Social Genocide Page #4

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students, workers,

and the unemployed

from every profession.

It was the beginning of a dark era:

The national budget

had to be approved in Washington

before it was by our Congress.

The government

asked for people's understanding,

because the country

was on its knees...

"We were called the hand-raisers

"We were devoted, committed

"We voted with our eyes closed

"As the party asked us to

"We were called the hand-raisers

"We legislated without remembering,

"And our voters, we betrayed

"And we didn't hear their boos..."

THE ECONOMIC MODEL

The instrument

used to apply the neo-liberal model

was the Convertibility Plan

that liberalized imports

and was based on a lie:

One peso equaled one dollar.

It managed to stop inflation,

but left our nation's industries

defenseless.

Until then, the country

produced 95% of what it consumed

and exported machine-tools,

trains,

and household electrical goods.

Henceforth, it imported fabrics,

meat, dairy products,

fruit and pasta...

The country was "dollarized":

You could pay for anything

in pesos or dollars.

But with zero inflation rate,

credit outfits and banks

lent at usurious rates

of 50% per year,

when in the U.S. And Europe,

the rates were 7%.

The euphoria

of peso/dollar parity

made tradesmen and small businesses

unable to compete

and bankrupts them.

Hundreds of factories

and workshops disappeared:

In textiles, metallurgy,

automobile spare parts,

consumer goods

and many other areas.

These were the years of flaunting

illegally acquired wealth.

Let's try not to steal for 2 years.

Bribes and swindles are permitted.

If you put your hand in the till,

do it discreetly!

Life is privatized and walled in.

Security agents

and country clubs...

The land of

"Rich and Famous"...

You're a Peronist?

Always have been.

... and of pizza with champagne.

The media

as the driving force of change

Meddling with the YPF,

with oil,

was sacrilege.

It was like offending

the tango or the flag.

The State meant corruption

and bureaucracy.

Oil underground

is no good to anyone.

Private ownership

is modern and efficient

Everyone has the right

to a little frivolity.

Your lover-boy image

embarrasses you?

The opposite:
It helps me.

Politics become a spectacle

My love, it's really hot here...

He's so cute!

Politicians are handsome now.

I'm thrilled

by this economic model.

It's a lie,

a total lie,

that it creates poverty.

We've lived here a long time:

The politicians

always make promises.

But our local representatives,

never did anything for us.

So we, who live here,

decided to block the road,

so that they'd understand

what our daily life is like.

Kids can't get to school.

Patients can't be moved,

as ambulances can't get through.

We want to live decently,

we deserve it.

We're poor, humble,

but we're not fooled

when they offer us a meal, clothing,

booties for babies...

We wanted them to build drainage.

There was money,

everything that was needed.

But they kept the money.

When it comes to stealing,

they are the masters.

They teach people how to steal.

We're no longer just teachers,

now we're also social workers.

Moms come and ask

if we don't have extra sneakers...

We take care

of the whole community.

When there's flooding,

we become the emergency shelter.

We put up the students,

when the roof of their house

blows away,

when they have nowhere to sleep.

The kids are worried

for their families,

and want to take home

any remaining sandwiches.

We can't make them concentrate,

their minds are on other things.

Sometimes, they faint.

Then we ask them:

"What did you eat yesterday?

And this morning?"

They answer:
"Soup, tea..."

They faint very often.

We've got used to it.

But it's shameful.

The Convertibility Plan

was part of a global project

linked to a debt

that had become irredeemable.

In 1992,

Finance Minister Cavallo negotiated

with the U.S. Secretary

of the Treasury, Nicholas Brady,

exchanging this debt

against our national heritage,

for a bargain price.

State enterprises are purchased,

with national bonds

pegged at 15% of their face value,

but redeemable at 100%.

This agreement made the country lose

more that 30 billion dollars.

PRIVATIZATIONS:

The Argentine government

achieved tonight

seven fundamental privatizations,

in seven strategic sectors

for the country.

We'll move on

to the privatization of TV,

of phone companies,

of a forthcoming tollbooth system,

of forthcoming road and railway

concessions,

as well as

the privatization of radio,

without forgetting, of course,

the privatization

of the national airline.

We've elaborated

our Ten Commandments,

the Menemist Ten Commandments

for the Reform of the State.

Commandment number 1,

Menem doesn't know it yet,

is taken from one of his speeches:

"Nothing belonging to the State

will remain in its hands."

Nothing was spared.

No matter what it was,

or how much it cost,

or how and why it was sold.

Cued by the methods

of other centuries,

these privatizations

were an extension

of the old colonial expropriations.

Once, the Potos was robbed

of its silver and gold.

Now oil, water,

and communications are stolen.

The foreign companies

did in our country

what they couldn't do

in their own countries.

Non-execution of works

They were exonerated

for the non-execution of works.

Rates were raised

to make the users

pay for the investments.

No new capital was needed.

The more you risk,

the more you earn.

In Argentina, no risks

yielded huge profits.

Outstanding profitability

They either doubled or tripled

the rates in dollars.

pocketed 60% of the income.

France Telecom in Argentina

had a profitability of 15%

and Telefnica of 16%,

whereas the ten biggest

international operators

only average

a profitability of 5,4%.

These concerns are private here,

and public in their own countries.

Stripping

The Argentinean enterprises

were sold without debts.

The State took care

of the 150000 layoffs

required by the purchasers.

The main investors

were Spanish and French:

The profitable ENTEL was sold

for a fifth of its value

to Telefnica and France Telecom,

who saddled it

with a 6 billion dollar debt.

Aerolneas Argentinas

was profitable and owned 37 planes.

The Spanish line Iberia mortgaged

them to purchase the business,

and stripped it of all its assets.

The State water utility was taken

over by a European syndicate

headed by Suez and Vivendi.

After making it owe

8 times its assets,

huge profits were made,

but the works agreed to

were not completed.

800000 people were left

without drinking water,

and a million people

had no sewers.

The worse case is probably

the dislocation of the railroads

that dealt a fatal blow

to regional economies.

Thousands of families had to move.

36000km of tracks existed,

now only 8000 remain.

There were 95000 jobs,

now only 15000 are left.

Ten years later, the State

pays out more and more subsidies,

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