Former Argentinian President Cristina Fernandez (2007-2015) said Tuesday that she had to strip away her ego to make the decision not to run for the country’s presidency, and instead choosing to become a candidate for vice president.
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"I am already there, and for some it might be hard to understand the decision I made a short while ago, but when I said to everyone, 'I have already been president', I felt, and I feel the need to be able to help and to contribute to ending this societal and economic catastrophe that Argentinians are experiencing today," she said.
In a speech in the northern province of Santiago del Estero, the former head of state explained her need to perform the act of "shedding the ego that all human beings have."
"To shed myself completely and swear that, in all seriousness, we are willing to help unite Argentinians at a difficult time for everyone," said the senator, who last May announced herself as a candidate for vice president and running mate to Peronist candidate Alberto Fernandez, who was chief of staff during the Kirchner administration.
In her book "Sincerely," the former leader contended that "people are in a very bad place, they are dismayed at how their lives have been upended."
She warned that the country "is going to pass through tough situations" and problems won’t be solved "by magic,” pointing to the "severe" debt problem.
She also questioned the International Monetary Fund agreement that the Macri administration signed onto last year in order to receive US$57 billion dollars in financial help over the course of three years.
"This shows the level of the difficulty we are going to face," said the former president, who has always been critical of the financial institution's policies.
According to her diagnosis, "those people from the Fund came back (to Argentina) with US$57 billion, but Argentinians are getting worse."
"I think we have to make a huge undertaking that will demand serious discussion of many things. I don’t want to scare people, but those dollars will have to be returned, and who pays the price?," she asked.
She believes the issue will have to be discussed with business leaders, politicians, and union leaders because they can not "demand more sacrifices from the people."
"This is going to require a lot of maturity and a lot of self-restraint from everyone," she added.
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