The Latin American Report # 192

Argentina: between battles in X and hunger

During the week just ended, a union of Argentine carriers coordinated a strike that affected more than 60 bus lines providing services in the metropolitan area of the Argentine capital, claiming for the non-activation of a wage increase promoted by around 40 companies this year. "With the salaries that are our livelihood and that of our families, we do not negotiate. We expect from the employers and the authorities the same commitment to enforcing the salary deal", said the Unión Tranviarios Automotor. The companies claim that they did not receive the critical state subsidies to honor their salary commitments. Amid the struggle between the Casa Rosada and the governors, the former have decided that the regional bus lines depend on "their jurisdictions", unlike the national lines, which would continue to receive transfers from the central government. They also said that "(they would not accept) extortive behavior, even less when those who are being held hostage are the Argentines who want to travel and cannot do so".

According to estimates, the remaining months until May will be traumatic in the social order—"people will feel like they are drowning". Consumption is suffering, and this dynamic is expected to also affect employment very soon. The IMF diplomatically warned of the importance of ensuring that the adjustment "does not fall on working families and the most vulnerable segments of the population". "Food cannot be an adjustment variable", denounced the Argentine Episcopal Conference, alluding to an audit being carried out by the Ministry of Human Capital on the food delivery system to social canteens.

_{A picture (source) is worth a thousand words, it is said.}

Meanwhile, Javier Milei's fiery rhetoric played a dirty trick on him. In an interview with the always diligent journalists of LN+, the President had disassociated himself from a recent increase in the allowances of legislators, in times of overflowing poverty and adjustment. However, this Saturday it came to public light that the libertarian tenants of the Casa Rosada had also increased their respective incomes by almost half. The head of La Libertad Avanza blamed it all on a 13-year-old decree signed by Cristina Fernández, but she shot back pointing to the fact that he had signed the increase. Former President Alberto Fernández—who received an apology from his successor for spreading fake news about the alleged opulence of his meals in Olivos—also hit the liberal hepatic zone taking advantage of the occasion.

By carelessness or hypocrisy, Milei was exposed. The ranks of the ruling party in the National Congress Palace are divided as to how to manage the salary increase that Milei ordered to be rolled back. There are manifest signs of improvisation in the whole team, which every day "discovers" basic legislative and regulatory instruments to cover their crusade against the fiscal deficit. At this point, I remain concerned about Milei's understanding of his mission. He speaks of "lowering inflation" as the core of his teleology. From his reasoning, once a more positive behavior of that variable is achieved, life will change for the better for all Argentines. But the equation is not so simple, because the technical dimension does not connect so naturally with the social one as it is reflected in this or this other report, beyond the militancy that we appreciate in both.

Armed Forces to go into action in Rosario

The city of Rosario, Santa Fe province, is the main bastion of organized crime in Argentina, and as such came to the fore during the campaign that ended with Milei's victory. Striking hard blows against the scourge of insecurity is the government's second major goal, along with the battle against inflation. This weekend it was reported that the Casa Rosada would authorize the deployment of the Army in Rosario, responding to a context in which two murders have taken place recently. "The Federal Police, the National Gendarmerie, the Naval Prefecture, the Airport Security Police, and the Penitentiary Service will assist the Santa Fe Police in the fight against drug trafficking. Likewise, the Armed Forces have been empowered to grant assistance in internal security operations, under the terms of article 27 of Law 24.059", they communicated.

Haiti: a chronicle of abandonment

Some 67% of Haitian children need humanitarian aid, according to a recent UNICEF estimate. The head of the UN agency has denounced that "spaces for children have been transformed into battlegrounds, critical social services are on the brink of collapse, the country's ports and airport are compromised, and the humanitarian response that millions of children and civilians rely on as a last resort has been paralyzed." The criminal gangs that plague the country and particularly the capital are advancing an impressive onslaught against the disputed government of Ariel Henry, warning that "either Haiti becomes a paradise for all or a hell for all". Thus, they assume a discourse of apparent linkage with the masses and rejection of "a small group of rich people" who from "big hotels" decide "the fate of the inhabitants of the popular neighborhoods". One of the narratives surrounding the growth of the gang empire in Haiti, today united in an ad hoc syndicate, is that the government itself once used them to crush the popular clamor in uncomfortable neighborhoods. Now they are a loose and hungry lion that resists entering the cage again. Anomie is overflowing.

_Source

Last Wednesday, Barbecue's army torched another police station in the capital Port-au-Prince, which several reports repeat is surrendered to gang control in about 80% of the jurisdiction. The operator of the largest port in the country suspended its activities due to the violence against its facilities, which had halted the processing of a donation of food and vital supplies to support a compromised health system, in which there is a reported shortage of beds, equipment, medicines, and blood to treat those arriving with gunshot wounds. Amid the chaos, people are fleeing with whatever they can carry under their arms, or go out to find only the essentials. The United States has asked Henry—a "refugee" in Puerto Rico—to accelerate the presidential transition plan, which the neurosurgeon placed in an August too far away for the cracked social consensus around his government. Washington, by the way, has been a key and controversial supporter for Henry. So, it is feared that the anarchy will end up encompassing the whole country. Yes, because it is not a question of whether or not Haiti is advancing towards that state, but to what level it is already experiencing it. The Presidential Palace itself was attacked, with several dead among the rebels. Fierce clashes between gangs and police continued over the weekend. Finally, Foggy Bottom evacuated "non-essential personnel" from its diplomatic headquarters in the capital and beefed up its security.

And this is all for our report today. I have referenced the sources dynamically in the text, and remember you can learn how and where to follow the LATAM trail news by reading my work here. Have a nice day.