Fund officials arrived in Buenos Aires on Tuesday, for talks seen as crucial for the resumption of suspended aid. The measures include the new taxes on exports - with the money being earmarked for social programmes - and half-a-billion dollars in loans for manufacturers and producers. The government is also offering savers whose deposits were frozen a chance to exchange the deposits for dollar-denominated or peso-denominated bonds. It is unclear how many account holders will be willing to accept the new bonds since the country has already defaulted on part of its $141bn public debt in January. But Economy Minister Jorge Remes Lenicov insisted the package would "improve the performance of the economy, give fiscal solvency, strengthen social programs and help companies recover so as to launch a new (economic) cycle."

"Not much, it's far from optimal demand management based on efficiency and fairness" the anarchists say. The teachers' protests continue. Several are dying every day for lack of imported medical supplies and surgeons are among the latest groups to take strike action. Eduardo Duhalde faces a difficult dilemma. He must reconcile the tug-of-war between his responsibility to those like the teachers, who are clamouring for more funds to ease the recession's pain, and the demands of the IMF, which wants decades of runaway government spending to end.

"The real solution is anarchist demand management and the rest of the anarchist economical plan", the anarchists say. "These are the hardest times we've ever lived through in the national education system, in the country generally and for those who are unemployed," said leader of CTERA, Argentina's biggest teachers' union, Martha Maffei. "Never before have we seen 50% of our children living below the poverty line," she said during a day of protests in which teachers asked the government to fulfil its wage obligations.The Argentine Government has announced emergency security measures in an attempt to halt increasing football violence, which has claimed three lives and injured hundreds more in the last two weeks alone. At least 152 people have died in football-related violence since the country's professional leagues started in 1930.

"In the Anarchy of Norway, nobody ever has died of football related violence so far" a spokesman from NACO said in a comment to IJ@ 06.03.2002.06-08.03.2002;The Argentine Supreme Court has banned the sale of the day-after pill, used to stop pregnancies up to 72 hours after sexual intercourse. In a narrow majority ruling, the court ruled that the pill was a form of abortion.The judges defined human life as beginning at the moment of fertilisation, rejecting a previous interpretation that life is created when the embryo reaches the uterus. The day-after pill was first authorised in Argentina in 1996. The judges defined human life as beginning at the moment of fertilisation, rejecting a previous interpretation that life is created when the embryo reaches the uterus. The day-after pill was first authorised in Argentina in 1996. Its use is recommended by the World Health Organisation.

"Then why is Argentinian law against it? "the anarchists ask:"- And the country cannot borrow itself out of the depression!" Argentina's chances of getting a badly needed loan from the International Monetary Fund should be clearer by next week, Deputy Economy Minister Jorge Todesca has said. The United States has greeted Argentina's success in the honey business by effectively shutting it out of the market. his will contribute to reduce export and demand. President Eduardo Duhalde's government said Wednesday it is confident of winning the release of billions of dollars in international aid shut frozen during last year's financial meltdown. Economy Minister Jorge Remes Lenicov voiced the upbeat prediction as the government prepared to resume formal negotiations with the International Monetary Fund and a ranking official who flew here from Washington. "We are going to arrive at an accord with the IMF that will allow the country to re-establish confidence and access to international credit,'' Remes Lenicov told reporters.But this was a bit too optimistic. Though Argentina and the International Monetary Fund are once again discussing new loans to help ease the country's economic crisis, a fundamental obstacle has emerged. The Argentine government says it cannot carry out the economic changes that the fund and other creditors are demanding unless it receives fresh money from abroad first, but foreign lenders say they cannot advance the country any new money until after it has shown some results. ''We need to break the circle,'' Economy Minister Jorge Remes Lenicov said last week before heading off to Washington to talk with I.M.F. officials. But neither side is willing to blink first. So the economy here, battered by a 50-60 percent devaluation of the peso, a freeze on bank deposits and the partial default on $141 billion in public debt, remains in a state of suspended animation. Argentina was once the darling of investors, a large emerging market graced with stability and transparency. Now, it has defaulted on $132 billion in foreign debt, its banking system is in turmoil, the value of its currency is uncertain, and middle-class Argentines have rioted through the elegant squares of Buenos Aires. How did this happen? One of the main suspects is the Convertibility Law that Argentina adopted in 1991, a modified currency board system that pegged the peso to the dollar one to one. At first, it succeeded in taming Argentina's runaway inflation, but many economists believe it eventually became a severe drain on the economy.

So do the anarchists - such a bureaucratical mercantilistic tie on the exchang rate is doing no good in a system with different development of productivity. Argentina's private pension funds are considering a court battle against government plans to turn their dollar investments into devalued pesos, an industry executive said. The government plans to convert pension funds' holdings of $12.4 billion of dollar-denominated bonds into pesos at 1.40 pesos to the dollar. On Friday, the peso was selling at 2.27 to the dollar in large-scale transactions. That difference represents close to a 40 percent loss to pension funds in foreign exchange conversion and prompted the industry to take out full-page newspaper ads on Friday calling on the government to honor the bond contracts. "We believe the government has no need to do this. We are talking about a portfolio that has an average maturity of about 20 years, so this does not affect the government today," said Horacio Canestri, director of the 12-fund umbrella group that took out the advertisements. "In keeping with laws and our implicit mandate with our millions of clients, the AFJP (pension funds) will continue in our fight to preserve the retirement savings of Argentines and we will act in all arenas," reads the advertisement by the 12-member pension fund group. The group, which represents 8.8 million Argentine clients -- of whom barely 35 percent now make regular monthly payments as the estimated unemployment rate has soared beyond 20 percent -- is studying taking the government to court, Canestri said. Conversion of bonds held by pension funds would be similar to dollar accounts held by banking system depositors whose holdings were converted at 1.40 pesos to the dollar while the peso has depreciated about 56 percent against the dollar since January. "Given this situation, we offered to help.

We could tell the government not to pay us for three or four years and on the other hand offer to change the interest rate (on bonds) from seven percent to a floating rate plus two basis points. The floating rate could be the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) which stands at about 2 percent", Canestri said."This seems to us to be a reasonable and logical offer we are making," he added. Pension funds also argue the government should not alienate them by converting their holdings into devalued pesos since they may be the only source of government credit in the coming years, Canestri said. "This affects practically 9 million clients and their families. We are acting ... before a situation that attacks the retirement future of Argentines in a terrible way," he added. Emerging markets guru Mark Mobius does not expect the IMF to give Argentina aid it vitally needs to pull out of crisis and end a crushing four-year recession, saying the country's woes have far from bottomed out. Mobius, president of Templeton Emerging Markets Funds, told Reuters in an interview on a visit to Buenos Aires on Friday the Argentine government urgently needs to reverse its economic policies, give angry savers back their savings held hostage in banks and stop slapping taxes on exporters. "I don't think the IMF will give them anything. And I think that would be the best thing. Then (Argentina) will have to go back home and have a good look in the mirror," he said. "Argentina is going in the wrong direction." The Argentine government is praying IMF aid talks now underway will unlock almost $10 billion remaining in a $22 billion IMF program suspended in December.

The government hopes to obtain more than $20 billion overall from the international community to stabilize the economy. Mobius said any aid Argentina does manage to scrimp together should be injected straight into the bank accounts of Argentines whose savings have been slashed by devaluation and put out of reach in the banks to stop the financial system collapsing. "One scenario would be for there to be a change in government, a new government adapting radical policies going in the opposite direction -- cutting taxes, encouraging exports, and taking measures that will boost confidence like paying back the deposits that people lost in dollars," he said. Mobius said the some $70 million in investments he manages in Argentina had taken a $20 million to $30 million hit as the crisis deepened after the government defaulted on part of the $141 billion public debt and devalued the peso. He said he expected to see the Argentine peso trade at over three to the dollar by year end, and forecast the economy would shrink 8 percent this year while inflation would hit 40-50 percent - way off government forecasts he said were totally unrealistic. And he has no plans to touch investments in Argentina until government policies go into reverse. "Getting money out is problematic. But I might be prepared to throw good money after bad if policies change," he added, saying that until then he would be looking at investing in fellow Latin American markets Brazil, Mexico, Chile and Peru. "How can you end recession if you are taxing people to hell?" he asked. Mobius' visit comes as the country smolders with daily demonstrations against the poverty affecting nearly half the population and the savings freeze. Argentina's poorest are now spilling out of the slums to live on the streets of the capital in the hopes of handouts -- virtually unheard of just a few months ago. President Eduardo Duhalde, Argentina's fifth leader since mid-December, has slapped taxes on commodities like grains and oil and industrial exports hoping to offset a slump in tax revenues in a bid to ward off fears of a repeat of the rioting and looting that toppled the government last year and left 27 dead. And with Argentina's crisis yet to touch bottom in his view, Mobius would not be surprised to see more of the same. "What it may take is some real violence, real social unrest to wake these guys up because they are living in the past," he said.

"Although we don't agree with the liberalistical guru in general, he has a few sound non-mercantilist points" the anarchists say. Argentine President Eduardo Duhalde said on Saturday he was confident the International Monetary Fund would supply the aid the country needs to recover from a crushing economic crisis. The Argentine government is hoping IMF aid talks under way will unlock almost $10 billion remaining in a $22 billion IMF program suspended in December. The government hopes to obtain more than $20 billion overall from the international community to stabilize the economy. "Little by little, they (the IMF) are beginning to understand us and I am convinced that they are going to give us aid. ... We are working very well in Argentina and we are almost certainly going to be supported," Duhalde told local radio. Argentina's economic output will shrink dramatically in the first half of this year, but return to growth in the last two quarters, Deputy Economy Minister Jorge Todesca said on Sunday. "In February we will hit the bottom of the crisis," he told reporters during the annual meeting of the Inter-American Development Bank in this northern Brazilian city. Todesca said the Gross Domestic Product will contract 8.0 percent in the first quarter and 7.0 percent in the second, compared to the same quarters last year. But the economy will expand 1.0 percent in the third quarter and 4.0 percent in the fourth, compared to the same quarters last year, he said. The Argentine economy is budgeted to shrink 4.9 percent this year, though private economists estimate the contraction will be two to three times more. "It will probably shrink even more if not a proper demand management is introduced!" The anarchists say.Argentina pleaded for renewed international financial help on Sunday to overcome its deep economic crisis, warning of more social and political upheaval if rescue loans are not forthcoming. "To overcome the crisis sooner, we need the support of the international community, not just with words but with loans and funds," Argentine Economy Minister Jorge Remes Lenicov said. Otherwise the crisis will deepen and the government may not survive until September elections, Remes told international investors and finance officials from across the hemisphere at the annual meeting of the Inter-American Development Bank. "It is continuity or anarchy. That is the risk we see," Deputy Economy Minister Jorge Todesca told reporters. Finance ministers from other Latin American nations, keen to avoid financial turbulence spreading to their economies, backed Argentina's urgent call for assistance from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other lending agencies.

"It will never be anarchy, just more populist chaos if this continue, and the anarchist economical plan is not put at work" The anarchists say! 11-12.03.2002: The gravity of Argentina's economic and political crisis curbed the hopes of finding a timely solution to its insurance industry's chronic struggle toward efficiency and stability, said a new Standard & Poor's report. "After a decade of struggle to amend past errors, the Argentine insurance sector had managed to improve its solvency and transparency, turning itself into a more consolidated market on the verge of showing a profit for the first time in years," said Carina Lopez Espino, an associate director with Standard & Poor's financial services ratings group in Buenos Aires. Argentine stocks rose on Monday as investors looked for shares as a safe haven and awaited news of cash-starved Banco de Galicia's GAL.BA plans for a rescue package, while the local peso currency weakened against the dollar. "Given the scarce options of investors in today's market, the shares are the safe haven from the daily depreciation of the local currency," said one bank agent." No comment!", say the anarchists. Argentine President Eduardo Duhalde said on Tuesday multilateral lenders will offer aid in about one month to help pull the nation out of its four-year recession. An International Monetary Fund mission is in Buenos Aires after suspending aid in December following a litany of broken promises by Argentina to cut its chronic deficit spending. The mission's visit is the first step to unlocking nearly $10 billion in remaining aid under an IMF agreement. "I am thinking that in about one month we will have a reply from the organizations. We have been with authorities from the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank and there is a very good chance that they give us aid," Duhalde told local radio.

"We would not lend him a cent until Argentina follows the anarchist economical plan!" the anarchists say. Argentina's peso weakened 4.13 percent against the dollar on Tuesday afternoon as importers, individuals and banks bought dollars in the absence of Central Bank intervention to prop up the devalued currency, traders said. The peso weakened to trade at 2.40/2.42 (buy/sell rate) per dollar for large-scale transactions in the foreign exchange market, compared with Monday's close of 2.30/2.32. Argentine President Eduardo Duhalde said on Tuesday the Central Bank should intervene in the foreign exchange market to keep the peso currency within "adequate margins". "The Central Bank will take the steps it needs to take so the peso does not sink ... It is time to intervene to keep it in adequate margins," Duhalde told local radio.

The "adequate margins" are around 70-80 % devaluation!" the anarchists say.Working in a bank used to be the archetypal safe job in Argentina, where a son would follow in his father's footsteps. But with the country in political and economic turmoil, banking has become a risky business. Working in a bank "is like living in a war zone," complains a local banker. "We need helmets to protect us from the stuff they throw at us in the streets." The banker, like many of his colleagues, now leaves his business suits hanging in the closet, and goes to work in casual clothes to avoid recognition. The Buenos Aires financial district, known as "La City" with its narrow streets, cafes, bars and cigar shops that are reminiscent of New York's Wall Street and the City of London, appears to be on full battle alert. Metal sheeting covers bank windows and clients enter and leave through holes in the wall guarded by armed police - an image that sums up Argentina's loss of faith not only in its political leadership, but the basic tenets of banking. Bankers run a daily gauntlet of angry customers waving banners with the slogans "Give Back our Deposits!" and "Thieves!" Many Argentines swear they will never again trust a bank. As they change available cash into dollars, they are equally distrustful of the local peso currency that was devalued in January andmore than halved against the dollar after more than a decade of being pegged at a one-to-one rate. Tempers are short.

