Por James Neilson, Publicado en BUENOS AIRES HERALD, 30/08/2015
If a front-runner emerges support could sway his way
Mauricio Macri, Sergio Massa and Margarita Stolbizer evidently hope
that the electoral shenanigans in Tucumán, where some ballot boxes
apparently arrived already stuffed with pro-government votes, others
were torched, and mounted police charged into a large crowd of
protestors gathered in the main square, will help them win more votes in
October. They may be disappointed on that score because many people
have grown used to sharp practices, but even so they can take heart from
the official version of the election results which gave the former
health minister Juan Manzur 54 percent and his Radical rival José Cano
about 40. Four years ago, the Kirchnerite governor, José Alperovich, got
nearly 70 percent, which by his standards was a poor showing because in
the previous election he had piled up 78 percent, while Cano had to
make do with a measly 15 percent. It would therefore seem that in
Tucumán, a poverty-stricken province where public opinion is prone to
swing wildly, support for the Kirchnerite dispensation is shrinking
fast.
Much the same could be happening elsewhere in the “feudal” north where, for understandable reasons, most people cling to the little they have and will vote for just about anyone they think can give them what they need to stay alive. Were the word to get around that Macri, say, is likely to be the next president, support for him would immediately increase. For most provincial governors, their own personal relationship with whoever is in the Pink House matters far more than all that ideological claptrap Cristina and her friends are so fond of. It has to: as far as they are concerned, being on good terms with the man or woman in charge of the national budget is more important than anything produced by the local farms or factories. It is the only real economic asset they have. Along with most other people in their part of the world, they depend on handouts.
Argentina has a trickle-down economy, one that, needless to say, has little in common with the version “neoliberals” go on about in which, they say, rich people’s money will eventually find its way into the pockets of the rest of us so it would be better to treat them kindly. Long before they moved from Patagonia to Buenos Aires, Cristina and her late husband realised that to enjoy success in politics they would have to keep a very firm grip on the purse strings. They were right. Much as the recipients of government largesse may dislike the idea, in exchange for whatever comes their way they are expected to pay due homage to the president and her circle. Most have done so willingly enough. To make it easier for them, Nestor and Cristina supplied their adherents with what they said was a brand-new, ultra-progressive, political philosophy. Though it was just a mishmash of old Peronist notions plus others favoured by allegedly left-wing Latin American populists such as Venezuela’s Hugo Chávez, it did enable the many who supported them in exchange for money to swear they were unmoved by material considerations.
.....
Less vulnerable than this lot are the provincial politicians and town mayors, most of whom have switched allegiance many times in the past and will have no qualms should it come to doing it again. From their point of view, things are fairly simple; though they need to be on good terms with the president, he or she has to be on good terms with them. As the elections approach, the jumpier among them are doing their best to pick the winner. Should one of the front-running trio break away, they will immediately give chase, deserting whatever rival thought they were on his or her side.
......
buenosairesherald.com/article/197565/power-and-money
Much the same could be happening elsewhere in the “feudal” north where, for understandable reasons, most people cling to the little they have and will vote for just about anyone they think can give them what they need to stay alive. Were the word to get around that Macri, say, is likely to be the next president, support for him would immediately increase. For most provincial governors, their own personal relationship with whoever is in the Pink House matters far more than all that ideological claptrap Cristina and her friends are so fond of. It has to: as far as they are concerned, being on good terms with the man or woman in charge of the national budget is more important than anything produced by the local farms or factories. It is the only real economic asset they have. Along with most other people in their part of the world, they depend on handouts.
Argentina has a trickle-down economy, one that, needless to say, has little in common with the version “neoliberals” go on about in which, they say, rich people’s money will eventually find its way into the pockets of the rest of us so it would be better to treat them kindly. Long before they moved from Patagonia to Buenos Aires, Cristina and her late husband realised that to enjoy success in politics they would have to keep a very firm grip on the purse strings. They were right. Much as the recipients of government largesse may dislike the idea, in exchange for whatever comes their way they are expected to pay due homage to the president and her circle. Most have done so willingly enough. To make it easier for them, Nestor and Cristina supplied their adherents with what they said was a brand-new, ultra-progressive, political philosophy. Though it was just a mishmash of old Peronist notions plus others favoured by allegedly left-wing Latin American populists such as Venezuela’s Hugo Chávez, it did enable the many who supported them in exchange for money to swear they were unmoved by material considerations.
.....
Less vulnerable than this lot are the provincial politicians and town mayors, most of whom have switched allegiance many times in the past and will have no qualms should it come to doing it again. From their point of view, things are fairly simple; though they need to be on good terms with the president, he or she has to be on good terms with them. As the elections approach, the jumpier among them are doing their best to pick the winner. Should one of the front-running trio break away, they will immediately give chase, deserting whatever rival thought they were on his or her side.
......
buenosairesherald.com/article/197565/power-and-money
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