With this article we aim to open a debate with those militants from different political organizations (Patria Grande, La Dignidad and the Combative Classist Current, among others), who joined the Frente de Todos in order to displace the government of Mauricio Macri. Almost a year after that political decision, and with the repression unleashed in Guernica, we want to argue that, in our opinion, that decision lacks a strategic horizon due to the struggle of a country with perspectives dissimilar to those promoted by the Cambiemos administration.
By Nicolás Zuttión
Nearing the end of the first year of Alberto Fernández’s government, the hypotheses we made about the character of his government before he took office are being confirmed. The increasing shift to the right of those who won the elections with the push of the predominant anger against the Macrist government, opens discussions for those organizations that chose to be part of the Frente de Todos as a tool to combat neoliberalism.
“Fighting from within” and “first take out Macri and then fight against the most reactionary sectors of the PJ” were some of the arguments used to validate a tactic that, if you look at the policies taken by the current government, had a null result.
The only truth is reality
The way to evaluate a government and make considerations about its character leads us to review the measures taken so far to outline a well-founded criticism. Reviewing Alberto’s mandate, we find that before the pandemic, without prior parliamentary discussion, he carried out an attack against the income of retirees who had already received a previous blow as a result of the Macrist reform. Following this, with the pandemic already present, and with the need to invest funds to improve the national hospital infrastructure, the agreement with the bondholders was closed, increasing from the first to the last offer US $ 16,500 million, on a debt of spurious and fraudulent character that only continues plundering.
Returning to the crisis unleashed by the presence of the coronavirus, the government did not affect the interests of private clinics either. It never decided to unify the health system into a public one, nor did it guarantee workers job and salary guarantees despite being on the front line of this battle.
If Santiago Maldonado and Rafael Nahuel were the emblematic cases with which Macrism wanted to trample on human rights in our country, the disappearance followed by the death of Facundo Astudillo Castro is the synonym of the current administration. Contrary to developing an investigation against those responsible for the case, Fernández and Kicillof chose to protect Berni’s political figure and the repressive apparatus of Buenos Aires, both responsible for the institutional crime carried out.
There are more causes that illustrate the assessment of the political project led by Fernández and seconded by Cristina Kirchner. Obviously not all of them will be addressed, but it is impossible not to refer to its latest action, comparable to those of former minister Patricia Bullrich. We refer to the blatant repression used in Guernica to evict thousands of homeless families, to protect the interests of a corporation called Bellaco SA, self-proclaimed owner of the land, but with dark precedents that indicate that the possession of those lands was made through a negotiation with the last genocidal dictatorship.
So we can conclude that the struggle within the Frente de Todos did not give results or, rather, it is shown that it was the wrong tactic to move towards a political project that protects the interests of the majority.
How to face the right?
Debates that cross the world and our continent also take place at the local level. Discussions about the tools to confront the right wing are common themes in progressivism and the Argentine left. With the passing of this year, what has become clear is that the Frente de Todos, from what has been said above, is not the way out.
Confronting with the more concentrated sectors starts from carrying out measures that suppress the privileges of the ruling classes, not constant cessions that embolden them. In that sense, Alberto’s actions with the Vicentín case are totally reprehensible. From agitating nationalization, he went on to cave in to a company that defrauded the State by tricking the coffers of Banco Nación.
Another point is the alliance with the clerical sector. As Cristina well said when she was on the electoral campaign, the Frente de Todos is a multi-colored space, (pro abortion) green and (anti abortion) blue. But it is clear that in that mix the blue is imposed to such an extent that the fight for abortion is totally relegated, postponing indefinitely the treatment of a right that is urgently needed, since clandestine abortions are one of the major causes of deaths of women in Argentina.
The punch line to demonstrate the limits of the project of the ruling coalition is seen in the continuation of its submission to imperialism. The relationship with the IMF remains intact as if the previous government were still in office. Instead of solving the growing poverty that has already reached almost 41%, Fernández and his minister Guzmán run after Kristalina Georgieva to reach a payment agreement. The first sign of good will is seen in the 2021 hunger budget, with cuts in health, education and social assistance.
In this way, the Frente de Todos has only handed over the streets to the reactionary rallies encouraged by a sector of Cambiemos. Therefore, it is clear that the way to fight the right is made explicit with the political will to affect their interests, for example, applying a true tax on large fortunes (and not drafting an initiative that is totally insufficient), in addition to promoting mobilization to support it.
What to do?
We understand that this question is the one posed by those who hoped to fight within the front that governs, in order to go in a direction opposite to the current one. But the repressive escalation, the intensification of the extractivist model, substantiated in agreements such as the one that is to be carried out with China for the installation of mega pig factories, the deepening of neocolonialism with the IMF, mark a political limit that is risky to cross.
In short, with the elements listed there is enough illustration. To remain within the project commanded by the Fernández duo, is to silently endorse an anti-popular government plan of austerity, which yields to the country´s red circle, supported by the union bureaucracy and the church, but administered in a “politically correct” way by progressivism.
The correct path is to break with the ruling front now. A change of orientation to bet on unity of action with the militant union sectors, the socio-environmental vanguard, feminist organizations and the organized left in the FIT-Unidad. To those honest militants of the aforementioned organizations, we invite to a deep reflection to take a political turn that means betting on the sectors in struggle for a true change of model.