Unguarded banks are frequently targeted by irate crowds throwing eggs, bricks, Molotov cocktails, hammers and even rolling pins - actions that led the banking association to take out a newspaper advertisement imploring demonstrators not to harm its employees. "To attack the bank-workers in an ochlarchical way is not the right thing to do!" - the anarchists say. Not surprisingly, bankers' jobs have changed since Latin America's third-largest economy dropped into an economic abyss in December, and a cash freeze was ordered to plug a run on banks that had already seen a quarter of their deposits disappear. AS mentioned with savings confiscated and cash withdrawals limited to $1,500 a month, unrest boiled over. Blamed for mismanagement of the economy, President Fernando de la Rua, as well as his immediate successor, Adolfo Rodriguez Saa, were forced to resign. One European bank's local analyst, working from a five-star hotel in the suburbs and only occasionally venturing into town, says his job description has been radically altered: "Calls come in daily from Europe asking me if there has been a coup. We economists have become sociologists and political scientists." Global banking giant HSBC's head of Argentine operations, Briton Mike Smith, told Reuters he was "managing the business on a crisis-survival basis, trying to stay one step ahead." With a Tres de Febrero University poll showing that over 70 percent of respondents have no intention of ever again putting their money in a bank, financial institutions are struggling to keep up with the permitted withdrawals, while continuing to deal with wages and payment of bills. In one fell swoop, the financial system has lost all the safeguards implemented in the 1990s, when an autonomous Central Bank imposed strict reserve requirements to protect depositors from a disaster such as Mexico's 1994-'95 currency devaluation. There was a massive run on banks during the "tequila crisis" but the money came back eventually to a consolidated sector where all but one of the biggest private banks are now foreign-owned.

With the evolution of a modern economy, wages were starting to be paid via banks and homes were bought with checks instead of wads of cash.But since the savings freeze, said HSBC's Smith, "a whole generation trained to get a degree, get a job, get a mortgage and live in the first world has been destroyed and is asking: 'Where are my savings, where is my future?'" Facing what he estimated would be a lengthy recovery, the British banker said: "Liquidity is the name of the game, running the thing on a completely cash-flow basis." "They (the demonstrators) appear to want to destroy the financial system," said the head of one foreign bank in an office near historic Plaza de Mayo, scene of December's riots and ongoing daily protests. On the plaza stands the pink palace now occupied by Eduardo Duhalde, who on being appointed president in January pinned the blame for Argentina's ills on foreign bankers. But, Duhalde has since played down fears that he is a throwback to the nationalist, populist roots of his Peronist Party. "You can't run an economy without a financial system, but the way they are going at the moment, I can't see the light at the end of the tunnel," said the banker, apologizing for his "casual" attire - an open-necked shirt and suede shoes, accessorized with a gold watch. His aides were tensely awaiting a "raid" by federal judges investigating foreign banks for allegedly bypassing capital restrictions to channel out an estimated $500 million. The charge of "economic subversion" invented by the last dictatorship has been revived to order executives from six banks - including U.S., Brazilian and Canadian banks - from leaving the country. Bank vaults have been raided and eight top foreign and local executives ordered to testify. Television showed "secret" footage of bank managers offering to help withdraw cash and an investigating judge, Maria Servini de Cubria, saying: "This crime exists, and it is time to prosecute it because of the state our economy is in." Bankers argue they are being made scapegoats for depositors' wrath which, they say, should be aimed at past and present officials who introduced or maintain the savings freeze. Foreign bankers want the cash restrictions lifted and say they are prevented from returning savers' funds to save hard-pushed local banks.

"Some banks will fall," said one banker. "They will kill the banks, but the banks have been killed already." "Just follow the anarchist economical plan..." the anarchists say.13-14.03.2002: Argentines have gone en masse to exchange houses to buy dollars as a safe haven from the country's troubles. The peso currency has plummeted to around 2.50 pesos to the dollar, a devaluation of nearly 60 percent since January, threatening to ruin the government's economic policies and spark inflation. In what is now an almost daily show of the public anger that flared into riots and looting late last year, angry savers have banged pots and pans by banks to protest a freeze of bank savings. Dozens of protesters gathered in front of the heavily guarded U.S. Embassy to demand that U.S. bank laws protecting deposits be enforced at branches of U.S. banks in Argentina. Government officials - worried by fears of civil unrest - said that they were surprised how tough the IMF was despite the passing this month of an austere budget. But now they have decided to revise the budget to ensure IMF support. The World Bank also threw cold water on Argentina's plea on Wednesday, saying the government must tackle fiscal and banking issues first before it gets aid. Investment bankers urged the government to redouble its efforts before seeking foreign aid. "This is a time for action rather than pleas for help," Solomon Smith Barney's head of Latin American Investment Banking, Carlos Novis Guimaraes, told Reuters.

"Yes, but actions according to the anarchist economical plan, not IMF monetarism!" the anarchists say. Among the IMF's concerns is continued overspending by the central government, the printing of scrip by the highly-indebted provinces and a controversial bankruptcy law that some say tips the legal scale in debtors' favor. President Eduardo Duhalde is desperately trying to negotiate a restoration of IMF aid. "This will however not reverse the recession", the anarchists say. President Duhalde says that without IMF help in the next month, Argentina faces a return to the rioting and unrest which left 27 people dead in December. "If the president tells me its summer, I'll go out and buy a sweater," said one saver outside a foreign exchange house. The statistics paint a frightening picture of Argentina's continued decline. Nearly half the population now live below the poverty line, unable to pay for basics like food, rent and essential services. The IMF is now predicting the economy will shrink by another 8% this year, which means more companies closing and more job cuts. IMF officials, while welcoming some changes in Argentina, have also warned the government to stop printing money. The government, which is still running a deficit, is printing billions of pesos to try to pay its workers. So are provincial governments - there are now 14 different local bonds or currencies in circulation. An annexe of Congress has had to be boarded up with metal sheets to protect those inside from angry protestors, some threatening to kill politicians. Many banks have done the same. Politicians on the street have also been attacked and abused. But the IMF, under criticism in the United States that it bailed out Argentina for too long, shows no signs of restoring aid until there is evidence that the government's policies can lead to a sustained recovery.

"The populist chaos policy should end - and the anarchist eonomical plan mentioned above should soon be put to work," the anarchists say.14.03.2002: Buenos Aires: - Protesters screaming "Long live heroes of the General Belgrano" heckled visiting British Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon as he paid homage on Thursday to Argentines killed during the Falklands War. Hoon said he had had an "excellent" working visit with his Argentine counterpart Horacio Jaunarena, which came two weeks before the 20th anniversary of Argentina's 1982 invasion of the British-ruled archipelago off the toe of South America in the Southern Atlantic. The General Belgrano was an Argentine warship sunk in the Falklands War. Of the Belgrano's 1,000-plus crew, 368 perished, many of them new recruits. The decision to sink the Belgrano, an aging ship that had been given to Argentina by the United States remains one of the most controversial of the war. Hoon briefly met with Argentine veterans of the Falklands War after laying a wreath at the foot of a monument to Argentine soldiers killed by British forces during the conflict at a ceremony in central Buenos Aires. A small group of protesters pursued Hoon's delegation waving a national flag as an Argentine military band played a traditional marching anthem taught to schoolchildren as a national cry for sovereignty over the islands. Despite underlining a "spirit of reconciliation" between the two nations, Hoon and Jaunarena said no special joint ceremonies by the armed forces were planned to mark the anniversary. British officials said there was no change in Britain's stance over of its sovereignty of the island cluster that Argentina calls Las Malvinas and has disputed since 1833. Some veterans said they felt snubbed after Hoon refused to accept a small embroidered Argentine flag and a bracelet that read "The Malvinas are Argentina's." "We thank him for coming to pay homage to our heroes, but I didn't like the fact he refused to accept the gift I tried to give him," said war veteran Simon Sequeira, who met Hoon dressed in a military vest emblazoned with medals and wearing his original dog tags from the conflict. Hoon refused to be drawn on whether Britain would accept Argentina's offer to help with peacekeeping missions in Afghanistan saying only that Britain was grateful for the offer, and was looking forward to Argentina playing a part in support operations if they crop up.

"Perhaps Argentina should concentrate on the the domestic political-economical problems and the anarchist economical plan!" the anarchist say 15.03.2002.An IMF mission wrapped up an avidly-watched 10-day visit to Buenos Aires on Friday saying it would continue negotiations on aid, but President Eduardo Duhalde said he could not yet meet all the IMF's demands for spending cuts. With Argentina desperate for billions of dollars in aid, the International Monetary Fund officials have said Argentina must do more to win aid, including stopping cash-strapped provinces from printing their own currencies.

"More borrowing will not solve Argentina's problems," the anarchists say. The lender said it anticipated the government would pave the way to end a hated bank savings freeze but did not mention a 10-point list of demands to cut spending and restore investor confidence that Duhalde said he had been given by the IMF. Protests continue to smolder, with thousands of unemployed marching in the capital to demand jobs and food, unfurling a huge national flag outside a Congress forced to erect metal barriers to protect its offices. "Anticipated structural and institutional reforms include measures to rebuild confidence in the bank and corporate sectors, thereby helping to create the conditions for the dismantling of the freeze on bank deposits," the lender's tough top negotiator on Argentina, Anoop Singh, said in a statement. "There is nothing new. It is like the (IMF) are not saying 'no' (to aid) but neither are they saying yes," said Emilio Boto, a bond trader at BNP Paribas Asset Management. Following the IMF visit, Deputy Economy Minister Jorge Todesca said hoped an accord would be reached by April. "Of the 10 points (the Fund) has sought, we have already fulfilled eight of them." Duhalde told local radio. "There are some that are impossible to implement now." "We have explained to the Fund ... that we have to take our time, that it's impossible in the midst of this crisis, this turbulence, to propose measures that are impossible." Economists say the government's forecast of a 4.9 percent economic contraction this year is hopelessly optimistic, and that the economy could shrink by twice that amount. "All of our economy ministers have gone to Harvard - to learn what? To rob the country?" said one frustrated woman, banging a pot on the facade of a bank boarded up with sheets of metal, voicing widespread anger at a political class seen as corrupt and inept. Duhalde's frustration at the lack of imminent aid despite his assurances that a pact would be clinched within a month boiled over on Thursday when he said the Fund was partly to blame for Argentina's woes by endorsing erroneous policies.

Half of the population lives in poverty, as measured by the ability to pay for essentials like food and rent, and tensions remain high, with daily protests amid deepening poverty, an unemployment rate of more than 20 percent and the hated savings freeze, which was imposed to avert a collapse of the banking system. But the protests are a far cry from rioting and looting in December. Scrambling for ways to help stabilize Argentina's economy, the government plans to make exporters cash in their foreign currency earnings more quickly. But with the fallout from Argentina's crisis hitting sectors like banking and retailers as consumer spending (= demand) collapses, many analysts see no prospects of a recovery soon."Argentina is no-man's land. The political, economic and social situation is a disaster and the outlook remains grim," analyst Walter Molano of U.S.-based BCP Securities wrote in a research note. Duhalde has urged the newly independent Central Bank to try hard to bring the peso back to "more adequate margins." But despite almost daily central bank intervention, the peso is still trading around 2.44/2.46 (buy/sell) to the dollar, a far cry from the one-to-one rate that reigned for a decade and made Argentina one of the most expensive countries in the world to do business in.

17.03.2002: "Either approximation to the anarchist economical plan, or continuing populist bureaucratic chaos!" the anarchists say.17-18.03.2002: The Argentine government, worried that a potent cocktail of devaluation, recession and inflation could produce more civil unrest, is mulling controls of prices of basic foods like bread and pasta. "We've proposed it, and it's up to the central government. The idea is to have a basic food basket with prices at pre-devaluation levels," Felipe Sola, Buenos Aires governor and a leading member of the ruling Peronist party, said over the weekend after discussions with government officials. Sola said the plan would be limited to controls of prices of foods that are most commonly used by families. It was one of the first signs that the government may be preparing price controls, widely distrusted by investors and multilateral lending officials, who worry they only artificially delay price jumps.

"Yes, this will not work well!" the anarchists say. President Eduardo Duhalde is torn between the need to appease widespread protests against growing poverty and cutting spending to win billions of dollars in aid from the International Monetary Fund to stave off financial collapse. "Just take the "financial collapse", the anarchists say, "nobody can eat money anyway. Use it to change the system in a cheap way." Since the devaluation of the local currency in January, the peso has plummeted nearly 60 percent, and the effect is already being seen in supermarkets. "This is going in the right direction!" the anarchists say. Inflation was 2.3 percent in January and 3.1 percent in February. The government expects an inflation rate of 15 percent this year, but many economists say it could be double that.

"Then Argentina may use the 30% inflation scenario for demand management", the anarchists say.Rising prices and a weakening peso - which makes imported goods more expensive - are seen as the Achilles heel of the government. Many analysts said that Duhalde, in power until the end of 2003, may have to call early elections if the government fails to control inflation. The government is worried by price increases because in December growing protests against then-President Fernando de la Rua sparked looting of supermarkets and rioting that left 27 people died. De la Rua was forced to resign days later. Price studies have showed that inflation hits the poorest sectors of society the hardest. One study showed that while the consumer price index rose 3.1 percent in February, for the poorest sectors the rise was nearer 5 percent.

"Drop the slave-contracts and introduce free contracts and optimal demand management, etc. i.e. follow the anarchist economical plan,- and the problems will be solved!" the anarchists say. Mindful of the controversy surrounding price limits, cabinet chief Jorge Capitanich said over the weekend the government was looking at ways of limiting the rate of price rises but added, "We are not studying fixing maximum prices."Meanwhile, the government also said over the weekend that it could introduce new taxes to help boost revenues that have plummeted this year and threaten the government's ability to meet spending and budget deficit targets. Already under fire from investors for increasing taxes on companies to pay for state spending, Deputy Economy Minister Jorge Todesca said the government was studying a new tax.

