Buenos Aires Guide
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American feeling in Argentina, it is best to know why!
From: http://www.buenosairesstay.com. I have taken the liberty of putting the last part of my history of Buenos Aires and Argentina on these pages, it does provide a little background to anti-American feeling that can be charted back to the early 1950's and Juan Peron.
Peron recognised that both American and British interests in the world had been as damaging to countries as it was economically helpful. McCarthyism and your witch-hunt would have most certainly had both Juan and Eva branded communist and American oil interests in the region may have been supporting of the first failed coup and later removal of Peron after his first term. Recent history you may know. Argentines have good reason to dislike American foreign policy, but no reason for some of their shoddy treatment and attitude towards the yank on the Street- the tourist dollar is keeping many of them afloat. Most Argentines are even-handed and realistic, but the blame culture prevails in the country – they find sorry hard to say sorry and it is never their fault! So down with America! Bush is not helping and that socialist oil baron dictator-in-waiting, Chavez, strikes a chord with the poorer and politically naive in South America; particularly, his own very poor population who he carefully maintains as poor and uneducated, whilst their state pays for his philanthropy. Englsih is widely spoken, but a reasonable understanding of Spanish a must. All that said, do not miss Buenos Aires - it is a fantastic city:
Argentina Today
•President Kirchner took office on 25 May 2003.
•Kirchner is part of a XXI century group of Latin American leaders whose hostility to the United States is unparalleled.
•Many view Washington’s interference in South America as both underhanded and fuelled by self-interest.
•When you chart Argentina’s and South America’s political and social histories, American interests in the region often propped up military rule that devastated countries. That is true.
•We (I am British) always have strong principal and our overwhelming democratic credentials to support our reckless interferences of foreign lands.
•America’s arrogance in this region, ‘it’s our backyard’ attitude has backfired and much work is needed to mend the fences of a garden that is fast over-growing.
•It is unfortunate that today that we see similar interferences outside of United Nations mandate, both military and ‘guerrilla’ wars propagated by the world’s most vocal laughing-policeman and his trans-Atlantic pooch.
•However, it is important that Argentines also look closer to home. It is not just a matter of boom and crash economic policy adopted by successive governments that are to blame for this country’s woes.
•As an interested outsider and businessman who spends a lot of time in Argentina, I see other intangible economic factors that still dog this economy, not least institutional corruption and a judiciary and police force, which are sadly flawed.
•These factors cannot be ignored and should be addressed quickly to attract the substantial foreign investment needed by this country.
•So-called ‘speculation’ has emerged in the media about a possible anti-U.S. coalition of Latin American countries including Brazil under Lula, Cuba under Castro, Venezuela under Chávez. I am not sure where the word ‘speculation’ comes from; these countries see themselves as growing allies and want to counter their powerful neighbour’s regional influence.
•Kirchner's victory was clearly a vote of dissatisfaction by impoverished Argentines who were sick of previous presidents' pro-American, free-market reforms. However, Argentines are more pragmatic and better educated than many of South America’s voters and anti-American ‘band-wagon politics’ will not take voters minds off the real issues at home.
•Kirchner is a voice of reason. He does attempt to strike a balance and has great finesse as a statesman, in contrast to the puffed-up bluster of Chavez.
•I was unfortunate enough to see the overbearing Chavez on a podium with another arrogant twit, Ken Livingston, Mayor of London, some months ago. I was not impressed and felt cheated that I left my pint on a bar to listen to complete rubbish.
•My impression of Chavez is he is a socialist dictator-in-waiting and wants to use his oil and gas revenues to create his own backyard.
•January 2007: Where are we today? Well, women in Argentinean politics are a historical factor one should not ignore – either as the power behind the man, his deputy, or as de-facto la Presidente – my betting, and I am a betting man, is another Kirchner will find her way to higher office sometime in 2007.
By Andrew McCance – http://wwwbuenosairesstay.com - raemac@bastay.com |
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