Argentina in 2006

Argentina in 2006

Area: 2,780,403 sq km (1,073,520 sq mi)
Population (2006 est.): 38,971,000
Capital: Buenos Aires
Head of state: President Néstor Kirchner

In 2006 Pres. Néstor Kirchner continued to consolidate his hold on power in Argentina, with his reelection to a second four-year term a nearly foregone conclusion 10 months prior to the October 2007 presidential contest. As had been the case since Kirchner assumed office in 2003, GDP growth in 2006 was robust (8.5%), while unemployment dropped to around 10%. In large part because of his success on the economic front, Kirchner enjoyed very high levels of popular support, with 60% of the population having a positive opinion of him and only 10% holding a negative view.

Kirchner’s Front for Victory alliance and its congressional allies (Federal Peronist and others) provided the president with an absolute majority of the seats in both the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate. This large and loyal majority passed all major legislation desired by Kirchner, including a law that allowed him unilaterally to modify any aspect of the annual budget. Furthermore, owing primarily to Kirchner’s control of the federal purse strings, all but 3 of Argentina’s 23 powerful governors, including 5 of the 6 governors who belonged to the opposition Radical Civic Union, publicly supported Kirchner’s reelection bid.

During 2006 the Argentine government’s intervention in the economy increased, with formal and informal price controls and export restrictions (on beef, dairy, and petroleum products) designed to rein in inflation becoming commonplace. Inflation reached 10%, however, and these controls and restrictions resulted in a decline in productive investment that would constrain the country’s ability to maintain high economic growth rates in the future. In particular, there were heightened fears that Argentina would experience serious energy shortages as a direct consequence of the lack of private investment in the electricity, natural-gas, and oil sectors.

The combination of Argentina’s robust economic growth (expected to continue in 2007), the fragmented and weakened status of the political opposition, and the growing role of the government in the economy (which had resulted in a reluctance among business leaders, including the media, either to criticize the government or to support opposition politicians) made it extremely likely that President Kirchner would be reelected in 2007. Public-opinion polls registered vote intentions for Kirchner as high as 60%, a full four to five times greater than that of his closest competitors, National Deputy Mauricio Macri and former economics minister Roberto Lavagna.

During 2006 Argentina established closer ties with Venezuela, a major buyer of Argentine debt as well as an increasingly important trade partner. Relations with neighbouring Uruguay were under constant strain in 2006 owing to public opposition in Gualeguaychu, Arg., to two paper mills being constructed across the river in Fray Bentos, Uruguay. Protesters, who feared that the mills would pollute the Argentine side of the Uruguay River, severely restricted road access to Uruguay early in the year, with devastating results for the Uruguayan tourism industry. One mill announced in September that it would either move to another location or abandon Uruguay.

BY: Mark P. Jones