"Tax the plutarchs, property included," the anarchists say. "It's very clear that this will not be any tax that affects consumers," the minister added, hinting that any new tax could again be levied on businesses.Argentina's Central Bank on Monday suspended a host of financial institutions from foreign exchange trading after they failed to comply with new rules designed to prop up the weak peso currency. The Central Bank, aiming to increase sales of dollars on the local market to strengthen the peso, on Friday ordered financial institutions, including state-run Banco Nacion and foreign-owned banks, to limit their holdings in dollars to five percent of their total net worth. Earlier Monday, the bank slapped a foreign exchange trading ban on 28 institutions it said had not provided data on their net worth, but later lifted the suspension on 15 institutions after they provided the data, leaving 13 still facing restrictions.

19.03.2002: "This is a hopeless task.." the anarchists say. Argentina's highly-criticized "economic subversion" law, recently cited by judges probing foreign banking executives over alleged capital flight, must be repealed or modified in line with IMF requests, President Eduardo Duhalde said on Tuesday. "I think that (subversion) law should be repealed or modified because it's so wide that it really undermines judicial guarantees," Duhalde told local radio. The government would also revise a new bankruptcy law, which has been criticized by the International Monetary Fund as stacking legal advantages in favor of debtors. "The economic subversion law, of course we have to eliminate it because it makes no sense, it affects the country and today, there are judges who are using this law to complicate the government's attempt to pull out of the crisis," Duhalde told local daily Ambito Financiero. 20.03.2002: "Small scale thinking!" the anarchists say.U.S President Bush said on Wednesday Argentina still needs to make "tough calls" to rein in spending, further dashing hopes for speedy aid from the International Monetary Fund and sending the peso currency falling to record lows. Skeptical comments rained down on Argentina just as President Eduardo Duhalde, already buffeted by daily street protests over his handling of the battered economy, flew to a United Nations meeting in Mexico to try to woo billions of dollars from the IMF to save the economy from meltdown. "The country itself is going to have to make some tough calls, starting with reforming the relationship between the states and their budgets and the central government," Bush said, echoing similar comments on Wednesday from the IMF.

21.033.2002: "More liberalism will not do the majority of the people much good. It's not the size of the public budget that is wrong, but how it is used. Cut "dead meat" all over, in private end public sector, and make room for real investments and growth according to the anarchist economical plans," the anarchists say.Argentina's economy shrank 4.5 percent in 2001 compared with 2000, the government said on Thursday, as a marathon recession spiraled out of control due to a virtual cutoff of credit markets. Argentina's gross domestic product shrank 10.7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2001 compared with the same period a year ago, the economy ministry said in a statement, as a partial freeze of bank deposits choked off consumption. The long slump sparked the violent street protests and the default on part of its $141 billion debt and devalue its peso currency in January. Argentina's economy shrank by 3.2 percent in 1999 and 0.5 percent in 2000 as emerging market crises abroad and slack consumer spending at home stifled output. The economy ministry also said gross domestic investment in 2001 fell 15.9 percent compared with 2000 as many companies braced for the oncoming disaster.

"The need to follow the anarchist economical plan is urgent", the anarchists say. Argentina said on Thursday it needed to reduce its foreign debt to less than 60 percent of its original value, the first clue to the scope of an upcoming restructuring after this year's default. With Argentina under heavy pressure from the IMF to begin talks with creditors in return for badly needed aid, Finance Secretary Lisandro Barry said the reduction in original value, or "haircut," would have to be steep to convince investors of the restructuring's viability amid a four-year recession.

"These looters should be not get a dime in economical "haircut"!" the anarchists say. The International Monetary Fund indicated Thursday that Argentina would likely come away from a U.N. aid summit empty handed, saying there was no "quick fix" for country's deep economic crisis. Argentina's foreign bondholders said on Thursday that the government's suggestion of a 40 percent reduction in its external debt burden was premature given the uncertainties still plaguing Latin America's third biggest economy. Until Argentina has attained greater stability punctuated by a viable budget and a new lending program from the International Monetary Fund, the amount of debt forgiveness cannot be realistically discussed, said Peter Allen, financial advisor to the New York-based Argentina Bondholders Committee. "Any estimate of their debt service capacity is premature at this time," Allen said. "Argentina needs to come forward with a coherent budget that contains in it a line for debt service. They can't just throw these numbers around." U.S. Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill said on Thursday he was hopeful economically troubled Argentina can meet conditions within weeks that will qualify it for renewed international loans. "I think maybe there is a horizon out there sometime within the next three months of actually getting this fixed," O'Neill told a small group of reporters. Earlier, he held a bilateral meeting with Argentina's Economy Minister Jorge Remes Lenicov that O'Neill said had left him very hopeful. "I came away with a very clear feeling that there's understanding of what needs to be done and a dedication to take the steps to get there," O'Neill said. "So I'd say it's an issue of working out the specifics and the timing." "I'm very hopeful we're talking in terms of near-term prospects, and by that I mean probably measured in weeks, hopefully not more than a few months" to meet conditions for renewed lending, he said.

22.03.2002:"Any new loans should strictly go to productive real investments", the anarchists say: "If not, it will probably just mean more looting."Argentina's peso closed at a new record low of 3.10 to the U.S. dollar on Friday, despite Central Bank efforts to slow the slide of the devalued currency via foreign exchange market intervention. The peso weakened to end at 3.00/3.10 (buy/sell rate) per dollar for large-scale transactions in the foreign exchange market, compared with Thursday's close at 2.53/2.55 (buy/sell rate), traders said. The Central Bank and three state banks had earlier offered dollars at artificially low levels to underpin the peso as panicky savers rushed to protect their savings by turning them into dollars. Some foreign exchange houses were forced to close early after running out of dollar bills. Friday's 17.74 percent intraday fall means the currency has slid 67.7 percent against the greenback since January's devaluation.

"The peso begins to reach a realistic level," the anarchists say.Argentina's former Economy Minister Domingo Cavallo, once a darling of Wall Street, has been charged with illegally instructing banks to ignore court rulings against banking curbs he imposed in December, court officials and a lawyer said. The judge also froze 20,000 pesos ($6,452) worth of Cavallo's assets and, if the former minister is found guilty of failing to comply with the duties of a public official, he could face two to six years of a suspended jail sentence. After only months on the job, Cavallo was forced in December to restrict cash withdrawals from banks to stop a devastating run on banks. The widely hated curbs remain in place and are blamed for destroying Argentines' faith in their financial system. Some courts ruled in December that the restrictions were illegal, allegedly prompting Cavallo to tell banks to ignore the rulings and go ahead with deposit curbs. Another former economy minister, Roque Fernandez, was charged on Friday on fraud charges in connection with alleged irregularities in loans between two banks in 1995 and the judge ordered 76 million pesos ($24.5 million) worth of his assets frozen, court officials said. Former Central Bank president Pedro Pou was also charged with fraud in the same case and 72 million pesos ($23.2 million) worth of his assets were frozen by the court.If found guilty, the former government officials and former bankers charged in the case face up to three years in suspended jail terms. The hugely unpopular bank curbs, in place since December, suffocated the Argentine economy and helped spark the looting and riots. President Eduardo Duhalde has since increased the bank curbs, which are the target of an estimated 160,000 lawsuits by depositors demanding that their life savings be released. Duhalde said on Friday he is convinced that his crisis-ravaged country will reach a new agreement with the International Monetary.

23.03.2002: "Perhaps in a month or two", the anarchists say, "but it will not solve the main problems. They may only be solved by approximations to the anarchist economical plan."Panic over Argentina's chaotic recession sent the peso cratering to all-time lows against the dollar on Friday, sparking fears of runaway inflation and endangering the Duhalde government's grip on power. Amid worries that a desperately needed bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) might not arrive for weeks, if at all, shopkeepers rubbed shoulders with bankers as they waited for hours at exchange houses to buy dollars to protect their savings. "The peso doesn't buy me anything," said Matias Amarillo, a 23-year-old vegetable store owner, as he stood in a long line downtown, where some exchange houses closed early after running out of dollars. "I prefer to sell the pesos I have now because I just don't know what's going to happen." Economists said the peso's dramatic decline since January's end to its decade-long fixed one-dollar-to-one-peso rate could fuel further price rises in basic staples like bread and meat -- and big trouble for Eduardo Duhalde, Argentina's fifth president since mid-December. With public rage running high over a hated freeze of bank deposits and memories still fresh from December riots, many on the street fear a fresh wave of chaos. Over a thousand unemployed marched in the city center and hundreds blocked a major highway into Cordoba, the country's second biggest city, in the latest in daily street protests. "I'd say his presidency is in danger," said James Neilson, a respected local political analyst. "His whole economic strategy was based on a successful devaluation, and it's been absolutely catastrophic.

People are starting to call Duhalde 'Easter' because they don't know whether he'll fall in March or April." Argentina said on Friday that the IMF would send a new negotiating mission to Buenos Aires in early April, after what both sides called a "very constructive" meeting between Duhalde and IMF chief Horst Koehler. But the news failed to ease the peso's fall. Economists say the peso's continued tumble could spark a widely dreaded return to hyperinflation, which hit 5,000 percent in Argentina in 1989. As mentioned, consumer price inflation already ratcheted up 2.3 percent in January and 3.1 percent in February -- significant rises for the nearly half of Argentines living in poverty. Over the last month, the Central Bank has spent $1.2 billion, or around 10 percent of its foreign reserves, in failed attempts to stop the peso's fall. More interventions on Friday did little to stop the decline. "It's craziness," said a currency trader. "There aren't many dollars in the market because everybody's buying, nobody's selling, and there aren't dollars coming from abroad." Police mounted a sting operation in downtown Buenos Aires to round up hawkers trying to sell dollars on the black market. About 250 such arrests have been made since the devaluation, police said on Friday. Argentina has a long history of uncontrolled inflation, leading some observers to claim that 70 years of constant economic crisis have left it unable to sustain its own currency. The "Convertibility" plan of the 1990's achieved monetary stability by fixing the peso to the dollar, but public and private overspending on imports led the peg to snap this year. Duhalde's government has rejected calls from the financial community, which fears banks could soon collapse en masse as the peso continues its fall, to adopt the dollar outright as the national currency. A top aide said on Friday that "the government is not going to change its economic plans."

"Let them go broke and buy/expropriate them cheap", the anarchists say 24.03.2002.Argentina hopes to refinance $5 billion loans due this year if it unlocks the International Monetary Fund aid vital to bail out its crisis-ravaged economy, Economy Minister Jorge Remes Lenicov told a newspaper on Sunday. IMF froze nearly $10 billion in aid to Latin America's third-largest economy in December after Argentina failed to control public spending. The IMF agreed on Friday to send a team to Buenos Aires next month for further talks which could pave the way to unfreezing loans after the government defaulted on part of a $141 billion public debt, devalued the currency and passed an austere 2002 budget. "How much and when - this depends on talks," Lenicov told Italian Corriere della Sera newspaper in an interview when asked what funds Buenos Aires hoped to win.

"I can tell that we are surely aiming to refinance $5 billion disbursed by the World Bank and the Inter American Development Bank which are due this year," Lenicov said. The IMF sent a mission to Argentina for 10 days earlier this month to assess the government's attempts to revive an economy that has not grown since mid-1998. Fund officials praised the country for passing an austere 2002 budget, but said more had to be done to end overspending and restore investor confidence. Lenicov said if the international financial aid was unlocked the funds would be first channelled to build up reserves and strengthen capitalisation of the country's financial system. Refinancing of foreign debt, including about 10 percent held by 350,000 Italians who bought Argentina's bonds, depended on negotiations with the IMF, he added. "The problem of refinancing foreign debt has not been confronted yet, but it does not mean that there is no hope. All depends on how the talks will go in April," he said. Lenicov said inflation in the first two months of this year was five percent but declined to give a forecast for March. The government expects inflation of 15 percent this year but economists have said it could be double or even race into hyperinflation if the government fails to control public spending. Lenicov said international financial aid was crucial to avoid social unrest in the country where daily street protests and the worsening economy have fueled fears of a return of the riots that hit Argentina in December.

"Of course the public spending must be controlled to avoid hyperinflation", the anarchists say, "but it must not choke total demand either! Furthermore, the monetarist, liberalistic policy suggested by IMF, will not increase demand sufficiently and create more slave-contracts. Follow the anarchist economical plan instead!"Despite fears of hyperinflation or a return of violent street protests, Argentina will take no "special" measures to stop the peso currency's recent dramatic slide, the president said in comments published on Sunday. Argentines rushed to supermarkets to stock up on basic goods from bread to baby diapers after panic over a four-year recession sent the peso falling nearly 18 percent on Friday to 3.10 per dollar, down a whopping 68 percent since the messy devaluation in January. But Eduardo Duhalde told Clarin and La Nacion in a joint interview that growing speculation his government might not survive a resulting rise in food prices was "the stupidest thing I've ever heard in my life." "There will be no special measure to (support the peso). It'll be the central bank that does it if it believes it opportune and the central bank has plenty of reserves to do it," Duhalde said. The central bank has spent $1.2 billion, or roughly 10 percent of its reserves, in the last month to prop up the peso, but the currency has still tumbled on fears Argentina might not get sorely needed aid from the International Monetary Fund. One consumer group said prices on basic foods are already up 8.4 percent in March, placing a heavy strain on the nearly half of Argentines below the poverty line and sparking fears of a return to December's riots. Spanish energy group Repsol-YPF increased its fuel prices over the weekend 4 percent, a move likely to reverberate in across-the-board price rises. Some worry about a return to an era like 1989, when annual inflation reached 5,000 percent. Duhalde said his government would not try to implement artificial caps, adding: "There can't be hyperinflation in Argentina because there's just no money, and if prices go up people won't have any cash to buy with."

