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Millennium Development Goals in Argentina

Argentina’s progress towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) has been considerable in some areas and very slow in others. Goals for education and gender equality have already been achieved with over 95% of children enrolled in primary school, and no difference between girls and boys in access. Literacy rates among both men and women are just under 100%. Conversely, in 2007 27% of the population remained below a poverty line assessed by reference to essential needs at $275 per month. The measure of more extreme poverty was 8.7% and there is some question as to whether the 2015 poverty targets will be achieved.

Feeding Argentinian children © Action Against Hunger-USA

Uneven income distribution is another serious problem. Acute disparities exist not only between but also within provinces. Southern provinces tend to fare better than northern ones, with some of the northeastern provinces suffering the worst levels of poverty and inequality. In the capital, Buenos Aires, the divide between ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’ mirrors that between the poor North and wealthy South of the country. In the south side of the city open sewers are leading to a health and sanitation collapse, on top of the poor education and job opportunities for more than 250,000 inhabitants of the slums.

Since 2002, however, the Argentinean government has demonstrated greater commitment to meeting the MDGs. Safety net initiatives have provided emergency relief to those living in the most critical situations, such as the unemployed, single mothers and those aged over 70. The country’s MDG progress report states that these measures, necessary in the short term to eradicate the most extreme poverty, are a first step on the road to an equitable and inclusive economy.

The Economy in Argentina

Urban slums, Argentina © In These Times

Argentina’s roller-coaster economic history is a particularly instructive case study of the impact of neo-liberal and structural adjustment policies sanctioned by the IMF and the World Bank over the last two decades. This economic model, initially effective in stabilising Argentina after the convulsed years of the late 1980s, destroyed the country’s industrial base leaving millions out of work, rendered agricultural products uncompetitive in the face of falling world prices, privatised essential public services with highly unpopular results, cut expenditure on health and education, and brought about a general economic meltdown. By 2001, Argentina had the highest rates of poverty of its history, with over 50% of the population living below the poverty line.

The model also failed to address Argentina’s extremely high level of foreign debt, a significant proportion of which had been incurred illegitimately by the military government between 1976 and 1983. By 2001 the country owed approximately $150 billion to public and private debtors which, by some measure, amounted to almost one third of the foreign debt then owed collectively by all developing countries. It is little surprise that Argentina has been adopted by anti-globalisation activists and IMF critics as a significant cautionary tale.

In 2001 Argentina announced the largest sovereign debt default in history but by 2005 the government of President Kirchner was able to present a tough “take it or leave it” offer to private bondholders which gained sufficient acceptance. And in a move aimed to put an end to the country’s obligations to the IMF, Argentina paid off its entire renegotiated IMF debt of $9.8 billion in 2006.

Workers manage ceramics factory, Argentina © Independent Media Center

Industry, employment and exports have all grown since the depths of the crisis in 2002, thanks in part to some remarkable stories of workers taking over factories abandoned by their owners. Nonetheless, the consistently high rates of growth are not yet benefiting large sectors of the population. Poverty is still rife, crime is a serious problem, job insecurity is rampant with few people believing the official unemployment rate of 8% or inflation rate of 9%. Pensions, health and education sectors are showing an uneven improvement at best. In the view of ordinary Argentineans, the country has become more unequal over this period.
Politics in Argentina

Political protest, Argentina

In the latter part of the 20th century, Argentinian politics was dominated by two parties; the Partido Justicialista (a coalition of conservative Peronists) and the Unión Civica Radical (a party for reform). However, in the wake of the country’s economic collapse in 2001, Argentina’s political landscape underwent dramatic change. A popular uprising brought down the democratically elected government of Fernando de la Rua, and marked the beginning of a period of almost constant social mobilisation in the country. The uprising, formed of what one journalist called “an incongruous combination of unemployed rioters and pot-banging middle-class protesters”, adopted the motto que se vayan todos (kick them all out) to express their profound discontent with the political establishment. Protesters and political pressure from all angles caused three more presidents to resign in a little over a week before Eduardo Duhalde, a Peronist political boss, became head of state, managing to steer the country towards democratic presidential elections, held in April 2003.

The winner, Néstor Kirchner, was formerly a little-known governor of a remote southern province whose party Frente para la Victoria (Front for Victory) is aligned with Peronist values. He was unopposed in the final round of the 2003 voting after his opponent, former president Carlos Menem, stood down. This slight question-mark over the legitimacy of his position did not prevent Kirchner from enjoying reasonable approval ratings. In parliamentary elections held in 2005 for the lower and upper houses of Congress, known as the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate, parties regarded as Kirchner allies strengthened their numbers.

