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News > Latin America

Social Conflicts Grow Along with Poverty in Macri’s Argentina

  • A packed Plaza de Mayo during the Federal March

    A packed Plaza de Mayo during the Federal March | Photo: Foto Sur Agency

Published 30 September 2016
Opinion

The rise in poverty and the drop in the salaries help explain the spike in massive protests.

After nine months of taking office, President Mauricio Macri's administration has left no doubt about its intention of restoring neoliberalism in Argentina. Measures like massive layoffs in the public sector, laissez-faire economic policies, the elimination of import and export barriers for virtually all goods, and a realingment of the country’s foreign policy with Washington have made the point.

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But despite the good intentions that Macri and his ministers often claim to have, like eliminating poverty and uniting all Argentines, the results seem to be quite the opposite so far. On Thursday the National Statistics Institute has announced that 32.2 percent of the people living in Argentina are below the poverty threshold. The figures are similar to those issued earlier this year by the Catholic University of Argentina, a private right-leaning institution in which Macri and many of his ministers have obtained their degrees, which has also pointed out that 1.4 million people have fallen into poverty in 2016.

This helps explains the growing social conflict in Argentina. Since January, massive protests organized by a diverse number of social and political sectors have packed the streets of Buenos Aires at least once a month. The most massive so far was on April 29, when Macri made a unique achievement when the two umbrella unions in Argentina, the Workers Central of Argentina (CTA) and the peronist General Labor Confederation (CGT) carried out a joint protest for the first time ever, with 300,000 workers on the streets demanding the end of neoliberal policies. Most recently, the Federal March on Sept. 2, organized by the CTA, ended with 200,000 people protesting in front of the government house.

On a quick review, it seems clear that conflicts are mainly led by organized workers. Unions like the State Workers Association have already carried out nine strikes at the national level demanding the end of dismissals in the public sector and, most recently, the re-opening of salary negotiations. Teachers have gone on four national strikes and bank workers have done the same twice this year.

With a more scientific approach, several academics are highlighting that social conflict keeps growing as Macri’s neoliberal agenda increasingly harms the living conditions of small businesses, the working class and other low-income sectors. A recent study issued by the Center for Political Economy of Argentina (CEPA) shows that labor-related conflicts, such as local-level strikes, have grown 77 percent between July and August, with the demand of new salary negotiations being the main topic.

Union leaders Sonia Alesso and Roberto Baradel from the Education Workers’ Confederation explained to teleSUR that there is a 12 percent drop in the purchase power of the salaries due to rising inflation. “We need the government to take a step back in their attitude and to re-open salary negotiations” said Baradel.

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Besides the labor world, other social conflicts have also risen in recent months. The same study explains that massive demonstrations like the “ruidazo,” when Argentines took to the streets in several cities across the country banging pots and pans to reject the hikes in utility rates, represent 28.4 percent of all conflicts in the past month. One of the most attended marches was Aug. 7, when social movements representing unemployed and underemployed people, together with poor neighborhood residents, filled the Plaza de Mayo with 100,000 people chanting the Pope Francis slogan: “Land, Housing and Jobs.”

Hernan Letcher, economist and head of CEPA, told teleSUR that non-labor conflicts such as these are tied to a significant rise in the cost of living that is outgrowing general inflation, which is around 40 percent. “The cost of food has risen due to the economic measures adopted by Macri’s Let’s Change coalition. Between November 2015 and June 2016 the basic food basket has become 59% more expensive”, he explained.

Despite the fact that CEPA is a clearly anti-government oriented institution, Letcher points out their figures coincide with those that the National Statistic Institute has published: in June, the cost of the basic food basket was US$107.6.

However, social conflict are expected to continue to grow in Macri’s Argentina. Both umbrella unions have announced their intention to carry out a general strike together, which would involve virtually all formal workers in the country. The date is not set yet, but it is very likely that it will represent a qualitative leap in the struggle of the working sectors against neoliberal restoration.

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