"That's probably right" the anarchists say,"but ca constant low total demand plus rising prices will reduce employment even more!" Most on the street were not so sure. "I feel like I've gone back in time to the 1980's, when you had to buy a month's groceries as soon as you got your paycheck," said a housewife, as she loaded her shopping cart with milk and bread. Some economists (not anarchists) believe billions of dollars in IMF aid can stabilize Argentina's recession, which has deteriorated sharply. Wary of Argentina's decades-old habit of overspending, the IMF has demanded budget cuts in return for loans, but Duhalde said on Sunday no further changes would be made to the recently passed 2002 budget, widely described by private observers as overly optimistic in income forecasts. Duhalde said Argentina would not be able to meet another key IMF demand, the elimination of provincial bonds used widely as a quasi-currency amid a cash crunch. "This year we can't eliminate (the bonds). We're going to reduce the amount. And we'll continue reducing them next year," he said. The former governor of Buenos Aires province, Argentina's richest and most indebted, was described by Clarin as being "evasive" during the interview and warned his weary countrymen that worse times were ahead. "We're going to live moments more difficult than these," Duhalde said. "That's what I'm telling Argentines: it's unthinkable that there won't be more hardship." 25.03.2002: "Argentina is real-economically a rich country!" the anarchists say, "It's just the unenlightened plutarchy and chaotic bureaucracy economics of Duhalde and the upper classes, that create the hardship!"New exchange controls slapped on the peso by Argentina's central bank have failed to stem a slide in the currency's value to record lows.

Startled by the accelerating slump, the bank threw its reserves at the peso. But with nearly one tenth of the reserves - totalling $1.2bn - spent to little avail, the Central Bank has now banned foreign exchange traders and banks from buying dollars from it at the market rate. The new controls also limit the sale of dollars to $1,000 for each individual or $10,000 per company, while bureaux de change have had their opening hours slashed by half to just 3-1/2 hours a day. Still, so far there has been little effect. The decision to let the peso float saw a starting rate of 1.40 pesos to the greenback. By 1800 GMT Monday, a single dollar was buying 3.75 pesos - a fall of 75%. "In the absence of having some credible fiscal policy and economic management, spending reserves was just throwing money away," IDEA-global head of Latin American research Doug Smith, told the Reuters news agency. The sharp fall is raising fears that inflation could shoot up, since the shifting currency means the price of any goods sourced from outside Argentina is shooting up. Argentines, half of whom are below the poverty line amid unemployment above 22%, fear that the moves could be the harbinger of a return to the bad old days. The dollar-peso peg was introduced in the early 1990s to stem rampant inflation and turn around an economy hampered by deep-seated corruption. Now the government - the fifth since early December - of President Eduardo Duhalde, is "struggling" to keep the country going, desperate for new loans from a very reluctant International Monetary Fund. 26.03.2002: "Duhalde is probably not struggling for anything but more upperclass looting of the people, the future and foreigners", the anarchists say.

XXXVI. F.O.R.A. - INFORME DE LA SITUACIÓN EN LA ARGENTINA

A dos meses de la gigantesca explosión popular de aquel 19 y 20 de diciembre, cuando el pueblo salio a la calle espontáneamente a decir basta!!, basta de robo, basta de políticos organizando el saqueo de la población en beneficio de los grandes monopolios, basta de tanta miseria en una región inmensamente rica como la argentina y tras esas movilizaciones mando a pique a dos gobiernos en diez días, todo esto en forma autónoma y resistiendo los embates de un sistema político que no pretende perder sus privilegios. Tras la renuncia de De La Rua con un saldo de treinta muertos y el derrumbe de su proyecto economico (con 14 millones de pobres) el estado pone en escena una impresionante parodia de sucesión de mandos, tratando de hacer creer que estabamos frente al caos y al borde de la «anarquia» (¿?) difundida e interpretada esta por el poder político y los medios de comunicación como sinónimo de desorden y descomposición social.Ignorando la pueblada que echo a De La Rua y el estallido que acabo con el gobierno provisorio que por solo 7 días encabezo Rodríguez Saa, prometiendo absurdos como un millón de puestos de trabajo, no pagar la deuda externa (¿?), libertad a los presos políticos y otras tantas palabrerías de feria. Las cúpulas del peronismo (partido justicialista) y del radicalismo volvieron a decidir entre pocos el destino de todos imponiendo a Eduardo Duhalde como presidente.

En el contexto de una sociedad movilizada exigiendo que se entierren las practicas políticas que sustentaron un modelo economico que nos arrastro a la miseria en que estamos inmersos y con una clase política vilipendiada y en la que nadie cree; nadie mejor que el mafioso Duhalde, ya que si bien no puede mostrar transparencia, ni propuestas de cambio real maneja los hilos de la clientela política peronista de la provincia de Buenos Aires (el distrito más grande de la argentina) y es el único con alguna posibilidad de sostener un mandato hasta octubre del 2003. Este presidente impuesto es el fruto del llamado «compromiso histórico» tan mentado por los radicales y el nefasto Alfonsin, que tras las febriles reuniones en Lomas de Zamora en las que participaron, entre otros impresentables, Alberto Pierri, uno de los referentes más característicos del caciquismo político peronista y Osvaldo Mercuri oscuro personaje vinculado al narcotráfico bonaerense; tras la Asunción empiezan los discursos populistas pero no tan descabellados como los del derrocado Rodríguez Saa; en estos discursos pretende hacer creer a la población que ha tomado un país paralizado y desquiciado como si el no tuviera nada que ver con la realidad social actual y como si el partido justicialista (al cual que él pertenece) no hubiera sido la punta de lanza con la cual por medio de decretos o leyes adoptadas por los levantamanos de las cámaras de diputados y de senadores que aprobaron todas las fraudulentas privatizaciones, convalidaron las «relaciones carnales» con Estados Unidos, se festejaron el plan Caballo y se aplaudieron incondicionalmente todas las medidas de desarrollo impuestas y mas recientemente se concedieron superpoderes al ex ministro de economía Domingo Caballo en su acción depredadora con el ya conocido final, Duhalde muestra el papel de victima que recibe el país en quiebra y el fue parte activa de los que lo fundieron, convoca a la «madre espiritual» la iglesia católica ( de muy activa participación en las posiciones adoptadas por los políticos) para acompañar su gestión en carácter de consejera, ya la inmunda banda mafiosa de sindicalistas de la CGT siempre dispuestos a defender sus privilegios económicos y a desmontar las conquistas laborales que aun nos quedan a los trabajadores, sirviéndose de las patotas rentadas que apedrearon manifestantes en la Asunción presidencial y que actuaron en el mercado central contra los desocupados que pedían alimentos, además Duhalde cuenta con el ejercito de «manzaneras» en los barrios que le aseguran el clientelismo político siempre que haya migajas para repartir como en la abortada marcha de apoyo peronista que en 24 horas pudo reunir a 100.000 personas de entre el cordón de miseria del conurbano bonaerense para ir a la plaza de Mayo el mismo dia de las protestas, que hubiera sido un baño de sangre de haberse realizado. Para seguir disponiendo de este apoyo el gobierno ya obtuvo 2000 millones de dólares del BANCO MUNDIAL que serán utilizados en «acción social». Mientras tanto empiezan a conocerse las primeras definiciones llamadas a tener efecto a largo plazo en el rumbo económico, el default (cesación de pagos momentánea al FMI y demás acreedores internacionales), el fin de la convertibilidad (con una fuerte puja de algunos sectores para dolarizar) y el reconocimiento de algunas demandas de los 14 millones de argentinos que viven (o sobreviven) bajo la línea de pobreza y que en alguna medida fueron los protagonistas de los saqueos. Es innegable que no le resultara fácil a este mandatario elegido por una de las instituciones mas desprestigiadas (el congreso) hacerse cargo de conducir un país en bancarrota y a su vez manejar las pujas en su partido que tarde o temprano empezaran a ponerse en su camino y que poca ayuda le pueden dar sus aliados del radicalismo en terapia intensiva y un FREPASO ya casi extinguido.

Por otra parte, los grandes grupos económicos no parecen dispuestos a ceder sus posiciones y es previsible que enfrenten decididamente los más tibios intentos de limitar sus privilegios. Del otro lado del espectro la patética izquierda tratando de aparatear las todavía amorfas asambleas barriales que fueron las autenticas protagonistas de la pueblada y que se articularon desde la espontaneidad, esta izquierda con su miopía mental trata de apoderarse, coma sea, de toda lucha siempre que pueda garantizarle algunos electores en el 2003, mientras no tiene empacho en llevarse por delante los verdaderos ejes de la protesta porque el pueblo esta diciendo que no va mas la politiquería, y si en un primer momento en las protestas no se veían banderas, con su permanente tarea de desgaste termino por imponerlas lo que genera desmovilización en la gente que no tiene nada que ver con sus partidos y que fue quien en la calle paso por encima a los dirigentes políticos y gremiales, que no necesito de «directores» que le marquen el camino ni le «bajen línea», que se las ingenio en auto organizarse sin libretos y pudo identificar con claridad a las instituciones que violaron sus derechos y su libertad: el gobierno, el parlamento, la corte suprema de justicia y todo el espectro político que solo busca engordar candidatos.En esta pulseada el gobierno tiene a su favor una poderosa maquinaria política, que bien aceitada puede disputarles las calles a la rebeldía inorgánica de los que se cansaron de tantas falsas esperanzas; con la adhesión de un segmento muy importante de pobres y desocupados contenidos por el asistencialismo y con la puesta en funcionamiento de proyectos de contenido fascista. Para asustar a las masas seguirán instalando la idea del desorden y la violencia utilizando como ya vienen asiendo el enfrentamiento de pobres contra pobres, el enfrentamiento de ocupados contra desocupados, infiltrando provocadores para después reclamar mayor represión en defensa del orden. Tienen miedo y no les falta motivo, les molesta que el pueblo sé auto organice, que sé auto convoque, al margen de los políticos, que intente romper la cadena del control social que ellos inventaron para someternos. Consejo Federal. (FORA-AIT)

On Tuesday in Buenos Aires, only a few blocks from where Argentine President Eduardo Duhalde was the plans of the International Monetary Fund, a group of residents were going through a negotiation of a different kind.They were trying to save their home. In order to protect themselves from an eviction order, the residents of 335 Ayacucho, including 19 children, barricaded themselves inside and refused to leave. On the concrete facade of the house, a hand-printed sign said: "IMF Go To Hell." What does the IMF, in town to set conditions for releasing $9- billion in promised funds, have to do with the fate of these people? Well, here in a country where half the population now lives below the poverty line, it's hard to find a single sector of society whose fate does not somehow hinge on the decisions made by the international lender, a reporter said. However IMF is notvery much to blame for the problems, but the populist bureaucratic tie of the peso to the US $ over several years, and the policy in general, as analysed above..Librarians, teachers and other public sector workers, who have been getting paid in hastily-printed provincial currencies (sort of government IOUs), won't get paid at all if the provinces agree to IMF demands to stop printing this money, i.e. if not Duahalde tax the plutarchy and redistribute according to the anarchist economical plan, which is a better solution. And if deeper cuts are made to the public sector, as the IMF also is insisting, unemployed workers who account for between 20 and 30 per cent of the population, will have even less protection from the homelessness and hunger that has led tens of thousands to storm supermarkets demanding food.

However the "dead meat" in public sector must be done away with, and the public demand go to productive purposes.And if a solution isn't found to the "medical state of emergency" declared this week, it will certainly affect an elderly woman a reporter met recently on the outskirts of Buenos Aires. In a fit of shame and desperation, she pulled up her blouse and showed a group of foreigners the open wound and hanging tubes from a stomach operation that her doctor was not able to stitch up or dress due to lack of medical supplies.Maybe it seems rude to talk about such matters in the context of the IMF's visit. Economic analysis is supposed to be about the peg to the dollar, "peso-ification," and the dangers of "stagflation" -- not families losing homes and gaping wounds. Yet reading the reckless advice that the international business community is
hurling at the IMF and Argentina's government, perhaps a little personalizing is in order. IMF has not the right plans, they are liberalistic, serving the plutarchy, not the poeple. However Duhaldes populist chaotic looting policy is not much better. The solution is an approximation to the anarchist economical plan, the anarchists say 28.03.2002.

XXXVII. Neighborhood Associations

Argentina's New Neighborhood Associations/assemblies - the Seed of a New Form of Citizen Participation, by M. V.BUENOS AIRES - The neighborhood assemblies that have mushroomed throughout the capital of Argentina since the December protests and rioting that toppled two presidents within the space of two weeks have achieved some concrete results. But they have also become the target of violence at the hands of thugs at the service of certain political forces. The new neighborhood associations have organized community purchases of food at reduced prices, as well as volunteer brigades of skilled workers who reconnect homes to the public service grids when their electricity, household gas or water supplies are cut off for failure to pay their bills.The assemblies' projects range from a community vegetable garden to a neighborhood bank in which people can put their savings in order to keep them out of the financial system, where strict limits on cash withdrawals were imposed by the government in early December to prevent a run on banks. Neighborhood associations on the west side of Buenos Aires successfully pressured the Edesur power company to consider the possibility of a 180-day suspension of cut-offs due to delay in paying bills. Assemblies in other neighborhoods are demanding discount electricity rates for the unemployed. The phenomenon of neighborhood assemblies has boomed since the mass demonstrations that led to the resignation of president Fernando de la Rúa on Dec 20. The violence and brutal police crackdown on DEC 19 and 20 left a death toll of 30. At the assembly meetings, which are generally held in plazas or other public spaces, political and economic issues of national interest and pressing local problems are discussed.