Cristina Fernández, president of Argentina

For the October 2007 presidential elections, Kirchner made the surprise decision to stand down in favour of his wife Cristina Fernández, a lawyer and member of the Senate. A divided opposition and the populist appeal of Mrs Fernández de Kirchner enabled her to attain the necessary first round vote of over 45% to secure the presidency, the first woman to do so in Argentina’s history. Although the overall margin was decisive, major urban areas failed to support the new president, perhaps unimpressed by her reluctance to defend her policies at press conferences or interviews.

While the country has made huge progress in democratic consolidation since 1983, Argentina is still beset by corruption at all levels of government and a poor record of judicial independence. The strong position in parliament of the Kirchner factions hampers the democratic process and journalists and NGOs have denounced the authoritarian discourses of members of the political elite, highlighting the necessity for legality and transparency in all governmental processes.

Civil society has grown markedly since the end of the country’s last dictatorship. A large number of human rights groups are very active, most notably Mothers of Plaza de Mayo. Since the economic meltdown in 2001-2, many organisations have been formed to provide assistance to the growing numbers of poor, both locally and nationally.
Human Rights in Argentina

Argentina’s human rights record is problematic. The country suffers from high levels of police brutality and severe overcrowding in prisons. According to Human Rights Watch, only 2 out of 10 prisoners in Buenos Aires has been through the full court process, the remainder awaiting trial or sentence.

Demonstration by Mothers of Plaza de Mayo

The country has however witnessed important advances in human rights in recent years. In 2006 Argentina marked the 30th anniversary of the 1976 military coup which lasted until 1983. An estimated 30,000 civilians ‘disappeared’ and many thousands more were subject to atrocious human rights violations, notably kidnap and torture. President Kirchner promised to bring the perpetrators to justice and, in 2003, Congress rolled back measures taken in the late ‘80s and ‘90s by previous administrations to pardon former military officials guilty of human rights abuses during the dictatorship. In 2005 these amnesty laws were struck off by a Supreme Court ruling, opening the way to detention and prosecution of suspects. In 2007 a notorious police chief, Miguel Etchecolatz, was sentenced to life imprisonment for torture and homicide. Over 250 further trials are in the pipeline but the unsolved disappearance of the key witness in the Etchecolatz case in the final stages of the trial casts a shadow over the government’s resolve.

Indigenous groups in the north and south of the country, who comprise about 2% of the population, are suffering loss of livelihoods as their traditional lands are sold off by local governments to logging companies who turn over the land to soya plantation. Several groups, most notably the Wichi of the northwest of the country, are engaged in a political and legal struggle to gain recognition of their land rights.
Information and Media in Argentina

Since the return to democracy, the Argentinean media has been vibrant and free for the most part and offers extensive choice. However, a number of journalists continue to suffer intimidation, control of information and surveillance, especially in some of the provinces where local politics are characterised by entrenched clientelism. Press and civil society groups express growing concerns about government pressures on the media, a result of the government’s increasing political power. The government has been accused of subtle influence, for example by buying or cancelling advertising contracts with the media, curtailing access to press events and selective provision of information. Civil society and the media therefore continue to advocate freedom of expression and the development of laws to protect journalists from criminal – as opposed to civil - prosecution in cases of libel and slander.
The Environment in Argentina

Greenpeace activists fight to save Pizarro Reserve © Greenpeace International

Argentina enjoys a varied topography and much unique wildlife. More than twenty national parks protect these assets, including vast areas of the Andes, the sub-tropical forest and waterfalls of the northeast, and parts of Patagonia.

The country, however, suffers from a number of serious environmental problems. Particular concern surrounds the boom in soya plantations for biofuel production - Argentina has become the world’s 3rd largest producer of soya after Brazil and US, now accounting for no less than 50% of the country’s agricultural land. The tremendous pressure for land not

Floods in Argentina © Independent Media Center

only threatens existing forest cover but also soil fertility. Desertification is already spreading in many regions, in particular Patagonia, mainly due to extensive agricultural and livestock activities which damage the natural environment.

Argentina is actively engaged in assessing the potential impact of climate change on its environment and agriculture. And there is global concern about the rapid melting of the Patagonian icefield which accounts for 9% of the rise in sea level attributable to the retreat of glaciers worldwide.



The OneWorld Argentina Guide was first published in December 2005 with a text written by Volunteer Editor Lila Rabinovich

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