Post by Prince of Destiny on Jan 2, 2006 17:03:17 GMT -5
Salaam aley kum warahmahtullah
From the Author of the Articles Revival of Muslim Mind, Fear and Muslims, Muslims in need of Political Awareness, Muslim Youth and the Kufr Society, How to Give Dawah, and The Society; presents a New Article :
[b]!!!Argentina in Economic Crisis : Islam - the Only Solution!!! [/b]
Exposing sick Capitalist Policies of US, IMF and World Back trying to Ensalve the Humanity through Championing Economic Crisis sucking the natural resources of thrid world countries as blood thirsty vampires. Islam is the only solution that can cure the suffering world from the horrible disease of capitalism. The Islamic creed, its foundation, the basis of life is absolutely and simply true. From this correct basis emanated a system of ruling, social system, educational system, judicial system and economic system. I present, in this article, Islam as a solution to growing economic problems not only in Argentina but to all the countries around the globe.
Oh Allah! Be My Witness that I have exposed the Reality of the Kuffar.
Oh Allah! be My Witness, I am Cashif, One Who Un Covers the Covered (the Truth).
Oh Allah! be my Witness, I testify that there is no god But Allah and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.
ALIF LAAM MEEM: (These letters are one of the Miracles of Quran none but Allah alone knows their Meaning.)
This is the Book; in it is guidance sure, without doubt, to those who fear Allah; Who believe in the Unseen, are steadfast in prayer, and spend out of what We have provided for them; And who believe in that which has been revealed to you and that which was revealed before you and they are sure of the hereafter. ..................... When it is said to them: "Do not make mischief in the land, they say: We are but peace-makers. And for sure, they are the ones who make mischief, but they realise (it) not.
Surah Al Baqarah 1 - 12
Ma-salama
Prince of Destiny
Wilaya of The Argentina
!!!Argentina in Economic Crisis : Islam - the Only Solution!!!
Argentina Profile
Country name: Argentine Republic.
Capital: Buenos Aires
Administrative divisions: 23 provinces (provincias, singular - provincia), and 1 autonomous city* (distrito federal); Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires Capital Federal*, Catamarca, Chaco, Chubut, Cordoba, Corrientes, Entre Rios, Formosa, Jujuy, La Pampa, La Rioja, Mendoza, Misiones, Neuquen, Rio Negro, Salta, San Juan, San Luis, Santa Cruz, Santa Fe, Santiago del Estero, Tierra del Fuego - Antartida e Islas del Atlantico Sur, Tucuman.
Independence: 9 July 1816 (from Spain)
Legal system: mixture of US and West European legal systems; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Executive branch: chief of state: President Eduardo Alberto Duhalde (since 2 January 2002); note - selected by National Congress in aftermath of resignation of former President DE LA RUA on 20 December 2001 and resignations of others who briefly held the office following DE LA RUA's departure; Vice President Carlos "Chacho" Alvarez resigned 6 October 2000 and the post remains vacant; note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government.
head of government: President Eduardo Alberto Duhalde (since 2 January 2002); note - selected by National Congress in aftermath of resignation of former President DE LA RUA on 20 December 2001 and resignations of others who briefly held the office following DE LA RUA's departure; Vice President Carlos "Chacho" Alvarez resigned 6 October 2000 and the post remains vacant; note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government
cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president
election results: Fernando DE LA RUA elected president; percent of vote - 48.5% ; Vice President Carlos "Chacho" ALVAREZ resigned 6 October 2000 and a replacement was not named; DE LA RUA resigned 20 December 2001; following a series of interim presidents, Eduardo Alberto DUHALDE was selected president by the National Congress on 1 January 2002
elections: president and vice president elected on the same ticket by popular vote for four-year terms; election last held 24 October 1999 (next to be held NA October 2003)
Legislative branch: bicameral National Congress or Congreso Nacional consists of the Senate (72 seats; formerly, three members appointed by each of the provincial legislatures; presently transitioning to one-third of the members being elected every two years to six-year terms) and the Chamber of Deputies (257 seats; one-half of the members elected every two years to four-year terms)
election results: Senate - percent of vote by bloc or party - NA%; seats by bloc or party - Justicialist (Peronist) 40, UCR 24, provincial parties 6, Frepaso 1, ARI 1; Chamber of Deputies - percent of vote by bloc or party - NA%; seats by bloc or party - Justicialist (Peronist) 113, UCR 74, provincial parties 27, Frepaso 17, ARI 17, AR 9
elections: Senate - last held 14 October 2001 (next to be held NA October 2003); Chamber of Deputies - last held 14 October 2001 (next to be held NA October 2003).
Judicial branch : Supreme Court or Corte Suprema (the nine Supreme Court judges are appointed by the president with approval by the Senate).
Political parties and leaders: Action for the Republic or AR [Domingo CAVALLO]; Alternative for a Republic of Equals or ARI [Elisa CARRIO]; Front for a Country in Solidarity or Frepaso (a four-party coalition) [Dario Pedro ALESSANDRO]; Justicialist Party or PJ [Carlos Saul MENEM] (Peronist umbrella political organization); Radical Civic Union or UCR [Angel ROZAS]; several provincial parties.
