It happened near 8pm, when I heard a neighbor (a couple of buildings away) hit her pots & pans in the balcony. A couple of moments before I was washed away by the excessive pride shown by Madame President in her speech, directed at the agribusiness who have halted activities since almost 2 weeks ago to protest gov't intromission into their value chain. Our diaper-carrying economy Minister announced 2 weeks ago the increase of export taxes to soybean (Argentina´s main cultive), to ~42%. Yes, you read right: 42 out of every 100 dollars would go to the gov't pocket (and trust me, this is not Sweden - people get nothing from that increase - no more hospitals, no more security, no better education).
So, people said enough: much like a 2001 flashback, people started banging (quite loudly, I must say) their pots and pans in the middle of the street, in their balconies, supporting the agro sector and asking the gov't to reflect on its mistakes. However, it is now almost midnight and we are as far as possible from a peaceful reconciliation: people have gathered at the historical Plaza de Mayo and so have some gov´t-supporting piqueteros. Nothing good can come out of that explosive cocktail.
In the middle of it all, the most important question is related to the Role of the State: ¿Will the gov't reserve the right to determine how much is "enough profit" in the private activities? ¿Is that not a very communist thing to do, and, if so, can they think of ever attracting Foreign Investment this way? (Argentina's economic model, of course, makes sense WITHOUT investment, which would otherwise force the gov't to buy more dollars to maintain the devaluation ...).
This type of thing never happened to Mr Kirchner; except for 2 or 3 occasions when Mr Blumberg - the father of an express kidnapping victim - filled the Plaza to ask for more security. People now gathered with a genuine request to the President: review the economic measures affecting the agribusiness (which suffered great losses during 1997-2002, and has been booming since 2003). The gov't response was, apparently, to send in the piqueteros and take back the Plaza.
These were ordinary people telling the gov't to listen. The gov't loves to speak and to give orders. Argentineans have, in the past and despite continuous episodes when the state appropriated their savings, been docile. Maybe that time is over. Maybe everyone is fed up with someone - be it a he or a she from the K dinasty - bossing them around. This was fine during a crisis, when a strong personality and leadership were needed to emerge as unscathed as possible. Now, the worst seems to be over and the world is giving us a chance to stand up: maybe, and just maybe, people are realizing that they do not want to be so docile or supportive of a President asking for too much and giving too little. Maybe, and just maybe, this opens an enormous door for the opposition to build upon. They have not been able to do so in the past; I trust they have learned from their mistakes and will do so in time for 2011.
If not, we run the risk of attention-grabbing, photolog-loving-teenager Florencia K (aka Florkey) to run for office ... God forbid!
