The ascendence of China and multilateral trading blocks could eventually spell the doom of the G20 and U.S. global dominance, as Pepe Escobar explains.
Prof. Atilio Boron analyzes the situation in Argentina, where President Macri is pushing drastic neoliberal reforms against widespread resistance from unions and social movements. Sec. of State Rex Tillerson visits to give Macri backing and to urge anti-Venezuela sanctions....Misleading title. The MO of the neoliberals is to push ahead as hard as possible, then pause when resistance rises, and push ahead again when it dies down.
Well, you know, the Macri government is very...proxy of the US government.TRNN
The question then is how much of the push to limits to the power of the legislative assembly dominated by the opposition, and how much of the political repression (including the treatment of opposition leaders, but also the police violence) results from the very violent and anti-democratic push from the opposition itself, that has tried to bring down the government since the very beginning (including a failed coup attempt in 2002). And this is also a valid concern that many (almost all the mainstream media) on the left seem to forget. I can’t honestly respond. But I can provide a perspective, based on my understanding of the Argentine and Brazilian cases that are closer to my experience.Naked Keynesianism
Prof. George Ciccariello-Maher of Drexel University analyzes the latest developments in Venezuela, including a new UN human rights report, US sanctions, and the begrudging admission by President Maduro's foes that he still has popular support
As promised, here are some brief reflections on the situation in Argentina….
Argentina continues to be caught in what the late economist Aldo Ferrer, and Marcelo Diamand before him, called the Argentine pendulum: since the end of World War II, Argentina swings endlessly between expansionist/populist and neoliberal regimes. Each phase has its period of expansion and crisis, leading to the next. After twelve years of expansionist/populist Kirchnerismo, Argentina is now headed to neoliberalism once again. If the pendulum continues its trajectory, and if past neoliberal cycles are an indication, the future is not a bright one.
If there is a sign of hope, it is that workers and the poor have a substantial degree of organization after twelve years of kirchnerismo. On February 24th public sector workers went on strike and there was huge mobilization to Plaza de Mayo, the historic site of many protests across from the Pink House (the seat of the executive branch of government). On March 24th, the 40th anniversary of the military coup, a massive demonstration filled Plaza de Mayo and the streets around for many blocks. Unions, political and social organizations flocked massively to the Plaza in remembrance, but also to protest Obama’s presence and Macri’s neoliberal policies. Time will tell if Macri’s opposition is able organize an electoral alternative before the next crisis hits.Counterpunch
Not very surprisingly then to see financial outlet Bloomberg recently headlining an article, “Wall Street is in Charge in Argentina (Again),” [Dr. Alan B. Cibils, economist from Buenos Aires] concluded.teleSUR
Globo TV in Brazil Fomenting Conditions for Coup Says Expert This content was originally published by teleSUR at the following address: "http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Globo-TV-in-Brazil-Fomenting-Conditions-for-Coup-Says-Expert-20160321-0039.html". If you intend to use it, please cite the source and provide a link to the original article. www.teleSURtv.net/english
President Rousseff Says Impeachment Bid Simply a Coup Attempt This content was originally published by teleSUR at the following address: "http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/President-Rousseff-Says-Impeachment-Bid-Simply-a-Coup-Attempt--20160322-0031.html". If you intend to use it, please cite the source and provide a link to the original article. www.teleSURtv.net/english
Protesters Tell Obama, Macri: We Will Not Forget Dictatorship This content was originally published by teleSUR at the following address: "http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Protesters-to-Obama-Go-Home-20160322-0048.html". If you intend to use it, please cite the source and provide a link to the original article. www.teleSURtv.net/english
Protesters Tell Obama, Macri: We Will Not Forget Dictatorship This content was originally published by teleSUR at the following address: "http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Protesters-to-Obama-Go-Home-20160322-0048.html". If you intend to use it, please cite the source and provide a link to the original article. www.teleSURtv.net/english
In his speech in the opening of the legislative period, Mauricio Macri established that closing a deal with the vulture funds will be his main priority in 2016. This is why he asked lawmakers on both sides of the alley to repeal the current legislation in matters of foreign debt so the government can pay the vultures. “It will depend on this Congress if we close this conflict, if responsibility comes first over rhetoric,” the president said, and demanded the MPs of his Let’s Change coalition build consensus with the left-leaning Front for Victory opposition.
Macri also referred to his foreign affairs agenda saying that his government had already started to build new relations with other countries and that Argentina had reestablished relations with the U.S. Since the diplomatic ties between both countries were never broken, it seemed a reference to the trip that security minister, Patricia Bullrich, made to Washington D.C. last week to sign cooperation agreements with U.S. security forces under the pretext of fighting drug trafficking.…Are the global wars on drugs and terror subterfuges for a not-so-hidden agenda of global control?