Political pressure groups and leaders: Argentine Association of Pharmaceutical Labs (CILFA); Argentine Industrial Union (manufacturers' association); Argentine Rural Society (large landowners' association); business organizations; General Confederation of Labor or CGT (Peronist-leaning umbrella labor organization); Peronist-dominated labor movement; Roman Catholic Church; students.
Diplomatic representation in the US : chief of mission: Ambassador Diego Ramiro GUELAR
chancery: 1600 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20009
consulate(s) general: Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York
FAX: [1] (202) 332-3171 telephone: [1] (202) 238-6400.
Diplomatic representation from the US: chief of mission: Ambassador James D. WALSH
embassy: Avenida Colombia 4300, C1425GMN Buenos Aires
mailing address: international mail: use street address; APO address: Unit 4334, APO AA 34034
telephone: [54] (11) 5777-4533 FAX: [54] (11) 5511-4240
Background: Following independence from Spain in 1816, Argentina experienced periods of internal political conflict between conservatives and liberals and between civilian and military factions. After World War II, a long period of Peronist authoritarian rule and interference in subsequent governments was followed by a military junta that took power in 1976. Democracy returned in 1983, and numerous elections since then have underscored Argentina's progress in democratic consolidation.
Location : Southern South America, bordering the South Atlantic Ocean, between Chile and Uruguay.
Area: total: 2,766,890 sq km, land: 2,736,690 sq km, water: 30,200 sq km
Land boundaries: total: 9,665 km, border countries: Bolivia 832 km, Brazil 1,224 km, Chile 5,150 km, Paraguay 1,880 km, Uruguay 579 km.
Natural resources: fertile plains of the Pampas, lead, zinc, tin, copper, iron ore, manganese, petroleum, uranium
Environment - international agreements: party to: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Seals, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands, Whaling signed, but not ratified: Marine Life Conservation.
Geography -: second-largest country in South America (after Brazil); strategic location relative to sea lanes between the South Atlantic and the South Pacific Oceans (Strait of Magellan, Beagle Channel, Drake Passage); Cerro Aconcagua is South America's tallest mountain, while the Valdes Peninsula is the lowest point on the continent.
Population : 37,812,817 (July 2002 est.)
Economy - overview: Argentina benefits from rich natural resources, a highly literate population, an export-oriented agricultural sector, and a diversified industrial base. However, when President Carlos MENEM took office in 1989, the country had piled up huge external debts, inflation had reached 200% per month, and output was plummeting. To combat the economic crisis, the government embarked on a path of trade liberalization, deregulation, and privatization. In 1991, it implemented radical monetary reforms which pegged the peso to the US dollar and limited the growth in the monetary base by law to the growth in reserves. Inflation fell sharply in subsequent years. In 1995, the Mexican peso crisis produced capital flight, the loss of banking system deposits, and a severe, but short-lived, recession; a series of reforms to bolster the domestic banking system followed. Real GDP growth recovered strongly, reaching 8% in 1997. In 1998, international financial turmoil caused by Russia's problems and increasing investor anxiety over Brazil produced the highest domestic interest rates in more than three years, halving the growth rate of the economy. Conditions worsened in 1999 with GDP falling by 3%. President Fernando DE LA RUA, who took office in December 1999, sponsored tax increases and spending cuts to reduce the deficit, which had ballooned to 2.5% of GDP in 1999. Growth in 2000 was a negative 0.5%, as both domestic and foreign investors remained skeptical of the government's ability to pay debts and maintain the peso's fixed exchange rate with the US dollar. The economic situation worsened still further in 2001 with the widening of spreads on Argentine bonds, massive withdrawals from the banks, and a further decline in consumer and investor confidence. Government efforts to achieve a "zero deficit", to stabilize the banking system, and to restore economic growth proved inadequate in the face of the mounting economic problems. At the start of 2002, newly elected president Eduardo DUHALDE met with IMF officials to secure an additional $20 billion loan, but immediate action seemed unlikely. The peso's peg to the dollar was abandoned in January 2002, and the peso was floated from the dollar in February; inflation picked up rapidly.
GDP: purchasing power parity - $453 billion (2001 est.).
GDP - real growth rate: -4.6% (2001 est.).
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $12,000 (2001 est.).
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 6% industry: 28%, services: 66% (2001 est.)
Population below poverty line: 37% (2001 est.) (at present 50% is under poverty.}
Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: NA% highest 10%: NA%
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 4% (2001 est.)
Labor force: 15 million (1999).
Unemployment rate: 25% (yearend 2001) (at present around 50% or more)
Budget: revenues: $44 billion expenditures: $48 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2000 est.).
Industries: food processing, motor vehicles, consumer durables, textiles, chemicals and petrochemicals, printing, metallurgy, steel.
Agriculture - products: sunflower seeds, lemons, soybeans, grapes, corn, tobacco, peanuts, tea, wheat; livestock.
Exports: $26.5 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.).
Exports - commodities: edible oils, fuels and energy, cereals, feed, motor vehicles.
Exports - partners: Brazil 26.5%, US 11.8%, Chile 10.6%, Spain 3.5% (2000).
