Regardless of how many people were actually out on the streets on
Thursday, it was an extremely impressive sight. Landmarks and central avenues
teemed with people, not just in Buenos Aires but all over the country, and the
squares were full of pot-bangers. A friend of mine went to the Plaza de Mayo at
7pm, fully expecting a few hundred at most; by 7.50pm, it was full and the
entrances were crammed full of people. Despite the political expression against
the government, and the presence of some neo-Nazis, the atmosphere was
amazingly positive – it brought to mind images of the bicentennial celebrations
in 2010 or a carnival in a hotter neighbouring country. This celebratory
protest was Thursday night’s greatest strength – and its fundamental flaw.
For all of its preaching, Kirchnerism, the name given to the
constantly-shifting political philosophy allegedly guiding the actions of
President Cristina Fernández de
Kirchner and her followers, is not an inclusive political movement. Through its
repeated insistence on a ‘national project’, Kirchnerism thrives on creating an
‘us’ v ‘them’ ideology. You’re with us, or you’re against us. In this context,
it is an easy choice to make: become a Kirchnerite (or a K, as they are both
referred to derogatively and proudly describe themselves), and accept and agree
with what our leader says and does, even if you don’t.
Faced with that choice, it’s easy to be an anti-K. If you don’t like
having to keep all your savings in a currency that is devaluating on a daily
basis, albeit slowly, or if you happen to think that tax agencies shouldn’t
really be keeping tabs on what you do in your spare time, then you’re against
the government. If you think that continuous re-elections smack of autocracy,
or that teenagers who can’t legally drive or stand for election should be
forced to vote to choose a President is just plain preposterous, then you are
firmly in the ‘them’ department. Realistically, it is hard for people who were
born and at least partly raised outside Argentina to sympathize with a
government who sees it as its right to nationalize private companies (including
pension institutions, airlines, energy companies and football broadcasters) but
doesn’t have the money to fix its trains.
However, within the polarized political arena known as Argentine
society, opposition may seem like an easy option, but it isn’t. The political
leaders nominally representing opposition to the government are lightweight,
past it or undercooked, depending on which one you choose. It’s easy to tell which
ones the government sees as a threat, because those are the people the
Kirchnerites try to undermine financially (see Buenos Aires province Governor
Daniel Scioli and Córdoba Governor José Manuel de la Sota) or legally (see Buenos Aires City Mayor Mauricio
Macri). The rest, from the Radicals to the Broad Progressive Front (FAP) are
doomed by their laudably high principles – they simply cannot give ground
without losing moral strength. And they cannot form alliances with other
parties, because their own parties are equally good at lamenting the present as
remembering long-standing grudges.
Thus, there is no real opposition, helped by the government’s
ability to position itself so that on any key issue, whether it be
expropriation, re-election or giving teens the vote, at least some of each
party will agree with the concept and back it accordingly. The people know
this, and they are angry: those on the streets on Thursday were clearly aiming
their ire at the opposition as much as the national government.
As far as I can tell, or based on what I’ve learned in four years
here, this government exists to fight. Kirchnerism was born out of the ashes of
the last major economic crisis in 2001-2, in which the middle class lost their
future. Kirchnerism has provided the same victims of 2001-2 with the means of
building something new, an Argentina that does not depend on outside influences
and that generates its own strengths. A steady stream of enemies has assisted
this growth process: both externally (the IMF, the British and the Spanish, to
name a few) and internally (Macri and the farms, among others).
But, as last year’s election, in which Fernández de Kirchner romped home with 54 percent of the vote, clearly
shows, there is no political opposition. There are no more real enemies outside
Kirchnerism. This means that, sooner or later, the government was bound to
start turning on itself. Kirchnerism will eat itself. If in doubt, just ask
Vice-President Amado Boudou.
The real problem facing the thousands of people who filled the
streets on Thursday night is that they have no single, unified goal. Their
gripes, as justified as they are, are many. Their anger has one target, which
is fine, but offers no solution.
Pot-banging has a sacred place in Argentina’s recent history,
emblematic of the protests that brought down Fernando de la Rúa’s government in 2001 and that echoed during the Resolution 125
farm crisis in 2008. The difference in 2012 is that protestors have nothing to
offer but anger, and therefore, at the moment they are likely to still go home
empty-handed.
