Government, Macri and left measure call / Argentina News

The call of the Government to celebrate the day of democracy on December 10 has a lot of “withdrawal syndrome”: throughout 2020, Peronism must have seen how a right-wing opposition took over the streets with the “flags” and challenged him to show a similar summons.

Now, with the emotional impulse that the electoral “comeback” of the legislative elections gave him, and after the demonstration of support for Alberto Fernandez last November 17 -in the Militancy Day– Peronism has set itself a new political objective: to show that it is once again the protagonist of the street.

The anniversary of the return to democracy is the perfect excuse: it gives an institutional nuance and puts in an uncomfortable situation apart from the opposition, especially the Radical Civic Union, given that on the date there will be a tribute to Raúl Alfonsín.

The invitation to political figures in the international arena – with the stellar presence of the former Brazilian president Lula da silva– will put the seasoning so that on December 10 it can be at the height of the great acts that were the registered trademark of the government of Cristina Kirchner.

On those occasions – and, in particular, on the spectacular Bicentennial day, On May 25, 2010- Kirchnerism managed to renew affective ties with the militancy, by staging great acts in which history, culture and politics were mixed. The careful television broadcasts by the production company “La Corte” contributed to giving these celebrations an epic tone.

Now, the message that the Government wants to give is that the worst of the pandemic is over, that the country is back on the path of economic growth and that the Peronism in power has recovered its unity and mystique.

In fact, it stood out the call made by Cristina Kirchner herself and the requests of the Kirchner leaders to “burst the square.” An attitude certainly different from that adopted by the Kirchner sector in the Militancy Day, when he joined at the last minute and reluctantly to an act in which the President showed, for the first time, his own ability to convene.

On that occasion, supported by the support of the unions and the mayors of the suburbs, Alberto was encouraged to challenge Cristina and left a message of self-assertion in political leadership of the Government, with the horizon of retaining power in 2023.

That day, the presence of La Cámpora had been an accompaniment in the background, to such an extent that the main column reached the plaza when the President had already finished his speech. A very different attitude to that of the last days, in which the Kirchnerists they called “to burst the square.”

Now, instead, it is expected to give a message of relaunch with a coalition that regains hope, and that also sees how the opposition, after having obtained a resounding victory in the legislative election, already shows internal cracks.

The return to the “natural territory” of Peronism

For more than a year, in part to comply with the very slogan of maintaining the sanitary restriction, but also in part because it was at its worst to call for mass demonstrations of support, the ruling coalition resigned itself to the fact that its “territory natural “will be occupied by other political forces.

It was the time when Alberto Fernández promised that the moment of revenge would come, stating: “The day the pandemic ends there will be a good flag from the Argentines.”

In this way he consoled the eager militants who wanted to go out to respond to the demonstrations of the opponents. But, in the middle of the quarantine, the Government could do nothing but criticize “the marches of contagion” and denounce the irresponsibility of the opposition leaders who called for the rallies. The pro-government argument was that the protesters were an uncivilized right wing, denying scientific facts – “flat-earther” was the preferred expression – and that they revealed a selfish attitude.

Only on the Peronist anniversary of October 17 of last year, Alberto admitted that a march would be held “but maintaining social distance.”

And the truth is that only when the legislative elections passed, and taking Militancy Day as an excuse, did the first major Peronist rally take place since the Alberto-Cristina term of office began.

It was, in several ways, a liberation for the government. Not only because he could return to the street call without it being pointed out as a contradiction with his health policy but, above all, because finally had a political motive worth celebrating, after a long series of setbacks.

That is why the call for mass events is now presented almost as a reward for the patience that the militants maintained during the quarantine phase. “Today we can enjoy culture because we were responsible and supportive when we should be. Human beings need art to live, to cultivate their soul. Therefore, it must reach everyone”, said the President when announcing the program “More Culture “, which includes scholarships for 400,000 young people.

By the way, any allusion to “responsibility and solidarity” in the middle of the quarantine means for Alberto Fernández a slippery ground after the political scandal caused by the clandestine birthday party in Olivos, which caused him an electoral cost.

But, as Alberto said on the Day of the Militancy, now the second part begins. That, for Peronism, it is almost like saying that its administration really begins after “the two pandemics.” The certainty of an upcoming agreement with the International Monetary Fund It also gives it the tone of optimism about the recovery of the economy.

The left, with an uncomfortable slogan for the Government

But it is becoming clear that the opposition is not willing to make it so easy for Peronism to return to the militant epic in the streets. One day after the celebrations for December 10, the Government will have two answers, one on the left and one on the right.

In sharp contrast to the intention of Alberto Fernández, who wants to present the agreement with the IMF as the last obstacle to overcome to start a period of growth, the left parties called for a massive protest in the Plaza de Mayo in which, precisely , the leitmotif will be the rejection of the IMF.

“Everyone to the Plaza against the Fund” and “No to the pact with the IMF and the payment of the debt” are the slogans with which more than 100 organizations joined, among which stands out the Left Front, whose new four deputies swore in the assumption of their seats denouncing an adjustment in preparation by the Government.

Although the left has a long tradition of street calls in rejection of economic policies, in this case for Peronism it is not just another march. One of the fundamental concerns is to spend a December in peace, without there being overflows in social protest or situations of looting in marginal neighborhoods, as happened in other years.

For this, it is essential to have the support of social organizations and picket leaders, that help contain and channel social unrest due to the economic crisis.

From that point of view, an act of the left that is massive and can become a forceful response to the government’s act, just one day later, can become the political message that the Casa Rosada wants to avoid.

A banner at a time of internal division

But that will not be the only challenge to the Peronist return to the streets. The macrista opposition also called for a demonstration the next day, at the Obelisk, a few blocks from where the left will launch its anti-adjustment slogans.

The call for a new “banner” on December 11 had begun to take shape on social networks, in response to the triumphalism exhibited by the Government after having lost the legislative elections. And it was reinforced by the outrage generated by the dismissal of Cristina Kirchner in the Hotesur-Los Sauces court case.

However, the previous environment is of less enthusiasm than other flags massive, such as those in support of agricultural producers, or those that took place at the time of greatest outrage over the revelation of the “VIP vaccination program.”

Among the opposition militants themselves, there was a questioning of the diminishing effect of these manifestations, which fail to generate the desired political change and that, by a repetition effect, provoke a certain reaction of boredom on the part of the militancy.

But, in addition, in recent days it became clear that there are a growing fissure among the “tough” opposition led by Mauricio Macri and Patricia Bullrich, together with a sector of the UCR, and on the other hand the “dialogist” sector that stands behind the head of the Buenos Aires government, Horacio Rodríguez Larreta.

Reality has shown that these two factions only unite when they perceive the danger of an outpost of Kirchnerism. Judging by certain recent attitudes – such as the meeting of the Minister of Justice, Martin Soria, with the Supreme Court of Justice – there would be reasons to recycle the slogan of “defense of the Republic” and the repudiation of the attempt to intervene the judicial power.

So far, however, there is less enthusiasm for the street demonstration than on other occasions. Although of course, the last word has not been said. The official celebration of December 10 could work as trigger element so that the opposition wants to show its ability to convene.

In any case, this weekend he will make it clear that a certain “normality” is returning to Argentina: the great currents of opinion are once again measuring their forces in the street as the scene of political dispute.