Imports: $23.8 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.).
Imports - commodities: machinery and equipment, motor vehicles, chemicals, metal manufactures, plastics.
Imports - partners : Brazil 25.1%, US 18.7%, Germany 5%, China 4.6% (2000).
Debt - external: $155 billion (2001 est.).
Economic aid - recipient: $10 billion (2001 est.)
Currency: Argentine peso (ARS)
Exchange rates: Argentine pesos per US dollar - 1.33325 (January 2002), 1.000 (1997 2001); note - fixed rate pegged to the US dollar was abandoned in January 2002; peso now floats
Disputes - international : claims UK-administered Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas); claims UK-administered South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands; territorial claim in Antarctica partially overlaps British and Chilean claims.
Current Crisis: Suffering from Severe Economic Crisis Ever.
Economic Crisis
On December 19, 2001, legions of people, desperate and hungry, break into supermarkets and stores in broad daylight. Their country was among the worlds richest. Until recently, its large middle class rivaled European counterparts in comfort and opportunity. Argentina was one of America's wealthiest nations, with high living standards, a skilled labor force, 99% literacy rate, and impressive scientific and technological infrastructure. Social mobility was similar to that of many European nations. Unionized factory workers could afford a house, a car and hope to put their children through college. Today, after obeying IMF dictated policies, 51.4% of its population is classified as poor, Since January of this year, poverty has increased at the rate of 762,000 a month, or 25,000 per day. In the first five months of this year, the cost of the basic monthly market basket increased by 35.7%. For the first quarter of this year, GDP dropped 16.3%, the biggest quarterly drop in the country's history. In the land of wheat and cows," it is now commonplace to see, as Agence France Press reported on June 7, "armies of people in rags, of all ages go through the streets of the capital each night, overturning the garbage in search of leftover bits of food." The percentile of country's unemployment rate is now around 50's. Tens of thousands of public sector workers have not been paid for three months. The number of women in the red-light district of Buenos Aires, capital of Argentina, has increased. The ordinary citizens have been unable to withdraw their own savings from their bank accounts. There is daily rioting and demonstrations. People have begun committing suicide.
What led Argentina in Crisis?[/color]
1.The Military Dictatorship.
2.The Fixed Exchange rate.
3.The Privatization
4.The Banking and
5.The IMF [Internatioal Monetary Fund]
The Military Regime :
Joseph Halavi, the author of the article, "The Argentine Crisis," writes that the sedimentary cause for the economic crisis in Argentina was the Military Juntas, the military regime, which ruled from 1976-1983 was the most barbaric dictatorship in the Argentina. 30,000 thousands people belonging to leftist movement, were massacred by this regime. This government, with US encouragement and support, invaded Falklands Islands, a British territory. US sold 'heavy artillery' to Argentina during Falklands war against Britain. The purchase of armament from US increases in public debt significantly. Joseph, further writes that public debt was much smaller, 56 percent in 1981 than it was 68 percent in 1976, compare to external debt. "The external debt rose nearly four times, from $9.7 billion in 1976 to $35.7 billion in 1981". The military dictatorship of 1976-1982, introduced a "new foreign investment law assist acquisitions and financial investment while freeing the exchange rate from government controls…these measures attracted capital from abroad while international financial companies and banks, awash with money from oil price increases," were aggressively pushing loans on Argentina. The military dictatorship led to a tight alliance between multinationals, financial capital, and local business elites, an alliance which became dominant throughout the 1980s. This bloc reversed the import substitution strategy that characterized Argentina's substantial industrial growth in the 1960s. It was under this alliance that the external debt explosion occurred, while the productive system started to suffer from chronic deindustrialization.
After the humiliating defeat at the hands of British forces in the Falklands war in 1982, Raul Alfonsin of the Radical Party took over the presidency in1983. Raul Alfonsin adopted democracy and trade during his term. He undertook the task of absorbing the private external debt by the support of the IMF. Nonetheless, IMF laid an condition that Argentina should continue its policy of 'debt socialization' (cuts in social spending, lower wages) in order to receive aid.
The Fixed Exchange Rate :
By the end of the 1980s, the new president, the Peronist Carlos Menem, vowed to end hyperinflation and stagnation. In 1991, the Menem government passed a law, designed by the aforementioned Domingo Cavallo, a darling of the IMF who was undersecretary of the interior (Federal Police Department) during the bloodthirsty military dictatorship in 1981. Through 'The Bretton Woods Treaty (4) of 1970's the US government managed to change the worldwide currency standard from Gold to Fiat (paper money). This agreement also ensured that all global currencies would be backed by the American dollar rather than gold, thereby allowing the US to use its Dollar as an economic lever in the world by allowing the currency to become overvalued or undervalued to put pressure on particular countries to suit its own political ends. In the case of Argentina, the Argentinean government had to borrow more and more from the IMF just to prop up an overvalued peso, otherwise confidence in the Peso would have shattered and lead to an eventual economic collapse. Argentina pegged its currency, the peso, to the U.S. dollar at a one-to-one rate in 1991. An overvalued currency makes a country's exports too expensive and its imports cheap. In Argentina, however, exports amount to only 10 percent of the gross domestic product.