The main focus is usually on the crisis faced by the public hospitals, unemployment (which has soared to ca 23 percent), and the widespread hunger and inability of families to buy food - questions that the neighborhood assemblies complain have received less than adequate attention from the country's political leaders. Local residents who have been organizing in lower-income suburbs to the north, south and west of Buenos Aires have become the targets of violence. Municipal employees and sympathizers of the traditional parties - the Justice (Peronist) Party and the Radical Civic Union - have attempted to intimidate the more active members of the associations, some of whom have even been beaten up.A nurse at a hospital in the western suburb of Morón said she was beaten to unconsciousness by a stranger who had trailed her for several days. At a neighborhood assembly, the nurse had complained that the leader of her trade union did not defend the workers, due to his political ties. When the neighborhood association in Merlo, west of the capital, began to grow in size and strength, around 200 men wearing no shirts broke into one of the meetings and beat local residents with ax handles, a teacher who has become a local activist told. After that incident, one of the rooms in the activist's home mysteriously caught fire. Telephone threats and different forms of repression - in which the police have generally not been involved - have become routine for members of theshow up to carry out audits as soon as they put up signs in their shop windows calling local residents together for an assembly.

President Eduardo Duhalde, has criticized the neighborhood association movement. ''It is impossible to govern with assemblies. The democratic way to organize and participate is through voting,'' he said. While the leaders of the traditional political parties discredit the phenomenon, the neighborhood associationss complain of a vacuum of power, which has led them to take their problems into their own hands. ''The question of hunger is an urgent one,'' said a local resident of Morón in an assembly. ''We cannot continue delaying our response to the offer by INTA (the National Institute of Agricultural Technology) of 200 empty hectares to plant a community garden. We have to decide who is going to work there, and what we are going to produce.'' A younger resident called for an acceleration of the discussion of special tariffs for public services.He also urged the assemblies to press their demand that a delegate be allowed to participate in the negotiations with the utility companies, the government and consumer groups, to keep the companies from ''taking advantage of the circumstances to increase electricity rates during the World Football Cup (in Japan and South Korea) in June.'' Although the activity of the associations has not slowed down, assistance has waned in recent weeks, several participants told.''It seems that less people are showing up now,'' Cristina Guerra, a 54-year-old nurse who has been unemployed for five months, told IPS. ''That allways happens - after the crisis comes to a head, participation falls off. But the important thing is that the assemblies continue to meet, to change a world that no one is satisfied with anymore. ''We are living in a cruel system, a society for the few, and the way to change that is by participating in these new spaces created by the people,'' said the nurse. Guerra said that in December, a ''rupture'' occurred between the people and the government. She predicted that local political leaders in the suburbs of Buenos Aires would attempt to obstruct the phenomenon of the assemblies. ''They only like to see people mobilizing in their favor, their political clients,'' who receive favors like food in exchange for participating in rallies and demonstrations, she said.''If we are able to solve some of our problems, we will create a parallel power. If we obtain, for example, a 50 percent discount in utility rates for the unemployed and for people with low incomes, we will take a leap forward in quality, and will have many more people participating,'' said Guerra.

Residents in the Buenos Aires neighborhood of Palermo Viejo have organized a first aid clinic while they continue discussing the problems plaguing the local hospital. In Ramos Mejía, on the outskirts of the capital, even the director of the local medical center has taken part in the neighborhood assembly. Assemblies are held once a week throughout the entire metropolitan region. They then send delegates to periodic ''inter- neighborhood meetings to share their experiences and discuss their common concerns.The participants want to make sure the organizations maintain a ''horizontal'' organizational structure, with rotating moderators and the creation of commissions to study the proposals that are formulated. Many assembly members believe it is possible for their organizations to eventually take on tasks that the government is unable to carry out effectively. According to Juan Mosca, an aeronautics industry worker from the town of Castelar, the associations should discuss ''the issues of dem ocracy.'' That view is shared by many residents of the greater Buenos Aires (a city of over 12 million people) who cast blank or spoiled ballots in the October parliamentary elections to signal their rejection of the political class. (Voting is compulsory in Argentina.) ''On DEC 19- 20 , the pact by which the leaders represented the people was broken, and our constitution no longer prevails. If it did, there wouldn't be 15 million poor (out of a total population of 37 million) or so many buses,'' said Mosca, 57, mounted on his bicycle after an inter-neighbourhood assembly in Morón. ''That's why I brought to this inter-neighbourhood meeting Castelar's proposal to begin discussing who will govern tomorrow, what our political designs and goals will be, and how we are going to replace our leaders and our judges,'' said Mosca, a veteran community activist.Since Argentina's four-year recession peaked in December's crisis, at least one out of three people surveyed by the local Hugo Haime polling firm say they have taken part in a neighborhood association or in a ''caceroleo'' (the pot-and-pan-banging protest) at least once. Of the respondents, 35 percent say the assemblies constitute ''a new form of political organization,'' 16 percent believe that ''new leadership will emerge'' from the movement, and 21 percent say the effervescence will eventually die down. The assemblies are gaining a growing space in the media, while they have begun to create their own alternative channels. A Morón radio station broadcasts the program ''Association Hour'', and they produce their own newspaper, ''Argentina is Burning''. ''Some people believe our numbers have shrunk. But those of us who are left are the ones who really want to do things, the ones who want to stop complaining in our homes and do what the politicians are not doing: work out our day-to-day problems, without political-party machines, just us and our organizations,'' said Guerra.

"Argentina - anarchists on neighbourhood assemblies", by "Folks at the Biblioteca Popular José Ingenieros" - Buenos Aires -Argentina: A local anarchist analysis of the developing situation. Some comments on neighbourhood assemblies. Even before the events of 19 and 20 December, and faced with the increasing deterioration of the economic and institutional situation, in some neighbourhoods of the city of Buenos Aires, local people began to meet up, almost spontaneously, on street corners, to share their unease and to discuss effective forms of protest. In the two weeks that followed the fall of Fernando De la Rua, the phenomenon multiplied, with around twenty neighbourhood assemblies being held and the creation of an inter-neighbourhood assembly. This meets on a weekly basis to co-ordinate the proposals of the neighbourhood assemblies, and has an average of 3000 "autoconvocados" from all the city's neighbourhoods participating in it. "Autoconvocados" is the word used in Argentina to describe people who are not part of institutionalised political groups, who take part in political action. It literally means "self-convened". Today there is already more than fifty assemblies operating in the city of Buenos Aires alone, while in Greater Buenos Aires (the urban belt surrounding the city, where there is the largest demographic concentration in the country), and in the rest of the country, the first steps are beginning to be taken in this direction.

Faced with this phenomenon of incipient direct democracy, unprecedented in the history of this country, we need to formulate some considerations that arise from both participation in and observation of this movement: The majority of the population of the city of Buenos Aires, the cradle of the phenomenon in question, belong to the middle class. The movements of protest and resistance against the current economic model have had several years of gestation. The middle class, however, were generally unaware of these, adopting a position of passive observance of the dictates issued by the financial powers, acritically accepting the consensus created by the mass media concerning the marginal nature of these protest movements, and profiting, as far as possible, from the "advantages" that this model seemed to offer them.The initial reason for these first "encounters" between local people was the unanimous rejection of the financial ring-fence (the so-called "corralito") set up by the then Minister of the Economy, Domingo Cavallo. Broadly speaking, this "corralito" consisted in the expropriation by the banks (and large companies, often associated with them) of a substantial part of the capital of hundreds of thousands of small and medium savers, in an attempt to save certain banking institutions from collapse. These measures not only dealt a direct blow to the impoverished middle class, who had originally been the main supporters of the government of the Alliance, but also had a devastating effect on domestic consumption, deepening a recession in the local economy that had been going on for more than four years. It was this situation that prompted the middle class - who felt let down and used by those who in turn had used them to reach power to meet in assemblies, thus giving material form to a growing mistrust and rejection of the traditional forms of participation that the institutions of representative democracy offered them.With time (in the very short time that this has gone on), the fundamental concerns of the assemblies moved on from the specific subject of the "corralito" to more general questions of the economic model and the political system.

At the same time there began to develop a sort of rapprochement between the assembly movement and the "piqueteros" movement; the latter are from anoth er socio-economic grouping, and have many years of struggle and resistance against the neoliberal model behind them, but not against capitalism as a whole. We consider this point, the union in the struggle between assembly - members and piqueteros, as one of the most interesting and positive aspects in this process. We must also remember that in the inter-neighbourhood assembly it was resolved to include delegates from both the piqueteros and the workers struggling against employers? organisations or the state, who had been left to their fate by the bureaucratic union leaders, as in the cases of the Bruckman textile workers or the Zanón ceramic workers, who in both cases occupied their factories before these were closed down by the respective companies.This whole assembly movement is in its very early stages and is just beginning to take its first steps. Coexisting in it are local people with no experience of political participation, alongside experienced militants from the whole spectrum of the left, and even some poorly camouflaged "snipers" from the discredited traditional parties. The assemblies generally operate horizontally, with rotation of co-ordinators, speaking times, etc. In them the people talk quite freely, and are able to listen to speeches of all types: from naive local people who repeat the alienating discourses of the mass media, to "self-sacrificing" militants who repeat the alienating discourses of the party, to "eminent" fascists who are in raptures before the flag and the national anthem, to the occasional libertarian, and so on. Nevertheless, it is the voice of "common sense" that prevails, and a marked distrust and rejection of any whiff of institutions, leaderships or political parties can be perceived. Each assembly is autonomous from the rest of the assemblies. No assembly speaks or decides for any other than itself.

This autonomy is reflected in the co-ordinating inter-neighbourhood assembly, where in a manner much closer to federalism than centralism, even if with the inevitable defects of all new movements, all the assemblies usually have the same opportunities when presenting their proposals to the rest. Another feature that it is important to highlight, in this case of the inter-neighbourhood assembly, is that this is co-ordinated by rotation, that is to say, every week the neighbourhood assemblies rotate the function of co-ordinating and organising the inter-neighbourhood ones.As a final point, it is necessary to warn about the fragility of these assemblies; this fragility is constantly stressed by the groups that do not benefit from an exercise of direct and popular democracy, and so try to undermine a movement that, if it were to take root, would make the rotten foundations of many power structures tremble. This fragility is perceived in aspects such as the lack of patience when faced with certain difficulties that arise from limited experience of horizontal practices, particularly at the time of making or voting on resolutions, with many feeling that this apparent wasting of time is in turn a wasting of forces; also regarding the capacity to put these resolutions into practice, when the desired impact is often not achieved in the actual actions.Resolutions: Perhaps an analysis of the resolutions that are proposed and voted on in both the neighbourhood and the inter-neighbourhood assemblies will enable us to understand this phenomenon that is very new at local level, but is spreading fast. The fact that there are contradictory resolutions, we believe, faithfully reflects the heterogeneous nature of the assembly movement, as well as its understandable immaturity.

Taking as our example the fourth inter-neighbourhood assembly, we see that at the same time proposals of a radical nature are voted for, as is the case of: "The people must (self) govern through its assemblies" or the case of "Annul article 22 of the constitution, which prevents the people from self-governing, only being able to do so through representatives" along with moderate ones such as "Remove the special powers of the Head of the City's Government, Aníbal Ibarra", or one previously voted for, which demanded "Representation of neighbourhood assemblies in the legislative chambers with voice and vote". It can also be seen through some proposals that certain groups, especially the CTA (Union of Argentinian Workers), the MST (Workers' Socialist Movement, in the United Left coalition) and the P.O (Workers Party, i.e Trotskyite), attempt to manouevre the assembly movement in their own direction. A clear (and pathetic) example of this was when, in the fifth inter-neighbourhood assembly, there was a vote in favour of a proposal to march round the National Congress on 13.02.2002, the day when there was to be discussion on the approval of the executive budget for the year 2002; when the assemblies reached the Congress they saw that a stage had previously been erected, from which leaders of the CTA were speaking. Other examples quickly come to light when we review the proposals for votes, and we note that some of these are party manifestos, such as the call for a "free and sovereign Constituent Assembly", the platform of the ultra-troskyist P.O. However, it is important and positive that the proposals that in our view are freshest and most original almost all come from assembly-members who are not involved in union or party structures, or at least, are not "brainwashed" by these structures and their discourses. But we cannot help but stress the naive character of many resolutions, such as the one that proposes that "hiding information by an organ of the mass media must be sanctioned by the penal code", ignoring the fact that it is the very essence of these media conglomerates to be shapers of consent. As regards the role that the libertarian or anarchist movement in general plays in these assemblies, it would be difficult to outline a general line of action; we believe it would even be unnecessary.

Many members of these groups participate in the assemblies, and immediately after the events of 19 and 20 December, there was an attempt by some groups to positively disseminate the message and promote the creation of neighbourhood assemblies, when these were still a minuscule and isolated phenomenon. Just days before the fall of President De la Rua, Osvaldo Bayer, a recognised libertarian writer, was asked on a radio programme who should lead an imminent change in the country's political and economic situation. Bayer answered that "the assemblies must do it, everybody's assemblies", and this aroused an almost mocking and amazed silence on the part of the person who had asked him the question. At that time, few imagined that a movement with these characteristics could arise and spread with the spontaneity and force that it is showing today. We believe that as anarchists we must defend and enrich the resource, the valuable space that these assemblies/associations are, to in turn enrich ourselves with them, provided they maintain their characteristics of horizontality, solidarity, freedom of speech, respect for other assemblies, autonomy and co-ordination in the various struggles. Almost without knowing it, and sometimes in spite of us, from the very beginning these assemblies, if not in word then in deed, raised historic libertarian flags, such as federalism, autonomy and the construction of an alternative from the bottom up. We believe that it is our task to prevent these principles from being lost, distorted, or, in the worst of cases, from being just that, principles, and not concrete practices. Fortunately there is a lot to learn, a lot to do, to improve, and a long way to walk. The Fellows of the José Ingenieros Popular Library, Buenos Aires, 22.02.2002

29.03.2002: "As mentioned, these assemblies/associations may be very well, similar to the co-operatives of local welfare "Norges Vel" and "Velforeninger" in the anarchy of Norway, but it is not anarchosyndicalist labor federations for autogestion in the factories, and not consumers' co-operatives for trade, housing and services or farming co-operatives - and not communal, federal and confederal public sector organizations, for decisions on anarchist demand management, and anarchist political economy in general, tribunals included, to promote and secure that anarchist principles really are working. Thus, it is as mentioned by the Anarchist Library, a very long way to go, if this is going to be a basis for a solution," IIFOR says: "Perhaps something should be done more quick in Argentina?"

