Chaos in Argentina

President Fernando de la Rua has declared a 30-day state of emergency and is meeting the country’s provincial governors to discuss the political situation in the country, which remains tense.

The tension is due to the dire financial situation which Argentina is in. Budgetary restrictions imposed to meet the repayment schedules of the country’s massive 30 bn. USD debt to financial institutions have seen pensions and salaries reduced, unemployment soar and living conditions plummet.

These repayments are the result of an irresponsible borrowing policy undertaken in recent years by Argentina’s corrupt political class.

The population has refused to obey orders to stay indoors, and buildings with images of the state are being attacked, their windows smashed and their interiors looted. All of the Argentinean cabinet has resigned as a result of the disorder and lack of public confidence in the government.

The current recession is the worst in the country’s history. Finance Minister Domingo Cavallo was the first member of the Cabinet to resign amid the scenes of chaos, in which in some areas there were signs of a breakdown in the State.

Hordes of discontented people descended on shops and supermarkets, whose owners in some cases resorted to shooting the assailants, who come from the middle and poorer classes, proving that this is more of a popular uprising against the inept and corrupt political class than a spontaneous wave of marginal activity.

Marcia MIRANDA PRAVDA.Ru