As the crisis worsened, the government had to borrow more and more dollars, because more people wanted to cash in their pesos while they were still worth a dollar each. And the government had to borrow at the ever-higher interest rates, which pushed the debt to $140 billion. Argentinean government also borrowed massive loans to maintain zero-deficit. The IMF arranged a $40 billion package on conditioned that Argentine government should maintain balanced budget. In order to achieve balanced budget it requires severe austerity measures-budget cuts that increase unemployment and harm social conditions. Due to austerity measures, a wage freeze is imposed upon workers. Wage earners now lose, because their wages are frozen while prices grow slowly and social services are curtailed.
From the fall of 2000, when the Argentine government entered yet a new round of negotiations with the IMF, until the Buenos Aires uprising of last December, the government has systematically cut spending. It privatized social security and cut the provinces' funds, forcing many of them to use substitute money to meet their payments. During the summer, the economic minister, Domingo Cavallo set the goal of a zero budget deficit. If the target was not attained, it was not for lack of trying, but because of the galloping social crisis, with unemployment reaching 18 percent and an equal percentage classified as underemployed. Immediately after the withholding of the loan by the IMF, the government embarked on an even tougher round of cuts, which included freezing people's bank accounts and limiting withdrawals to $250 a week. It was at this point that the people of Buenos Aires rose up against the government.
PRIVITIZATION :
The free market policies imposed on Argentina had left the country without a national financial system. The Argentina government passed 'The State Reform Act' of August 1989 allowed 176 privatizations, including gas and electric utilities, telecom companies, railways, airlines, oil companies, water and highways.
Gas del Estado, the Argentina owned natural gas company, was bought by Louisville Gas and Electric (LG&E) in 1992. As of 2001, LG&E was collecting from more than 600,000 bill-paying customers. Then in 2001, came AES corporation (The Global Power Company), a US based company, pitched in and privatized the Argentina state electric power and collected $31 million from 700,000 electricity users in Buenos Aires,(the capital) La Plata, and points north. The capitol profited by these two foreign companies is sent abroad; basically Argentina was gaining nothing nor from its very citizens or from any form of taxes (that is suppose to collected from the foreign companies).
The supermer, the Argentina's supermarket industry, was owned by Dutch corporation Disco. The corporation gained $300 million from the revenues collected in 1999 and by 2001 it collected revenues up to $2 billion. Later, the joint foreign chains Disco-Norte and Carrefou (French companies collected fifty percent the supermarket revenues).
Telefonica S.A. of Spain now owns the telephone company in Argentina. Telefónica, which provides telephone service to major countries of Latin America, privatized the phone company in Argentina and made $212 million between October 1999 and March 2000.The telefonica is owned by Global Service Corporation (IGS). IGS is a branch of IBM (International Business Machine) an American Company.
The Sociatbank Quilmes, formerly known as Banco Quilmes, is now owned by Canada's soctiabank. This bank had assets of $2.6 billion and deposits of about $1.5 billion. Other foreign bankers are Hong Kong Shanghai Banking Corporation and Banco Bilbao Vizcaya of Spain.
The Suez Lyonnaise de Eaux (France), along with Aguas de Barcelona, and Vivendi, created Aguas Argentinas to take over the Buenos Aires water system. The result, water was supplied to three million inhabitants in seven poor districts in and around Buenos Aires, which was polluted with high levels nitrate. The presence of nitrate in water in large amounts can cause death in infants and cardiovascular problems in adults. The company's strategy was very simple, create an emergency committee to solve the problem through bottled water and infants' food. The Aguas Argentinas had negotiated a contract with the government of Buenos Aires that exempted the company from responsibility for nitrate levels. The contract did say that the public should be notified about dangerous levels, but it didn't say by whom, so Aguas didn't do it.
There is very little competition in water. Not only are water systems natural monopolies, but the private part of the industry is dominated worldwide by just two multinationals - Vivendi and Suez-Lyonnaise. A third French multinational, SAUR, holds a dominant position in Africa. The contracts sign by these companies is usually for longer terms, for about 25-30 years. One may ask, why is their a need to privatize water? What's the wisdom behind it? Privatisation introduces a new set of financial demands on the water system which tend to increase the price of water and sanitation. These include the demands of the company owners for profits and dividends, which may then be globally redistributed for investment in other company's acitivities. In Argentina's case, the Suez or the Aguas Argentina, invested the revenues it collected from people in production of bottled water and food for infants. An another example could be of the Vivendi, the French multinational company, which finances its other activities. In January 2000, Vivendi burdened the entire debt, equal to Euro 16.5 billion, onto its water, energy, waste and transport operations - the 'environment' division' - while the communications division, which has received most of Vivendi's investment in recent years, became virtually debt free. Based on the 1999 sales in the Environment division of Euros 22.2bn, this is equivalent to a surcharge of about 4% on the bills of every user of Vivendi's water, waste and transport in the world, in order to subsidise the communications division. The government can also benefit from privatizing water by collecting the dues from the people to pay off its debts.
Even the education system is Argentina is privatized by Private Sector Development (PSD).