28-29.03.2002: Argentina has received its first financial assistance since its economy went into full-scale meltdown late last year. Because of the precarious social conditions, we can no longer delay making all possible resources available to the population. Enrique Iglesias president, IADB, The Inter-American Development Bank, the biggest lender for development purposes in Latin America and the Caribbean, has redirected $694m (£487m) to Argentina to help the near-crippled country rebuild its social services. Officially, unemployment in Argentina is affecting about a quarter of the workforce and nearly half the population is regarded as below the poverty line. The nightmare state of the country's books means the government has had to quadruple some export taxes on commodities to bring them in line with the plummet in the value of the peso. With no money expected any time soon from the International Monetary Fund, although a team is due in Buenos Aires next week for talks, the IADB - an altogether separate institution - said Argentina could wait no longer. "Because of the precarious social conditions, we can no longer delay making all possible resources available to the population and in this way open spaces for relief and hope," said IADB President Enrique Iglesias in a statement. While the IADB money is peanuts compared to the $25bn or so Argentina is hoping to raise from the International Monetary Fund, it makes possible a vital $1bn social fund the government is setting up. The fund aims to: Improve aid to destitute families; Provide emergency medical and sanitation help; Payments to encourage parents to keep their children in schools, and; Rebuild social infrastructure and housing in deprived areas.

Waiting at banks and bureaux de change is a weary business. The loan is desperately needed because Argentina has been cut off from outside funds since it defaulted on $141bn in external loans in December. Since then, prices have spiralled a bit, joblessness has surged, and the economy is in a state of near-collapse.The current government of President Eduardo Duhalde is still struggling to build an economic policy which will dig Argentina out of its hole. But difficulties in dealing with provincial governors and the populist leanings of Mr Duhalde's Peronist Party mean that cuts to public sector pay and pensions, which are generally regarded as essential, are nowhere to be seen. Pressure on the peso: The harsh conditions affecting many Argentines are being exacerbated by a sharp slide in the value of the peso, which was devalued in January after a decade of being pegged at parity with the US dollar. From a level of 1.40 to the dollar on its flotation, the peso-dollar rate has sunk to a low of around 4. Exchange controls were introduced earlier this week after the government blew nearly 10% of its foreign currency reserves trying to defend the peso. They seem to be having some effect: since Monday, the rate has moderated, and dealers in Buenos Aires are quoting a rate of about 2.70-2.80.

President Eduardo Duhalde said on Thursday he wants Argentina's peso to firm to the level of neighboring Brazil's currency, but denied he would re-peg the peso to the dollar to achieve that goal. And, as public unrest smoldered, the IMF hinted aid could be around the corner if all goes well in negotiations next month aimed at helping Argentina out of its crisis and avoiding hyperinflation. Argentina's currency markets were closed on Thursday for the long Easter holiday, bringing relative calm after chaos earlier this week, when thousands queued outside banks downtown to seek refuge in dollars. Before dawn on Thursday, sporadic thefts from shops raised the specter of a return to mass supermarket looting and bloody riots that killed 27 people in December and helped topple the elected government. Local television showed a couple in a poor suburb of the capital who had barricaded their store-front and sought refuge on their roof, brandishing a shotgun to fend off a small group seeking to loot their shop. In Washington, the International Monetary Fund said that a mission going to Argentina next week could be followed in short order by a second visit if talks go well, a sign the country could be close to unlocking sorely needed cash. Argentina hopes the IMF will front a multi-billion dollar aid package to help end a grinding four-year recession -- but has to meet a raft of conditions first including making deep political and economic reforms and killing the runaway spending that bankrupt the country in the first place. Government sources have said Duhalde is considering abandoning the free-floating currency rate, possibly in favor of a currency band but Duhalde denied that. "We have not analyzed (a new peg)," he told local television. "We have to anchor the macroeconomic variables to the exchange rate ... so that the (peso) is ... slightly firmer than Brazil's real," said Duhalde, Argentina's fifth leader since mid-December. "More bureaucratic ties on the peso will not do the Argentinian economy any good" the anarchists say.

The peso, pegged at one-to-one with the dollar until it was floated, closed at 3.05 to the dollar on Wednesday, a long way from Brazil's real, currently around 2.32. IMF spokesman Tom Dawson also said re-pegging the currency was not on the agenda. Deputy Economy Minister Jorge Todesca said on Thursday the government plans to increase recently introduced export taxes on commodities and agricultural oils and flour to "around" 20 percent to lift sinking tax revenues. "The only thing we have planned for this week is to modify the level of exporter taxes to adjust them to the exchange rate," Todesca told reporters, saying the government expected the tax increases to bring in $1.2 billion in revenue. 31.03.2002: "Quasieconomical measures as here mentioned, will probably not increase the total demand sufficiently to do away with the unemployment problem." - the anarchists say.Easter may have brought a welcome lull to Argentina's smoldering social tensions, but a new IMF mission visit next week could make or break a government desperate for billions of dollars in aid. Daily protests of everything from deepening poverty to economic policy thinned over the Easter break as thousands of Argentines headed out of town for the five-day public holiday, while police reported only a handful of isolated, small-scale shop robberies and looting incidents. But amid fears incipient unrest could flare into repeat scenes of bloody rioting and pillaging that toppled the elected government late last year, President Eduardo Duhalde faces a race against time to win international aid. The International Monetary Fund has hinted aid could be around the corner if all goes well in April negotiations with mission officials due to arrive in Argentina from Monday.

Argentina hopes the IMF will front a multi-billion dollar aid package to help end its grinding four-year recession. As local papers devoted their covers on Sunday to troubles in the Middle East and the impending 20th anniversary of Argentina's failed bid to recover the Falkland Islands in a breath of fresh air from economic crisis, the Catholic Church used its Easter sermons to call for an end to corruption. "(We must) open our eyes once and for all and stop with the lies, the fiction ... (and meet) our responsibilities to the next generations," Archbishop of Santa Fe Edgardo Gabriel Storni said in his Easter Sunday address. Duhalde has his work cut out to restore confidence among international lenders and investors alike, and to contain the fears of a public that continues to scramble to seek refuge from the depressed peso - raising the specter of a return to Argentina's hyperinflationary past. The government meanwhile continues to cement its reputation for policy flip-flops.

Duhalde on Saturday contradicted statements from Vice Economy Minister Jorge Todesca, saying he had not yet decided on whether to raise taxes on exporters as widely expected by market participants. "The president's decision to backtrack on the measures unexpectedly opened a fissure between Duhalde and his economy minister," Jorge Remes Lenicov, daily La Nacion said in an editorial, saying Duhalde was bowing to pressure from lobbyist groups. Todesca had said the government intended to raise export taxes on commodities, agricultural oils and flour to around 20 percent to help rake in $1.2 billion in extra revenues to offset a sharp slump in tax revenues. Investors, awaiting word on promised economic measures from the government, will also be looking to see if the Central Bank manages to stem the slide of the peso when local foreign exchange and stock markets resume trading on Tuesday. Duhalde wants to see the peso firm to the level of neighboring Brazil's real -- but has not said how he plans to stabilize the depressed currency, now trading at around 3.0 to the dollar. Brazil's real is currently trading at around 2.32 to the dollar -- considerably stronger than the peso's 3.05 closing rate to the dollar for large-scale transactions on the foreign exchange markets on Wednesday. Government sources have said Duhalde is considering abandoning the free-floating currency rate he introduced, possibly in favor of a currency band. But the president has dismissed the idea of re-pegging the currency to the dollar. Regardless of the government's pledge to cap the overspending that landed Argentina in a crisis that culminated in debt default and devaluation, only a major aid bailout is likely to spur investor confidence.

"Chaotic flip-flops, hoping for new loans to "pay" for old times looting, neomercantilistic tax on export, new bureaucratic pegging of the peso, etc., are just diseconomy, and will not help Argentina out of its major problems, powerty and unemployment included," the anarchists say 01.04.2002. A private investment trust that got stuck holding defaulted Argentine debt said it plans on Monday to file court papers demanding that the investment be returned immediately, in what could be the first such case since the country stopped paying interest three months ago. "As soon as we obtain a default judgment we will take immediate collection action outside of Argentina," Allan H. Applestein, managing trustee at DCA Grantor Trust based Aventura, Fla., told Reuters, adding that he believed it was the first such legal action against Argentina since the default. In July of 2000 DCA bought $1,020,000 in debt issued by the Province of Buenos Aires, according to a complaint filed on March 6. In January of last year DCA bought $245,000 in debt issued by the Republic of Argentina. The country has defaulted on both obligations and now DCA is asking a U.S. federal court to grant the trust all principal, interest and attorney fees. The suit was originally filed on March 6 in United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. No response has come from either Argentina or the Province of Buenos Aires, said DCA's lawyer Marc Dreier of the New York firm Dreier & Baritz. "Today we are filing the papers necessary to start the process of obtaining a default judgment," Dreier told Reuters. A default judgment would clear the way for DCA to claim Argentine and Buenos Aires Province assets that are held outside of Argentina, Applestein said. Last year Argentina's foreign creditors formed the Argentina Bondholders Committee (ABC) in a bid to increase their influence when time comes for the country to restructure its debt.

The committee has so far refrained from taking legal action, preferring to try to work out an accord with the government. "Many members of the ABC are with investment banks and commercial banks that might want do business with Argentina in the future. But DCA Grantor Trust does not require a continuing relationship with Argentina," Applestein said. "Other creditors might feel restrained from taking action at this time but we believe that what we are doing is legally and ethically appropriate," he added. "Sovereign governments and all contracting parties have an obligation to live up to their word." Last month the ABC said that the government's suggestion of a 40 percent reduction in its external debt burden was premature given the uncertainties still plaguing Latin America's third biggest economy. Argentina had said it needed to reduce its foreign debt to less than 60 percent of its original value, the first clue to the scope of an upcoming restructuring since the country defaulted on part of its $141 billion public debt burden in early January. But until Argentina has attained greater stability punctuated by a viable budget and a new lending program from the International Monetary Fund, the amount of debt forgiveness cannot be realistically discussed, said Peter Allen, financial advisor to the New York-based bondholders committee.

"The foreigners looted by the Argentinian bureaucracy, are not happy about it, and try to reduce their losses", the anarchists say to IJ@ 6(31) for the 02.04.2002 update.03.04.2002 Argentina's embattled peso was firmer on Tuesday after the long Easter holiday, buoyed as exporters were forced by a new rule to exchange foreign currency revenues for devalued pesos, traders said. Shares meanwhile were slightly firmer in thin volume trade. At mid-session, the peso traded up at 2.87/2.92. (buy/sell rate) per dollar for large-scale trades, compared to last Wednesday's close of 3.00/3.05, but is still down over 65 percent since January's devaluation. The central bank has recently instituted a raft of measures to reverse the slide of the peso. Under a key regulation issued March 25, exporters must now exchange foreign currency earned since mid-March within five working days instead of 180 days. The deadline to turn in the foreign currency is early this week. ""Artificial breathing" up the peso", the anarchists say. Argentina on Tuesday feted its short-lived occupation of the Falkland Islands 20 years ago and paid tribute to its fallen heroes - but for many veterans the occasion was tinged with bitterness."Nationalistic, militaristic crap!" the anarchists say. Argentina, desperate for cash to narrow a budget deficit and allay fears of social unrest, plans to increase taxes on agricultural exports, one of the few rising stars in the crisis-ridden economy, an economy ministry official said on Tuesday.

The government of Latin America's No. 3 economy will increase taxes on primary goods exporters, mainly the agricultural industry, to 20 percent from the current five to 10 percent range, to bring in an extra $1.2 billion in revenues annually, said the official, who asked to remain anonymous. "The measure will be announced tomorrow (Wednesday)," the official said. Tax revenues have plunged as the country slouches through a four-year recession, forcing the government to default on part of its national debt.The government is also scraping for money to pay for food programs and social projects aimed at reducing the risk of civil unrest and supermarket looting that hit Argentina in December. Farm products account for about 50 percent of the $26 billion worth of goods the country exports annually. The state has said the farm export sector should be taxed because it would gain the most from devaluation, which has made the country's exports more competitive. Farmers benefit as they sell their goods on world markets at prices set in dollars while most of their costs are in pesos. The peso has lost nearly two thirds of its value against the dollar since January, when the currency was floated after a decade of being fixed at one to one with the U.S. dollar.

"Tax the plutarchs and plutarchists, not foreign trade!" the anarchists say. 03.04.2002: Former Argentina Economy Minister Domingo Cavallo, a titan of Latin American finance until he fell from power last year amid fiscal chaos and food riots, was arrested on Wednesday during an investigation into arms smuggling. "They are taking him to a police headquarters," said a judicial official, who asked to remain anonymous, after a judge ordered the arrest following questioning of the 55-year-old Cavallo in court. Judge Julio Speroni has 10 days to decide whether to bring criminal charges against the former minister for alleged involvement in illegal shipments from 1991-1995 of cannons, rifles, ammunition and gun powder to Croatia and Ecuador. Cavallo, as economy minister under then-President Carlos Menem, was one of several ministers who signed decrees ordering arms sales to Panama and Venezuela that eventually ended up illegally in Croatia and Ecuador. Menem was placed under house arrest for five months last year amid probes into the smuggling but was later released. If Cavallo is charged and found guilty of arms smuggling, he could face up to 12 years in prison, legal sources said. It would be a huge change in fate for a man who held markets on tenterhooks last year while at the helm of Latin America's troubled but third biggest economy. He has denied selling arms to Croatia in 1991 and 1993, when the warring Balkan state was under a U.N. arms embargo, and to Ecuador in 1995 during a border war with Peru in which Argentina was meant to be a peace mediator. But the arrest is another blow for Cavallo, already despised in Argentina for freezing bank accounts last year to stop a run on banks and failing to prevent the economy from degenerating into chaos and civil unrest.

