Argentina: The Kirchners suffer first major political defeat
By Tony Pagliaro
08.03.06 | Finally some very good news are coming from Argentina. The Kirchners are definitively not invincible. Up until now many held the belief that the Kirchners could not be politically defeated, at least in the short term. This is the sort of “feeling” they want to install in society through their constant manipulation of Argentina’s public opinion, by means of using for such a purpose the powerful media monopoly they de facto control, with the close “cooperation” of Héctor Magneto, owner of such monopoly the “Clarín” Group, who is, amazingly, a partner therein of “Goldman Sachs”.
Yesterday, nevertheless, the Kirchners did suffer a major and unequivocal political defeat. This occurred when the Marxist “Governor” (Major) of the City of Buenos Aires was sacked by the city’s Legislature, after completion of four long months of an impeachment process. Aníbal Ibarra, a former Marxist Prosecutor, extremely close to the Kirchners, was transparently removed from his official position with 10 votes against 4. Ibarra is one of the leading political figures that backed Néstor Kirchner when he was elected with a meager 22% of the vote, the lowest amount ever garnered by a President in Argentina’s history.
A clearly incompetent and lazy public officer, Ibarra is also linked to the Kirchners through the amazing network of open nepotism that characterizes the Kirchners' administration. His beautiful sister, “Vilma”, is said to be the “fiancée” of Kirchners' Chief of Cabinet, Mr Albero Fernández.
All that notwithstanding the open support for Ibarra by the Kirchners this time failed to deliver. Not even the typical quota of “intimidation from the top” worked and most votes went against Ibarra.
This unprecedented verdict probably ends the “political life” of ambitious Aníbal Ibarra and could prove to be very costly to the Kirchners’ image. After been twice comfortably elected, Ibarra has to leave. He was ousted for total negligence in the handling of a rock club tragedy that caused 194 deaths, more than a year ago. By the way, the city is dirty and unsafe like never before. Ibarra is one of those who, like many in Argentina’s Supreme Court, believe that criminals should not be punished because they “cannot be blamed for the faults of the society as a whole”. Under such “climate”, crime has escalated and reached unprecedented levels. Personal security has therefore become one of the many daily problems for Buenos Aires citizens.
The lesson for the Krichners is that no mandate is safe or eternal. People do get tired. Particularly if the authorities are arrogant and incompetent, like Ibarra and the Kirchners themselves. Some good news for and from Argentina, at last.
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