Buenos Aires, Argentina – Argentina is preparing for the first round of the presidential elections on Sunday, October 22, with three of the five candidates as favorites and no guarantees that they will not go to a second round. Meanwhile, the Government of Alberto Fernández celebrates the activation of the second tranche of the swap with China, which can mitigate import difficulties due to the lack of dollars. And the war between Israel and Hamas also leaves Argentine victims: at least eight dead and more than 20 people with unknown whereabouts.
Three of the five candidates are favorites in the elections on Sunday, October 22 and there are no guarantees that anyone can win in the first round. During the week they closed their campaigns for the decisive date.
In addition, the Government expanded a credit agreement with China that gives it oxygen in a context of lack of foreign currency.
Also, Argentina, where the largest Jewish community in Latin America lives, is closely following the war between Israel and Hamas. In this context, there were false alarms due to bomb threats in Buenos Aires.
The presidential elections finally arrive
After a very long campaign, which had a first milestone in the open primaries in August, but which went through months of comings and goings, internal and provincial elections, and now with the last breath of the contenders and society, on Sunday they will finally take The presidential elections will be held to decide who will lead the Executive for four years, starting on December 10, 2023, the day that will mark 40 years since the return of democracy to Argentina.
There are five candidates, but three have a real chance of winning: the right-wing Patricia Bullrich, from the opposition Together for Change; the ruling party and current Minister of Economy, the Peronist Sergio Massa, from Unión por la Patria; and the rookie far-right candidate Javier Milei, from La Libertad Avanza. The three of them made their campaign closings during the week.
Bullrich, on Monday, in a park in the Belgrano ravines, an upper-middle and upper-class area in the city of Buenos Aires, where he once again insisted in his speech to get rid of Kirchnerism, offer order and the support of governors and legislators own as a guarantee of governability.
Milei gathered his followers in a space used for concerts and artistic shows, the Movistar Arena, where he shouted “long live freedom, damn it,” and returned to the slogan of putting an end to “the caste,” as he calls it. to the political and economic “system.”
Massa closed his campaign in an event without access to the press, in a factory, with the workers of that plant; He said that he wanted to do it in a place like that because it was a symbol of the country he imagined. He added that his eventual government will have to promote employment, help those who are in informal jobs, “because the State abandoned them,” and improve salaries.
The economy was at the heart of the campaign of all the candidatesin a country with inflation that is already close to 140% year-on-year, with more than 40% of its population below the poverty line and – this is key – with years of instability and uncertainty.
Although there are also issues such as securityeven though Argentina is a relatively safe country when compared to the rest of the large cities in Latin America, education, health, human rights and social rights.
If any of the candidates obtains 45% of the votes, or 40% plus ten points difference with the second, they will be declared winners in the first round. If not, there will be a second round on November 19.
But it is not just about the result of Sunday itself, but the effect that this can have on Monday the 23rd, when the markets open.
A high vote for Milei, which leaves him at least in the second round, could motivate economic actors to make decisions based on the dollarization that the candidate promises, generating instability in the peso. Nor should any Government measure be ruled out, which decided not to implement until after October 22, such as, for example, the devaluation that it applied the day after the August primaries.
In addition to the president, 130 deputies will be elected (half of the chamber), 24 senators in eight provinces (a third of the chamber), 19 Mercosur parliamentarians per national district and 24 per regional district. And there will be elections for executive and legislative positions in the City of Buenos Aires, province of Buenos Aires, Entre Ríos and Catamarca.
France 24 en Español offers special coverage of the elections and what happens after the results are known, with an expanded team in Argentina to follow the details of a key day for the country.
Expansion of currency exchange with China
Within the framework of the visit of President Alberto Fernández to China, the second section of the ‘swap’ or exchange of foreign currency between Argentina and the Asian country for the equivalent in yuan of 6.5 billion dollars, as reported in a statement by the Central Bank of the Argentine Republic (BCRA).
The first tranche, for the equivalent of about $5 billion, had been activated in January. He ‘swap’ It is an agreement that, when it leads to the use – of part or all – of the exchanged funds, functions as a credit.
The Minister of Economy, Sergio Massa, said that the announcement of the second tranche of the ‘swap’ “It is enormous news for the strengthening of Argentine reserves, to somehow accelerate everything that is the payment of SME imports (small and medium-sized companies), and also to have the capacity to intervene in the market.”
Argentina announces measures to contain the effect of the devaluation
Many companies are facing difficulties in importing, due to the lack of access to the official dollar to pay for their purchases abroad, in many cases of inputs that they need to manufacture their products. And the capacity for intervention in the market to which Massa refers has to do with the firepower of the Argentine Central Bank to sell dollars and stabilize the value of that currency against the peso.
Massa also assured that the agreement with China generates certainty regarding Argentina’s payment capacity before the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Precisely, last June, the Argentine Government used yuan from the swap with China to pay a part of a maturity that body. The Minister of Economy said that next week the country will pre-cancel upcoming maturities with the IMF.
Israel-Hamas War: Argentine dead and missing and bomb threats
The war between Israel and Hamas continues to have all kinds of effects beyond the territory in which it takes place.
On Thursday, October 19, the death of eight Argentines had been confirmed after the Hamas attack on October 7. At least 22 Argentine citizens remain missing (it is not known whether they are missing or kidnapped in Gaza), according to the Foreign Ministry.
Relatives of some of them had a conversation by video call with President Alberto Fernández. The president told them that they are looking for ways to establish negotiation channels for the release of the hostages, for cases in which that is the reason.
On the other hand, the repatriation operation from Israel continues, with flights connecting Tel Aviv with Rome and then the Italian capital with Buenos Aires.
In Argentine territory, on Wednesday, October 18, news of bomb threats to the embassies of Israel and the United States in Buenos Aires was reported.
The Argentine Federal Police confirmed to France 24 en Español that these were false alarms. And from the United States embassy they said that there were no “credible threats” against that diplomatic headquarters. Embassy officials also reported that the building was not evacuated. On Thursday there was another false alarm, due to a threat, this time in the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association (AMIA).
In the context of the war in the Middle East, it is worth remembering that Argentina has the largest Jewish population in Latin America and was the target of two major attacks, one against the Israeli embassy, in 1992, and another against the AMIA, in 1994, which They left dozens dead and hundreds injured.
The first Argentine vaccine against Covid-19 was approved
The National Administration of Medicines, Food and Technology (ANMAT), Argentina’s regulator of medicinal substances, approved the first Argentine vaccine against Covid-19, called “Arvac Cecilia Grierson.”
It is a bivalent vaccine (against two variants of the virus), for people over 18 years of age, which can be used, for example, to strengthen the immunity of the vaccinated population.
We have Argentine vaccine against COVID-19 🇦🇷❤️.
It is a historical milestone for our country.
ANMAT approved the ARVAC Cecilia Grierson bivariate vaccine to be used as a booster.
The future is with more science, more national production and more public health. pic.twitter.com/X33V7bau04
— Carla Vizzotti (@carlavizzotti) October 18, 2023
It is the result of a joint development of two public entities, the National Scientific and Technical Research Council (Conicet) and the National University of San Martín, and the Pablo Cassará private laboratory.
The vaccine is already in production at the Cassará laboratory plant.
Cecilia Grierson was the first female doctor in Argentina; She received her degree on July 2, 1889 from the Faculty of Medical Sciences of the University of Buenos Aires.
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