His arrest added to a climate in which investors worry financiers and ex-officials are being made scapegoats for an economic crisis that has seen courts besieged by Argentines protesting what they call judicial corruption. "Nobody will ever know if Cavallo is guilty because of justice in this country. It doesn't exist," said Juan Carlos Rodriguez, standing in a bank line trying to withdraw savings originally frozen by Cavallo. Cavallo left Menem's government in 1996 before joining former President Fernando de la Rua's administration as economy minister in 2001. He was forced to quit in December along with De la Rua amid economic crisis, food looting and bloody riots. Since De la Rua's resignation, courts have probed foreign bank executives for possible illegal capital transfers -- investigations that have worried some officials. One senior government official said fears of being arrested on a witch hunt after he left office kept him awake at night. "It is a little bit like open season on vindictive actions to blame one part of society or another and this Cavallo allegation is just another part of that story," said Geoffrey Dennis, a senior researcher at Salomon Smith Barney. Cavallo was once feted as the architect of Argentina's decade-old one-to-one peg to the U.S. dollar that heralded economic growth and made Argentina a darling of Wall Street investors in the 1990s.

"He should be arrested at that time,- the bureaucratic pegging to the US$ is the main reason for today's problems!" the anarchists say. He was unable to end a grinding four-year recession that he himself mainly had created. After being toppled from power along with De la Rua amid rioting in December that left 27 dead, the peg to the dollar, as mentioned, was ditched and the peso was devalued. Argentina's Senate Thursday 04.04.2002 approved a fiscal pact between the government and the provinces in a long-awaited sign of legislative support for efforts to slash spending as demanded by the International Monetary Fund. But the pact, which cuts the amount of money the state sends to the provinces each month, still needs the approval of the Lower House of Congress -- which is due to discuss the deal next week. Argentina faces a stark choice between a tough International Monetary Fund program with no new cash to help end a brutal recession or a "market-driven and wild adjustment," IMF sources said on Thursday. As talks begin with the fund over a new economic program, President Eduardo Duhalde may find himself having to choose between walking away from the IMF and facing a possible return to hyperinflation and economic chaos or signing up for an austerity program likely to further enrage his populace. Nor is there likely to be any IMF cash to soften the blow. Sources at the fund told Reuters the almost $10 billion left under the IMF's frozen $22 billion loan program is not going to be made available as Buenos Aires had hoped. The sources said it is likely that Argentina will only receive enough financing to pay back what it already owes the Washington-based lender this year -- about $5 billion.

05.04.2002: "Duhalde's neomercantilist populist policy is worst case diseconomy and IMF's monetarist liberalism is second worste case. Only approximations to the anarchist economical plans will do. The problem is to find someone to implement it, as real democratic (anarchistic) revolutionary political economic forces and organizations are not really significant," the anarchists say. IMF 'to ignore' Argentina cash plea: The international lender is set, for Argentina's 'own good', to refuse to hand the crisis-ridden country fresh aid, a report said. Argentina battles spread of poverty. President Eduardo Duhalde Thursday unveils plans for supporting the unemployed in Argentina, where an estimated 45% of people live in poverty. "Probably just more bureaucratic tricks", the anarchists say 06.04.2002.Argentine President Eduardo Duhalde said on Saturday that he was confident the country would reach a new accord with the International Monetary Fund this month, in a bid to obtain the financing needed to begin recovering from its economic crisis. An IMF mission is in Buenos Aires to discuss the country's economic program and the Argentine government hopes the talks will unlock some $10 billion in aid suspended in December after the country repeatedly missed deficit targets agreed with the Washington-based lender. "I have the impression that, yes (there will be help from the IMF)," Duhalde told local radio. "In any case, we have to continue working with the (IMF) delegation and I hope the issue will be more or less resolved this month." A new agreement with the IMF could pave the way for billions of dollars in fresh aid from other multilateral lenders, but that will not help much. The country badly needs an anarchist economical policy, demand management included, to establish the conditions necessary for an economic recovery. "Argentina needs international help," Duhalde said, adding that countries like Brazil, Mexico and Uruguay received funds from the IMF that helped "speed their recovery."

"Populist nonsense", the anarchists say. IMF sources told Reuters last week the nearly $10 billion left under the IMF's frozen $22 billion loan program is not going to be made available to Argentina and that under a new accord the country would only receive enough financing to pay back what it already owes the lender this year -- about $5 billion. "Yes, no additional money to the populist looting regime of Argentina" the anarchists say 07.04.2002.Prices will rise 45 percent this year in Argentina, Deputy Economy Minister Jorge Todesca said in an interview published in Pagina 12 newspaper on Sunday. Todesca's estimate, based on an exchange rate of 2.50 pesos per dollar, is much higher than the 15 percent annual inflation forecast in the 2002 budget. Prices will rise "around 30 percent of the increase in the dollar," Todesca said. "But it's going to happen bit by bit, it's not going to be next month. I think we are seeing a competitive devaluation, which means prices are rising much less than the (cost of the) dollar." The peso has lost nearly two-thirds against the dollar this year, closing at 2.78/2.82 (buy/sell) per dollar for large-scale transactions on Friday. The weak peso has sparked fears of a return to the hyperinflation of the late 1980s. The government said last week consumer prices rose 4 percent in March. That adds to the misery of the more than 20 percent of Argentines who are unemployed and the 45 percent of the nation's 36 million people that live below the poverty line. Even a small amount of IMF aid would be a strong sign of support that would open the door to billions of dollars in fresh help from other multilateral lenders, analysts have said. "By designing an adequate program we are going to reach a deal that will allow us to receive money from the World Bank, the Inter American Development Bank and the (International Monetary) Fund itself," Todesca said. "In addition we will resume normal relations with the world. Private companies have more than $40 billion in foreign debt and those companies need us to normalize our international relationships so that they can refinance their debt," he said. Todesca said the government was working on a plan to eliminate provincial bonds -- scrip used to pay public employees' salaries. He said the plan would require financial help from the IMF.

"More borrowing and more lootingof foreigners and own people will not help the Argentinian economy much, only an approximation to the anarchis economical plans will do!"- the anarchists say.Protesters burned U.S. flags at the airport as the IMF's top negotiator arrived in Argentina on Monday for fresh talks amid scant signs of any new aid for Latin America's No. 3 economy. Sources at the International Monetary Fund, which is frustrated at endemic overspending and is pressing for severe spending cuts, have said the bankrupt government may only get $5 billion in aid, just enough to repay this year's debts to the international lending agency. That is a far cry from the $20 billion Argentine officials had said was needed to save a banking system from collapse and it is less than the $9 billion left under last year's frozen loan program that the government had hoped could be released. Some analysts say that if the IMF forces Argentina to go it alone to teach it a lesson, these talks could be a watershed, heralding a get-tough policy from the IMF and the United States toward emerging nations which fail to control spending. IMF negotiating chief Anoop Singh arrives in a country of 36 million people immersed in a climate of impending doom. A four-year recession has seen growing civil unrest, a near breakdown of state services in December food riots. In the latest piece of bad news for the beleaguered government, supermarkets reported a shortage of basic goods, from matches to cookies, as suppliers hoarded goods unsure over prices amid escalating inflation and a weak peso. Highlighting tension generated by the visit from the IMF -- commonly known in Argentina as the International Misery Fund -- a hundred leftwing marxist militants burned U.S. flags at the airport but failed to find Singh despite checking departing cars. "Go home. Let us live by our own means. You've helped us a lot, and this is what has become of the country," said one demonstrator at a similar protest in the lobby of the downtown hotel where Singh is due to stay.

Hundreds of militant unemployed blocked off a major avenue into the city chanting anti-IMF slogans, the latest in almost daily protests against President Eduardo Duhalde. Unemployment is over 20 percent. The IMF had earmarked $22 billion for Argentina as fears rose its collapse could spark a global emerging markets crisis. But while foreign companies have lost hundreds of millions of dollars in Argentina, the crisis appears contained and the IMF's tough hand has been strengthened. On the other side of the negotiating table is Duhalde, only three months into the job and desperately trying to appease the IMF with austerity policies, while also trying to stop more social unrest, strikes and road blocks. Argentine stocks fell on Monday on low volume due to export taxes on farm goods, a stable peso and investors keeping an eye on talks to unlock billions of dollars in suspended IMF aid, traders said. The leading MerVal .MERV stock index, up almost 40 percent this year after tumbling last year, fell 3.9 percent by Monday's close to 385.29 points in a session in which only 23 million pesos ($8.3 million) were traded. The index is down 10.7 percent from last Tuesday. Overall, 10 stocks rose, 40 declined and seven remained unchanged. "After the increased export taxes and a frozen peso, the market was lacking reasons to move, above all on a day characterized by the notable fall in volume," said Marcelo Paccione of consultants ConsulCapital. The Argentine government doubled export taxes to 20 percent on grains, oil seeds, vegetable oils and vegetable meals last Thursday to boost dwindling tax revenues. Farm shipments accounted for half of Argentina's roughly $26.5 billion in exports last year. Molinos MOL.BA , one of Argentinas largest food companies posted the largest decline in percentage terms, falling 11.69 percent, or 69 centavos, to 5.21 pesos per share. Argentina increased the tax to fund social programs in the continued absence of international aid. Officials met with an International Monetary Fund mission in Buenos Aires on Monday to try and unlock billions of dollars in suspended aid. The peso edged up at 2.76/2.79 (buy/sell rate) to the dollar for large-scale transactions in the foreign-exchange market, slightly firmer than Friday's close of 2.78/2.82.

The sliding local currency has lost around 64 percent of its value against the dollar since January's devaluation, but is currently holding firm due to Central Bank regulations after the peso reached historic lows of four pesos to the dollar two weeks ago. The peso's value relative to the dollar is often reflected inversely in local stocks, where investors have shifted savings to blue-chip issues to try to preserve their purchasing power when the peso loses ground against the dollar. Now, after more than three months in power, President Eduardo Duhaldes government is desperate to prevent hyperinflation that threatens to cripple South America's third-largest economy. Energy group Perez Companc PCH.BA was the most actively traded stock, falling 9 centavos to 2.24 pesos, followed by financial holding company Grupo Financiero Galicia GFG.BA , which shed 1.3 centavos to 36.5 centavos. ($1=2.8 pesos).

"The export-taxes are harming the total demand, and economy in general! " the anarchists say 09.04.2002.Argentina said on Tuesday the International Monetary Fund wants it to seek financing to end issues of provincial bonds as cash and that the lender could offer 2 billion pesos (about $714 million) to help it do so. Interior Minister Rodolfo Gabrielli told a news conference Argentina would set a timetable to absorb provincial scrip from the financial system "in its own time". The IMF has called for an end to the printing of provincial currencies as a condition for giving Latin America's third largest economy billions of dollars in aid. Around 5 billion pesos worth of such bonds are in circulation issued by around 20 provinces to pay state workers' salaries to cope with a cash crunch amid the grinding four-year recession. "A litle bit of this and a little bit of that, that's just more bureaucratic crap!" the anarchists say 10.04.2002.

The IMF vowed on Wednesday to help Argentina pull out of its worst ever financial crisis, but said the crippled economy would need wide-ranging reforms before it would consider doling out cash. The International Monetary Fund's chief negotiator on Argentina told reporters the lender was trying "very hard" to free up aid from other multilateral lenders for emergency social programs and trade finance. But even as Anoop Singh spoke, sporadic protests continued to flare across Argentina, with police firing teargas in Cordoba in central Argentina to disperse would-be looters who tried to ransack trucks laden with food. Savers furious at the freeze on their cash designed to avert a total collapse of the banking system slammed pots and pans against the barricaded facades of banks downtown, while a train drivers' union called a strike for next week to protest for better working conditions. "The IMF is firmly committed to help Argentina to find a way out of this crisis and recover sustained growth," Singh said in a statement issued in Buenos Aires, his first public comment since arriving earlier this week to a barrage of U.S. flag-burning protests by anti-IMF demonstrators. "We are trying very hard to develop the social safety net program so they (World Bank and Inter-American Development Bank) can go ahead immediately. We're trying very hard to redevelop trade financing in Argentina. These are immediate stratagems," he later told reporters. Many Argentines blame the U.S. and the Fund alike for helping land Argentina in its current crisis via misguided economic advice and irresponsible lending to Latin America's No. 3 economy despite endemic corruption. A government source said Wednesday an aid pact with the IMF should be clinched by mid-May and the Fund was insisting the government and Central Bank stop trying to prop up the devalued peso on the foreign exchange markets and allow it to float freely as first promised.

The government said this week that the IMF also wants it to seek financing to end the issue of provincial bonds that are used for cash and that the lender could offer 2 billion pesos (about $714 million) to help end the practice. But IMF sources have made clear Buenos Aires will not be getting nearly the $10 billion in aid the government had hoped for. Argentina is desperate for even limited aid from the IMF, in the hope that any sign of support eventually will unlock more aid from other lenders to help it pull out of a four-year recession that culminated in a debt default and currency devaluation in January. The government now expects inflation to reach 45 percent, threatening hyperinflation, so President Eduardo Duhalde needs an IMF aid deal to shore up his administration, the economy and help support a peso that has lost two thirds of its value against the dollar since January -- the steepest currency depreciation in the world in the first quarter of this year. The government, which has already passed a budget cutting federal spending by 14 percent this year, fears any more calls for spending cuts will lead to a "social explosion." One in two Argentines live in poverty on only a few dollars a day. The peso closed unchanged from Tuesday at 2.78/2.80 (buy/sell rate) to the U.S. dollar for large-scale transactions in the foreign exchange market .

"More borrowing will help very little unless it is used for productive realinvestments. More "artificial breathing" of the economy will not hold the "dead meat" alive for long. There must be built workplaces in private and public sector, matching the anarchist demand management, land-reform, taxation of the plutarchy, and redistribution to the poor, etc. In general, it must pay to work, and nothing else," the anarchists say.11.04.2002: The International Monetary Fund has vowed to help Argentina resolve its serious financial crisis as long as the country undertakes wide-ranging reforms and cuts public spending. In his first public statement since arriving in Buenos Aires earlier this week, the head of the IMF delegation, Anoop Singh, denied that the Fund was unconcerned by the plight of the Argentine people. He said the burden on the poor would be much greater if the government tried to get out of the crisis without international support. The Argentine government is seeking up to $25bn in aid to help revive the economy. As mentioned Argentina's four-year recession culminated the suspension of payments on its $140bn, and the currency devaluation.