In conclusion, privatization is a legitimate form of corruption through which only bidders benefit but the commoners are the ones who pay the heavy price.
From the Author of the Articles Revival of Muslim Mind, Fear and Muslims, Muslims in need of Political Awareness, Muslim Youth and the Kufr Society, How to Give Dawah, and The Society; presents a New Article :
[b]!!!Argentina in Economic Crisis : Islam - the Only Solution!!! [/b]
Exposing sick Capitalist Policies of US, IMF and World Back trying to Ensalve the Humanity through Championing Economic Crisis sucking the natural resources of thrid world countries as blood thirsty vampires. Islam is the only solution that can cure the suffering world from the horrible disease of capitalism. The Islamic creed, its foundation, the basis of life is absolutely and simply true. From this correct basis emanated a system of ruling, social system, educational system, judicial system and economic system. I present, in this article, Islam as a solution to growing economic problems not only in Argentina but to all the countries around the globe.
Oh Allah! Be My Witness that I have exposed the Reality of the Kuffar.
Oh Allah! be My Witness, I am Cashif, One Who Un Covers the Covered (the Truth).
Oh Allah! be my Witness, I testify that there is no god But Allah and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.
ALIF LAAM MEEM: (These letters are one of the Miracles of Quran none but Allah alone knows their Meaning.)
This is the Book; in it is guidance sure, without doubt, to those who fear Allah; Who believe in the Unseen, are steadfast in prayer, and spend out of what We have provided for them; And who believe in that which has been revealed to you and that which was revealed before you and they are sure of the hereafter. ..................... When it is said to them: "Do not make mischief in the land, they say: We are but peace-makers. And for sure, they are the ones who make mischief, but they realise (it) not.
Surah Al Baqarah 1 - 12
Ma-salama
Prince of Destiny
Wilaya of The Argentina
!!!Argentina in Economic Crisis : Islam - the Only Solution!!!
Argentina Profile
Country name: Argentine Republic.
Capital: Buenos Aires
Administrative divisions: 23 provinces (provincias, singular - provincia), and 1 autonomous city* (distrito federal); Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires Capital Federal*, Catamarca, Chaco, Chubut, Cordoba, Corrientes, Entre Rios, Formosa, Jujuy, La Pampa, La Rioja, Mendoza, Misiones, Neuquen, Rio Negro, Salta, San Juan, San Luis, Santa Cruz, Santa Fe, Santiago del Estero, Tierra del Fuego - Antartida e Islas del Atlantico Sur, Tucuman.
Independence: 9 July 1816 (from Spain)
Legal system: mixture of US and West European legal systems; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Executive branch: chief of state: President Eduardo Alberto Duhalde (since 2 January 2002); note - selected by National Congress in aftermath of resignation of former President DE LA RUA on 20 December 2001 and resignations of others who briefly held the office following DE LA RUA's departure; Vice President Carlos "Chacho" Alvarez resigned 6 October 2000 and the post remains vacant; note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government.
head of government: President Eduardo Alberto Duhalde (since 2 January 2002); note - selected by National Congress in aftermath of resignation of former President DE LA RUA on 20 December 2001 and resignations of others who briefly held the office following DE LA RUA's departure; Vice President Carlos "Chacho" Alvarez resigned 6 October 2000 and the post remains vacant; note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government
cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president
election results: Fernando DE LA RUA elected president; percent of vote - 48.5% ; Vice President Carlos "Chacho" ALVAREZ resigned 6 October 2000 and a replacement was not named; DE LA RUA resigned 20 December 2001; following a series of interim presidents, Eduardo Alberto DUHALDE was selected president by the National Congress on 1 January 2002
elections: president and vice president elected on the same ticket by popular vote for four-year terms; election last held 24 October 1999 (next to be held NA October 2003)
Legislative branch: bicameral National Congress or Congreso Nacional consists of the Senate (72 seats; formerly, three members appointed by each of the provincial legislatures; presently transitioning to one-third of the members being elected every two years to six-year terms) and the Chamber of Deputies (257 seats; one-half of the members elected every two years to four-year terms)
election results: Senate - percent of vote by bloc or party - NA%; seats by bloc or party - Justicialist (Peronist) 40, UCR 24, provincial parties 6, Frepaso 1, ARI 1; Chamber of Deputies - percent of vote by bloc or party - NA%; seats by bloc or party - Justicialist (Peronist) 113, UCR 74, provincial parties 27, Frepaso 17, ARI 17, AR 9
elections: Senate - last held 14 October 2001 (next to be held NA October 2003); Chamber of Deputies - last held 14 October 2001 (next to be held NA October 2003).
Judicial branch : Supreme Court or Corte Suprema (the nine Supreme Court judges are appointed by the president with approval by the Senate).
Political parties and leaders: Action for the Republic or AR [Domingo CAVALLO]; Alternative for a Republic of Equals or ARI [Elisa CARRIO]; Front for a Country in Solidarity or Frepaso (a four-party coalition) [Dario Pedro ALESSANDRO]; Justicialist Party or PJ [Carlos Saul MENEM] (Peronist umbrella political organization); Radical Civic Union or UCR [Angel ROZAS]; several provincial parties.