The class struggle from above found its most intense , comprehensive and retrograde expression in Argentina, with the election of Mauricio Macri (December 2015). During the first two months in office, through the arbitrary assumption of emergency powers, he reversed, by decree, a multitude of progressive socio-economic policies passed over the previous decade and sought to purge public institutions of independent voices.
Facing a hostile majority in Congress, he seized legislative powers and proceeded to name two Supreme Court judges in violation of the Constitution.
President Macri purged all the Ministries and agencies of perceived critics and appointees of the previous government and replaced those officials with loyalist neo-liberal functionaries. Popular movement leaders were jailed, and former Cabinet members were prosecuted.
Parallel to the reconfiguration of the state, President Macri launched a neo-liberal counter-revolution: a 40% devaluation which raised prices of the basic canasta over 30%; the termination of an export tax for all agro-mineral exporters (except soya farmers); a salary and wage cap 20% below the rise in the cost of living; a 400% increase in electrical bills and a 200% increase in transport; large scale firing of public and private employees; strike breaking using rubber bullets; preparations for large scale privatizations of strategic economic sectors; a 6.5 billion dollar payout to vulture-fund debt holders and speculaters-a 1000%return- while contracting new debts.
President Macri’s high intensity class warfare is intended to reverse, the social welfare and progressive policies implemented by the Kirchner regimes over the past 12 years (2003-2015).…. [Analysis follows.]Delivering the sucker punch. The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.
The decision, which has generated widespread condemnation from civil society groups, comes after U.S. President Barack Obama announced plans to travel to Argentina next month, in part to "recognize" President Macri’s "contributions to the defense of human rights."Orwellian double-speak from Obama
Among those critcizing the new restrictions is the Center for Legal and Social Studies, which argues that the new measure “provides security forces with the ability to repress and criminalize protests.” Argentine lawmaker Myriam Bregman expressed similar sentiments. “It is absurd that a resolution can take away a fundamental right, such as the right to protest," she said. This content was originally published by teleSUR at the following address:
Among those critcizing the new restrictions is the Center for Legal and Social Studies, which argues that the new measure “provides security forces with the ability to repress and criminalize protests.”Taking a lead from the NYPD?
Argentine lawmaker Myriam Bregman expressed similar sentiments. “It is absurd that a resolution can take away a fundamental right, such as the right to protest," she said.
March 24 is an official public holiday in Argentina and known as Day of Remembrance for Truth and Justice. Events are held on that date to commemorate the victims of the dictatorship and their Dirty War, backed by the United States, which left up to 30,000 killed or disappeared.
Obama to Visit Argentina's New President Macri on Anniversary of Military Coup This content was originally published by teleSUR at the following address: "http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Timing-of-Obama-Trip-Slammed-by-Argentine-Human-Rights-Activist-20160219-0002.html". If you intend to use it, please cite the source and provide a link to the original article. www.teleSURtv.net/english
Government spokespeople said that Macri will donate part of his salary to the Los Piletones charity for the poor in Buenos Aires.I guess it's alright then.
In other words, the Macri government will cause a crisis that does not exist right now—though the economic situation may be difficult and growth in the last three years has not been not high—but blame the effects of its neoliberal policies on the previous government. The idea would most likely be to weather a political storm over the next couple of years and then—after resolving the issues with the vulture funds and normalizing relations with IMF—start borrowing abroad again. That would help promote growth again in time for a re-election campaign in 2019. Growth would be also facilitated by the fact that the economy would be coming out of a crisis, with real wages considerably lower and the working class well-disciplined.
Also, Macri will reduce or eliminate export taxes on grain and soybeans (known as retenciones, or “retentions”), strengthening the position of the ruling elites. The reorientation of the economy toward primary-goods (agricultural and mineral) production, along with a larger role for finance, has been the strategy of the Argentine elites since the last military dictatorship. That is why there is such continuity between the economic plans of José MartÃnez de Hoz under the military dictatorship of the late 1970s and the early 1980s, Domingo Cavallo under Menem in the 1990s, and (one should expect) Adolfo Prat-Gay under Macri in the coming years.Naked Keynesianism
The initial recession and cuts in retenciones would significantly reduce government revenue and most likely lead to larger fiscal deficits. Hence, austerity will actually worsen the fiscal balance, contrary to what the Macri and his advisors suggest. The key is to remember that austerity policies are not designed to reduce fiscal deficits, even if that is offered up as a rationalization; they are a political instrument for disciplining labor.
In fact, the coming larger fiscal deficits will most likely be used to try to cut social welfare expenditures, which increased significantly during the administration of the outgoing president Cristina Fernández and her predecessor (and husband) Néstor Kirchner. It would not be surprising if Macri tries to privatize social security once again, something that Menem accomplished in the 1990s, and which had to be reversed in the 2000s as a result of the private system’s complete failure to provide a decent retirement for seniors.….