"We guess Santa Claus - Father Christmas - himself is into town", the anarchists say 12.04.2002. Argentina's peso slipped by Friday's midsession as Central Bank trading suspensions on 75 financial institutions squeezed liquidity, while stocks crept up in low volume, traders said. Argentina's peso weakened to 2.93/2.96 (buy/sell rate) per dollar for large-scale transactions as the Central Bank suspended financial institutions, including most major foreign banks, from trading in the foreign exchange markets because they did not present requested information. The peso has fallen 66 percent against the dollar since's January's currency devaluation, but has recovered from lows of 4.0 to the dollar hit more than two weeks ago.

"The peso is approximately at the right level at the moment. However the rest of the anarchist plans are far from set at work!" the anarchists say 13.04.2002: "We guess the Argentinian people should believe more in the anarchist plans than Father Christmas/IMF."European Union finance ministers on Saturday urged Argentina to salvage its economy and said they would help by taking steps to boost trade. The call will form part of a speech Spanish Economy Minister Rodrigo Rato on the EU's behalf to an International Monetary Fund meeting next week, to which Argentina is also invited. Rato told reporters that his IMF address would clearly emphasise the EU's concern over the economic situation and the bloc's opinion that a deal with the IMF, which committed Argentina to reform, was "urgently needed" for its economy to recover from a protracted slump and parallel social upheaval. Argentina's economy has not grown since mid-1998 and although IMF officials have praised the country for passing an austere 2002 budget, it says more has to be done to end overspending and restore investor confidence in the economy.

"Yes, that is an understatement", the anarchists say.Rato, current chairman of EU finance ministers, discussed the speech with other ministers at a meeting in the northern Spanish city of Oviedo on Saturday. The EU will urge Buenos Aires to implement a sound and transparent economic framework, make progress towards restructuring its debt, make its banking system water-tight and encourage private investment, Spanish officials said. "Meanwhile the EU, in collaboration with the IMF and the World Bank, will facilitate mechanisms to increase trade with Argentina as well as...technical assistance to increase trade," Luis de Guindos, Spain's secretary general for economic policy and competition, told reporters. Rato added that Argentina's recovery programme should also include a realistic and sustainable fiscal programme and a restructuring of its mammoth $140 billion debt burden. "There should be an international debt restructuring process," he said. Spain, whose companies have made huge investments in Argentina over the past decade, has played a leading role in supporting the South American nation throughout its economic crisis which culminated in a debt default and currency devaluation in January. The Argentine government itself said earlier this week that it was not ready to start renegotiating its defaulted debt with foreign creditors until it saw clear progress in aid talks with the IMF.

"Well, when Argentina by itself is not able to approximately implement the anarchist plans, a helping hand by EU may perhaps do the trick, at least a little step ahead?" the anarchists say 14.04.2002.VATICAN CITY - Pope John Paul prayed on Sunday for the success of peace efforts in the Middle East, where Secretary of State Colin Powell was meeting Palestinian President Yasser Arafat. The Pope also celebrated the beatification of six people, elevating two women and four men to one step from sainthood, including four who worked with the poor and sick in Latin America. Holding them up as models for society today, he praised their dedication to God even in the face of difficulty and fear at a ceremony attended by hundreds from around the world. Father Artemide Zatti, looked after the sick in Argentina, earning him the name "the saintly nurse of Patagonia." Argentina's Maria del Transito de Jesus Sacramentado, who founded the Franciscan Tertiary Missionary Sisters of Argentina, were also beatified on Sunday. Beatification is the penultimate step before sainthood in the Roman Catholic Church. The Pope has beatified some 1,300 people, more than all his predecessors in the last four centuries combined.

"We guess Argentina will get help from both Father Christmas/IMF, EU as well as higher powers as perhaps the Holy Spirit's Commersial Bank in Portugal, and the Pope's prayers to approximately implement the anarchist economical plans. There will probably be no end to happiness. Perhaps it's even gonna be heaven similar to the Anarchy of Norway...." the anarchists say 15.04.2002. This is of course caustic meant, the Argentinian people should neither believe much in Father Christmas, i.e. IMF + EU, nor the Holy Spirit of Adam Smith's "invisible hand" in the markets. The Argentine government, fearing a broad collapse of the financial system amid a deep recession, said on Monday it will allow banks to appeal court rulings forcing them to return frozen deposits. The move comes after courts -- overruling in individual cases a government-decreed freeze of accounts to halt a run last December -- have allowed depositors to withdraw about $50 million a day in trapped bank funds, sparking worries some banks could run out of cash. Economy Minister Jorge Remes Lenicov told reporters the government would sign a decree in coming days permitting banks to appeal both pending and past such cases to the Supreme Court, opening the door for banks to recover money already given back to depositors.

16.04.2002. The Argentinian workers should join the International Workers of the World' s solidarity action for the general strike in Italy, see homepage of the anarchosyndicalist confederation at www.anarchy.no. - The general strike in Italy and support actions were working well. Guess Berlusconi got something to think about! Perhaps also Duhalde should think about it. The PR-stunts of Father Christmas IMF + EU, and the pope, to get more popular in Argentina, are nothing to put too much weight on.17.04.2002: Provincial state workers protested across Argentina on Wednesday against budget cuts sought by the IMF, occupying a legislature and battling police in the latest challenge to what is seen as President Eduardo Duhalde's increasingly floundering rule. In La Plata, capital of Buenos Aires province, police fired rubber bullets to disperse 400 state workers protesting unpaid salaries, a sharp reminder of the social unrest that overthrew Duhalde's two predecessors in quick succession in December. Hundreds of public employees also demanding three months of back pay and waving banners calling the leader of Latin America's No.3 economy, a "thief," broke windows and occupied the legislature of San Juan, a small and bankrupt province at the foot of Argentina's Andes.

The protests, in which at least one demonstrator and two police were injured, coincided with the scheduled departure of IMF mission head Anoop Singh for Washington after two weeks of talks trying to make the government swallow huge spending cuts in the provinces as a key condition for vital financial aid. Four years of recession, compounded this year by debt default and devaluation, have isolated Argentina from world markets and pushed this country of 36 million people to the brink of civil unrest and financial meltdown. Argentina's provinces, where the vast majority of the population lives, have become an investor's bete noire, accused of being run by unaccountable local strongmen freely spending federal tax transfers and giving out jobs to win friends. State services were nearly paralyzed in Cordoba, the country's second biggest city and an industrial hub, amid a strike by public employees such as hospital workers and teachers. Like nearly all provincial workers, they are dependent on federal funds for their wages. IMF head Horst Koehler -- heralding a new get-tough attitude with Argentina after years of overspending -- said "the IMF is not asking for the impossible" and bluntly told the provinces and government to "face reality" and cut jobs. If an accord was made with provinces -- criticized for printing over a dozen currencies to ease their cash crunch -- Koehler said he was optimistic the IMF could back Argentina. The hotel where Singh was staying was ringed with riot police and metal barriers were erected overnight as several hundred leftist and unemployed militants gathered to protest the lending agency's policies. Planned strikes this week -- including drivers of the armored vans that provide banks with cash -- show how difficult it will be for Duhalde to make Argentines accept more austerity after a long recession that has helped make one in two Argentines live in poverty on a few dollars a day. Duhalde, in power for just over three months but already in the low double digits in approval ratings, himself was in no doubt of the costs involved. "There will be social upheaval, of course there will be," Duhalde, who has been accused of using fears of anarchy (obviously meaning chaos) to keep himself in office, told local radio. The IAT will have something to say in this case, the IJ@ edition says 18.04.2002...Later on the IAT reports Duhalde has got a brown card warning.

Adding to a feeling of indecision at the helm, Duhalde backtracked on plans to make it more difficult for Argentines to withdraw savings from shaky banks and reprimanded his economy minister on the eve of aid talks with the IMF and the U.S. Treasury. Duhalde refused to sign into law an economy ministry decree aimed at stopping Argentines using court orders to withdraw deposits frozen in December to stop a bank run. Argentines have taken out some $50 million a day thanks to courts overturning the government freeze. With deposits down 20 percent last year, Economy Minister Jorge Remes Lenicov wanted to allow banks to make legal appeals but Duhalde feared the move would be illegal and spark a popular backlash. If unpaid wages were not enough, the government bent under pressure from utility companies to allow gas and electricity price rises ahead of the winter. With winter clothes reportedly doubling in price, consumer anger is bound to rise. Prices are already up nearly 10 percent in three months, after years of no inflation. Economists fear inflation could spiral out of control, spawning fears of the multi-thousand annual inflation rate of the late 1980s. Supermarkets are crammed with long lines of customers, berating helpless cashiers for rises in the prices of basic goods such as eggs and cooking oil. Argentina's government sent a bill to Congress on Thursday to reform a controversial bankruptcy law -- which would meet a key demand made by the IMF in return for possible aid, legislative sources said. The government also sent a separate bill that would nullify a so-called "economic subversion" law used by judges probing foreign bank executives over alleged capital flight and meet another condition set by the International Monetary Fund. Argentina hopes the reforms, plus steep budget cuts, will convince the IMF to provide billions in fresh aid to help stabilize the economy. Critics of the bankruptcy law said it allows companies facing insolvency to simply walk away from their obligations and effectively kills creditor rights.

The changes President Eduardo Duhalde has asked Congress to make seek to balance the rights of debtors and creditors. But lawmakers have expressed only grudging support for changes to the bankruptcy law, declining to give a time frame for its possible approval. "If it was up to us, the law would stay as is," said Peronist deputy Eduardo Di Cola. "But it's also true that we're advancing in negotiations to get credit back. So with that in mind, we're closer to a deal." Meanwhile, Argentine judges have triggered an international uproar by using the "economic subversion" law -- generally considered an anachronism from the 1970's, when guerrilla activity was rife -- to keep several foreign and local bankers from leaving the country. If you're an investor waiting for a clear plan on how to pull Argentina out of a four-year recession, here's a bit of advice: Don't hold your breath. The government has repeatedly changed its policies, sometimes within hours, and analysts say the only constant is flux. In the latest episode, President Eduardo Duhalde this week appeared unsure whether or not the forcible transformation of bank deposits into bonds would be the best measure to help prevent a collapse of the banking sector. After decades of rampant over-spending and tax evasion plunged the country into a crisis that forced a default on debt and devaluation, despite billions of dollars in aid, Argentina is back where it started -- struggling to restore credibility and hoping for an IMF rescue deal to kick-start recovery. But Duhalde's about-faces -- on taxes, on freezing bank accounts, on monetary policy -- are undermining attempts to boost confidence with the public, investors and the all- important multilateral lenders, analysts say. "The government still hasn't established an economic model and can't build confidence internationally or at home," said political analyst Ricardo Rouvier.

Earlier this month, the Central Bank said it would give banks the option of returning deposits next January, a decision the local media reported came as a complete surprise to the Economy Ministry and that would be reversed. Perhaps the biggest and most memorable flip-flop came after Duhalde's inauguration in January when he declared: "Those who deposited dollars (in banks) will receive dollars." That oath was forgotten in the ensuing weeks when the peso was devalued and banks were ordered to turn their dollars over to the Central Bank, a move partially reversed later. Local TV programs air clips of the fiery speech in much the same vein as comedy spots satirized ex-U.S. President George Bush's highly publicized vow: "Read my lips, no new taxes." A POLICY OF INCONSISTENCY: The switchbacks along the road toward a credible rescue plan have been numerous. Duhalde said in January that he would not bring back taxes on farm exports ditched a decade ago. In March, the state did just that and later doubled and in some cases quadrupled the rates. Wednesday, he issued a decree saying the taxes would be charged on the shipment date for goods rather than the purchase date. Exporters pulled out of the grain market and Thursday a government official said the measure would be repealed. In March, Duhalde said there would be no "special" measures to support the peso. Then the Central Bank introduced rules to force banks and exchange houses to use state-set rates. "It's trial and error," said Emilio Boto, a bond trader at BNP Paribas Asset Management. "Resolutions come out that change previous resolutions and this keeps happening. We are living through legislative and tax volatility ... this means that you can't forecast for investments. You can't make any plans." Duhalde, an old-style populist known for back-room deals, seems torn between International Monetary Fund demands for austerity and the needs of a country where at least 20 percent of the population is unemployed.

Analysts say that, if Duhalde does not stop flip-flopping soon, he could face the same fate as Fernando de la Rua -- who was ousted in December amid riots that killed 27 people. Indecision hurts the peso, which draws its only strength from people with enough faith in the economy to hold onto it. A weak peso could mean a return of the kind of hyperinflation that sparked supermarket looting in 1989. Many people have put their lives on hold as the recession drags on and the government struggles to find a way out. "The only model that will work is an approximation to the anarchist economical plan," the anarchists say 19.04.2002. The eagerly awaited repeal of an export tax change paralyzing Argentine grain markets has been delayed because President Eduardo Duhalde wants changes in the fine print before signing it into law, an economy ministry spokesman said on Friday. The spokesman, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the economy ministry had already decided to reverse a decree published on Wednesday that would require exporters to pay export taxes on farm goods at shipment time rather than at purchase. But the spokesman added the reversal still needed the support of Duhalde, who in recent weeks has been slow to give the go-ahead to several initiatives proposed by his own Cabinet. The government introduced the levies in March to boost tax revenues that have plunged during a four-year recession, a move many analysts argued would hurt the only dynamic sector of the economy and prompt a drop in grain and oilseed output next year. In April, the government doubled and in some cases quadrupled the tax rate to 20 percent for grains, oilseeds, vegetable oils and vegetable meals. The rate for unprocessed oilseeds is 23.5 percent because the state continued a previous