Political pressure groups and leaders: Argentine Association of Pharmaceutical Labs (CILFA); Argentine Industrial Union (manufacturers' association); Argentine Rural Society (large landowners' association); business organizations; General Confederation of Labor or CGT (Peronist-leaning umbrella labor organization); Peronist-dominated labor movement; Roman Catholic Church; students.
Diplomatic representation in the US : chief of mission: Ambassador Diego Ramiro GUELAR
chancery: 1600 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20009
consulate(s) general: Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York
FAX: [1] (202) 332-3171 telephone: [1] (202) 238-6400.
Diplomatic representation from the US: chief of mission: Ambassador James D. WALSH
embassy: Avenida Colombia 4300, C1425GMN Buenos Aires
mailing address: international mail: use street address; APO address: Unit 4334, APO AA 34034
telephone: [54] (11) 5777-4533 FAX: [54] (11) 5511-4240
Background: Following independence from Spain in 1816, Argentina experienced periods of internal political conflict between conservatives and liberals and between civilian and military factions. After World War II, a long period of Peronist authoritarian rule and interference in subsequent governments was followed by a military junta that took power in 1976. Democracy returned in 1983, and numerous elections since then have underscored Argentina's progress in democratic consolidation.
Location : Southern South America, bordering the South Atlantic Ocean, between Chile and Uruguay.
Area: total: 2,766,890 sq km, land: 2,736,690 sq km, water: 30,200 sq km
Land boundaries: total: 9,665 km, border countries: Bolivia 832 km, Brazil 1,224 km, Chile 5,150 km, Paraguay 1,880 km, Uruguay 579 km.
Natural resources: fertile plains of the Pampas, lead, zinc, tin, copper, iron ore, manganese, petroleum, uranium
Environment - international agreements: party to: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Seals, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands, Whaling signed, but not ratified: Marine Life Conservation.
Geography -: second-largest country in South America (after Brazil); strategic location relative to sea lanes between the South Atlantic and the South Pacific Oceans (Strait of Magellan, Beagle Channel, Drake Passage); Cerro Aconcagua is South America's tallest mountain, while the Valdes Peninsula is the lowest point on the continent.
Population : 37,812,817 (July 2002 est.)
Economy - overview: Argentina benefits from rich natural resources, a highly literate population, an export-oriented agricultural sector, and a diversified industrial base. However, when President Carlos MENEM took office in 1989, the country had piled up huge external debts, inflation had reached 200% per month, and output was plummeting. To combat the economic crisis, the government embarked on a path of trade liberalization, deregulation, and privatization. In 1991, it implemented radical monetary reforms which pegged the peso to the US dollar and limited the growth in the monetary base by law to the growth in reserves. Inflation fell sharply in subsequent years. In 1995, the Mexican peso crisis produced capital flight, the loss of banking system deposits, and a severe, but short-lived, recession; a series of reforms to bolster the domestic banking system followed. Real GDP growth recovered strongly, reaching 8% in 1997. In 1998, international financial turmoil caused by Russia's problems and increasing investor anxiety over Brazil produced the highest domestic interest rates in more than three years, halving the growth rate of the economy. Conditions worsened in 1999 with GDP falling by 3%. President Fernando DE LA RUA, who took office in December 1999, sponsored tax increases and spending cuts to reduce the deficit, which had ballooned to 2.5% of GDP in 1999. Growth in 2000 was a negative 0.5%, as both domestic and foreign investors remained skeptical of the government's ability to pay debts and maintain the peso's fixed exchange rate with the US dollar. The economic situation worsened still further in 2001 with the widening of spreads on Argentine bonds, massive withdrawals from the banks, and a further decline in consumer and investor confidence. Government efforts to achieve a "zero deficit", to stabilize the banking system, and to restore economic growth proved inadequate in the face of the mounting economic problems. At the start of 2002, newly elected president Eduardo DUHALDE met with IMF officials to secure an additional $20 billion loan, but immediate action seemed unlikely. The peso's peg to the dollar was abandoned in January 2002, and the peso was floated from the dollar in February; inflation picked up rapidly.
GDP: purchasing power parity - $453 billion (2001 est.).
GDP - real growth rate: -4.6% (2001 est.).
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $12,000 (2001 est.).
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 6% industry: 28%, services: 66% (2001 est.)
Population below poverty line: 37% (2001 est.) (at present 50% is under poverty.}
Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: NA% highest 10%: NA%
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 4% (2001 est.)
Labor force: 15 million (1999).
Unemployment rate: 25% (yearend 2001) (at present around 50% or more)
Budget: revenues: $44 billion expenditures: $48 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2000 est.).
Industries: food processing, motor vehicles, consumer durables, textiles, chemicals and petrochemicals, printing, metallurgy, steel.
Agriculture - products: sunflower seeds, lemons, soybeans, grapes, corn, tobacco, peanuts, tea, wheat; livestock.
Exports: $26.5 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.).
Exports - commodities: edible oils, fuels and energy, cereals, feed, motor vehicles.
Exports - partners: Brazil 26.5%, US 11.8%, Chile 10.6%, Spain 3.5% (2000).
Imports: $23.8 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.).
