Argentine Economy, Riled by Pandemic, Recovers Amidst Elections

Amidst the upcoming legislative elections, Argentina's progresive President Alberto Fernández, of the Frente de Todos Coalition, has been defending the importance of renewing national production over financial austerity, assuring that the country's economic recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic should be one of the fastest in the world.

The COVID-19 pandemic has ravaged Argentina's economy, which was already mired in an unpayable international debt, inherited by the previous administraion of Mauricio Macri, and faced a practically dismantled Health and Labor ministries due to the long years of his neoliberal rule.

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Acknowledging that Argentina's gradual economic recovery after reaching 40% unemployment during the worst months of the pandemic has not yet reached everyone, and admitting that there are people who may not feel the improvement, Fernandez said, "All the economies of the planet fell. All of them, absolutely all of them. And the recovery has uneven rhythms. In some places it is very fast. Our economic recovery, for example, must be one of the fastest in the world."

Over 5.3 million Argentines, over 1 in 9, have contracted COVID-19 since its onset in March 2020, whereas over 116,000 have passed away. The most intense wave hit the South American country in Spring of 2021, with days reaching over 40,000 new cases and upwards of 800 deaths. 

Fernandez has acknowledged the little perception of what the COVID-19 pandemic has implied in the lives of Argentine women, who due to the patriarchal system are the ones with the greatest workload at home, and, overrepresented in the health and care industries, have faced the heaviest burden during these long 20 months.

While nearly 60% of Argentina's population is fully vaccinated, and over 78% have received their first shot, as in all countries worldwide, the pandemic has brought Argentina devastating economic calamities, such a inflation, reaching over 50% this year alone, and shortages of basic products, such as wheat and cooking oil.

Although in 2020, the ruling party, Frente de Todos, issue a one-time wealth tax on large fortunes, and in 2021, worked with industry leaders to stabilize production and regulate prices, prolonged lockdowns, increased shipping rates and widespread employment have left indelible marks on the Argentine population.

As the legislative elections come this Sunday, with the right-wing Juntos por el Cambio coaltion pushing to unseat the progressive Frente de Todos coalition and restore the country's days of neoliberal austerity and financial subordination to the IMF, Argentinean President Alberto Fernandez continues to bet on the present, affirming tha,t with the decrease in Covid cases along with a general economic recovery, "the desire, confidence and hope for a better present and future have been reborn."