Imports - commodities: machinery and equipment, motor vehicles, chemicals, metal manufactures, plastics.
Imports - partners : Brazil 25.1%, US 18.7%, Germany 5%, China 4.6% (2000).
Debt - external: $155 billion (2001 est.).
Economic aid - recipient: $10 billion (2001 est.)
Currency: Argentine peso (ARS)
Exchange rates: Argentine pesos per US dollar - 1.33325 (January 2002), 1.000 (1997 2001); note - fixed rate pegged to the US dollar was abandoned in January 2002; peso now floats
Disputes - international : claims UK-administered Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas); claims UK-administered South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands; territorial claim in Antarctica partially overlaps British and Chilean claims.
Current Crisis: Suffering from Severe Economic Crisis Ever.
Economic Crisis
On December 19, 2001, legions of people, desperate and hungry, break into supermarkets and stores in broad daylight. Their country was among the worlds richest. Until recently, its large middle class rivaled European counterparts in comfort and opportunity. Argentina was one of America's wealthiest nations, with high living standards, a skilled labor force, 99% literacy rate, and impressive scientific and technological infrastructure. Social mobility was similar to that of many European nations. Unionized factory workers could afford a house, a car and hope to put their children through college. Today, after obeying IMF dictated policies, 51.4% of its population is classified as poor, Since January of this year, poverty has increased at the rate of 762,000 a month, or 25,000 per day. In the first five months of this year, the cost of the basic monthly market basket increased by 35.7%. For the first quarter of this year, GDP dropped 16.3%, the biggest quarterly drop in the country's history. In the land of wheat and cows," it is now commonplace to see, as Agence France Press reported on June 7, "armies of people in rags, of all ages go through the streets of the capital each night, overturning the garbage in search of leftover bits of food." The percentile of country's unemployment rate is now around 50's. Tens of thousands of public sector workers have not been paid for three months. The number of women in the red-light district of Buenos Aires, capital of Argentina, has increased. The ordinary citizens have been unable to withdraw their own savings from their bank accounts. There is daily rioting and demonstrations. People have begun committing suicide.
What led Argentina in Crisis?[/color]
1.The Military Dictatorship.
2.The Fixed Exchange rate.
3.The Privatization
4.The Banking and
5.The IMF [Internatioal Monetary Fund]
The Military Regime :
Joseph Halavi, the author of the article, "The Argentine Crisis," writes that the sedimentary cause for the economic crisis in Argentina was the Military Juntas, the military regime, which ruled from 1976-1983 was the most barbaric dictatorship in the Argentina. 30,000 thousands people belonging to leftist movement, were massacred by this regime. This government, with US encouragement and support, invaded Falklands Islands, a British territory. US sold 'heavy artillery' to Argentina during Falklands war against Britain. The purchase of armament from US increases in public debt significantly. Joseph, further writes that public debt was much smaller, 56 percent in 1981 than it was 68 percent in 1976, compare to external debt. "The external debt rose nearly four times, from $9.7 billion in 1976 to $35.7 billion in 1981". The military dictatorship of 1976-1982, introduced a "new foreign investment law assist acquisitions and financial investment while freeing the exchange rate from government controls…these measures attracted capital from abroad while international financial companies and banks, awash with money from oil price increases," were aggressively pushing loans on Argentina. The military dictatorship led to a tight alliance between multinationals, financial capital, and local business elites, an alliance which became dominant throughout the 1980s. This bloc reversed the import substitution strategy that characterized Argentina's substantial industrial growth in the 1960s. It was under this alliance that the external debt explosion occurred, while the productive system started to suffer from chronic deindustrialization.
After the humiliating defeat at the hands of British forces in the Falklands war in 1982, Raul Alfonsin of the Radical Party took over the presidency in1983. Raul Alfonsin adopted democracy and trade during his term. He undertook the task of absorbing the private external debt by the support of the IMF. Nonetheless, IMF laid an condition that Argentina should continue its policy of 'debt socialization' (cuts in social spending, lower wages) in order to receive aid.
The Fixed Exchange Rate :
By the end of the 1980s, the new president, the Peronist Carlos Menem, vowed to end hyperinflation and stagnation. In 1991, the Menem government passed a law, designed by the aforementioned Domingo Cavallo, a darling of the IMF who was undersecretary of the interior (Federal Police Department) during the bloodthirsty military dictatorship in 1981. Through 'The Bretton Woods Treaty (4) of 1970's the US government managed to change the worldwide currency standard from Gold to Fiat (paper money). This agreement also ensured that all global currencies would be backed by the American dollar rather than gold, thereby allowing the US to use its Dollar as an economic lever in the world by allowing the currency to become overvalued or undervalued to put pressure on particular countries to suit its own political ends. In the case of Argentina, the Argentinean government had to borrow more and more from the IMF just to prop up an overvalued peso, otherwise confidence in the Peso would have shattered and lead to an eventual economic collapse. Argentina pegged its currency, the peso, to the U.S. dollar at a one-to-one rate in 1991. An overvalued currency makes a country's exports too expensive and its imports cheap. In Argentina, however, exports amount to only 10 percent of the gross domestic product.
As the crisis worsened, the government had to borrow more and more dollars, because more people wanted to cash in their pesos while they were still worth a dollar each. And the government had to borrow at the ever-higher interest rates, which pushed the debt to $140 billion. Argentinean government also borrowed massive loans to maintain zero-deficit. The IMF arranged a $40 billion package on conditioned that Argentine government should maintain balanced budget. In order to achieve balanced budget it requires severe austerity measures-budget cuts that increase unemployment and harm social conditions. Due to austerity measures, a wage freeze is imposed upon workers. Wage earners now lose, because their wages are frozen while prices grow slowly and social services are curtailed.
From the fall of 2000, when the Argentine government entered yet a new round of negotiations with the IMF, until the Buenos Aires uprising of last December, the government has systematically cut spending. It privatized social security and cut the provinces' funds, forcing many of them to use substitute money to meet their payments. During the summer, the economic minister, Domingo Cavallo set the goal of a zero budget deficit. If the target was not attained, it was not for lack of trying, but because of the galloping social crisis, with unemployment reaching 18 percent and an equal percentage classified as underemployed. Immediately after the withholding of the loan by the IMF, the government embarked on an even tougher round of cuts, which included freezing people's bank accounts and limiting withdrawals to $250 a week. It was at this point that the people of Buenos Aires rose up against the government.
PRIVITIZATION :
The free market policies imposed on Argentina had left the country without a national financial system. The Argentina government passed 'The State Reform Act' of August 1989 allowed 176 privatizations, including gas and electric utilities, telecom companies, railways, airlines, oil companies, water and highways.
Gas del Estado, the Argentina owned natural gas company, was bought by Louisville Gas and Electric (LG&E) in 1992. As of 2001, LG&E was collecting from more than 600,000 bill-paying customers. Then in 2001, came AES corporation (The Global Power Company), a US based company, pitched in and privatized the Argentina state electric power and collected $31 million from 700,000 electricity users in Buenos Aires,(the capital) La Plata, and points north. The capitol profited by these two foreign companies is sent abroad; basically Argentina was gaining nothing nor from its very citizens or from any form of taxes (that is suppose to collected from the foreign companies).
The supermer, the Argentina's supermarket industry, was owned by Dutch corporation Disco. The corporation gained $300 million from the revenues collected in 1999 and by 2001 it collected revenues up to $2 billion. Later, the joint foreign chains Disco-Norte and Carrefou (French companies collected fifty percent the supermarket revenues).
Telefonica S.A. of Spain now owns the telephone company in Argentina. Telefónica, which provides telephone service to major countries of Latin America, privatized the phone company in Argentina and made $212 million between October 1999 and March 2000.The telefonica is owned by Global Service Corporation (IGS). IGS is a branch of IBM (International Business Machine) an American Company.
The Sociatbank Quilmes, formerly known as Banco Quilmes, is now owned by Canada's soctiabank. This bank had assets of $2.6 billion and deposits of about $1.5 billion. Other foreign bankers are Hong Kong Shanghai Banking Corporation and Banco Bilbao Vizcaya of Spain.
The Suez Lyonnaise de Eaux (France), along with Aguas de Barcelona, and Vivendi, created Aguas Argentinas to take over the Buenos Aires water system. The result, water was supplied to three million inhabitants in seven poor districts in and around Buenos Aires, which was polluted with high levels nitrate. The presence of nitrate in water in large amounts can cause death in infants and cardiovascular problems in adults. The company's strategy was very simple, create an emergency committee to solve the problem through bottled water and infants' food. The Aguas Argentinas had negotiated a contract with the government of Buenos Aires that exempted the company from responsibility for nitrate levels. The contract did say that the public should be notified about dangerous levels, but it didn't say by whom, so Aguas didn't do it.
There is very little competition in water. Not only are water systems natural monopolies, but the private part of the industry is dominated worldwide by just two multinationals - Vivendi and Suez-Lyonnaise. A third French multinational, SAUR, holds a dominant position in Africa. The contracts sign by these companies is usually for longer terms, for about 25-30 years. One may ask, why is their a need to privatize water? What's the wisdom behind it? Privatisation introduces a new set of financial demands on the water system which tend to increase the price of water and sanitation. These include the demands of the company owners for profits and dividends, which may then be globally redistributed for investment in other company's acitivities. In Argentina's case, the Suez or the Aguas Argentina, invested the revenues it collected from people in production of bottled water and food for infants. An another example could be of the Vivendi, the French multinational company, which finances its other activities. In January 2000, Vivendi burdened the entire debt, equal to Euro 16.5 billion, onto its water, energy, waste and transport operations - the 'environment' division' - while the communications division, which has received most of Vivendi's investment in recent years, became virtually debt free. Based on the 1999 sales in the Environment division of Euros 22.2bn, this is equivalent to a surcharge of about 4% on the bills of every user of Vivendi's water, waste and transport in the world, in order to subsidise the communications division. The government can also benefit from privatizing water by collecting the dues from the people to pay off its debts.
Even the education system is Argentina is privatized by Private Sector Development (PSD).
In conclusion, privatization is a legitimate form of corruption through which only bidders benefit but the commoners are the ones who pay the heavy price.