July 19, 2007
historical reflections on the splendor and decadence of Argentina
by José Ignacio García José Ignacio García Hamilton
Hamilton is Professor of History of Law at the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina.
The origins of Argentina's crisis is neither in the economic reforms undertaken by President Carlos Menem in 1989 and in the process of globalization of the past decades. By contrast, Argentina's decline was a slow process that began in the early twentieth century. In fact, Menem reforms based on a sound economic logic: the privatization of state enterprises, the conversion rate of one peso per U.S. dollar and trade openness to the world. In 1991, inflation had reached levels creepy-is contained and, in subsequent years was achieved substantial growth in GDP per capita. Despite these achievements ephemeral, the economic situation deteriorated and in November 2001, the government headed by Fernando de la Rua declared a partial freeze on bank deposits in both Argentine pesos and in U.S. dollars. On 19 December, looting supermarkets across the country and the next day, President de la Rua signed his resignation. Since then, the country had a succession of five presidents and declared the default on its foreign debt in an atmosphere of extreme economic distress social and political.
Representatives of all political parties in Congress, both the chamber of deputies and senators in numerous articles published daily in newspapers and the hordes of protesters who take to the streets of Buenos Aires attribute the current crisis on liberal economic reforms introduced President Menem, globalization and the IMF intervention. In February 2002, on the streets of Dublin, were posters showing a map of Argentina with the phrase "This is what unbridled capitalism and the IMF can do to a nation."
This article will argue that Argentina's crisis is the result of gross colonial political practices in modern Argentina's economy. Show that the incredible development of Argentina after the Constitution of 1853-60 was due to the creation of a number of institutions and cultural values \u200b\u200bthat changed those who came from the English colonial era. However, in the early twentieth century-a period in which, paradoxically, the country had become one of the richest in the world, reappeared certain cultural traits of the colonial era that led to a process of economic decline. This trend intensified after the Second World War. The reforms that began in 1989 were not the cause of the current situation, but also failed to prevent the return of certain habits and traits originated in colonial times. First, explore the traits that characterized the English colonial era. Then I turn to the modernization that took place after 1853, kicks the twentieth century and the reasons why the 1989 reforms failed to prevent decay. The article concludes with a reflection on the causes of these setbacks and a consideration of the prospects for the future. Features
colonial
During the three centuries that covers the colonial period, which is now Argentine territory was one of the poorest areas of the English empire, largely due to its geographical location, distant from the centers of political and economic activity. In 1810, the beginning of the war of independence, the population of Argentina was less than that of Chile, Bolivia, Paraguay and Peru, and its economy was less developed than the rest of the Hispanic. Although remote, the Viceroyalty of the Rio de la Plata newly created shared cultural traits typical of the continent dominated by Spain: political absolutism, mercantilism, disregard for the law, religious uniformity, xenophobia and social stratification. Administration to support these cultural principles could only contribute to the underdevelopment of Argentina and lead to bad government and unfair economic practices. Then discuss each cultural trait separately. Absolutism
One of the most salient features of English American society was absolutism. In 1492, when Christopher Columbus discovered America, the English monarchs were trying to consolidate their power over the feudal nobility. America provided the ideal opportunity for the English monarchy to impose its absolute and unlimited power. On this continent, the Crown could exercise their political privileges without any control of the courts, feudal and local privileges. The existence of an indigenous population did not constitute an obstacle to absolute power. The kings of Castile were the "owners of America" \u200b\u200bin a political and economic sense. Clarence Haring (1972, pg. 17) states that the King not only exercised sovereignty over these lands, but also property rights. It was the absolute power since any position or economic, political or religious depended on his will.
Moreover, the weakness of local representative institutions helped consolidate absolutism. The American colonies had no opportunity to develop their autonomy or local democratic assemblies gestate. The first municipal councils, established in Spain, had been democratic in the former English kingdoms, but for the time of discovery of America, this institution had fallen under the total control of the crown, which appointed members of local assemblies. In fact, in America, the councils became aristocratic institutions, as members appointed their own successors. In addition, the Kings sold political office. All these factors contributed to discredit these representative institutions (Zorraquín Becú, 1981, pp. 16, 310, 362; Bayle, 1952, pp. 622-23). However, in reality, the large and corrupt bureaucracy assembled in America imposed a major constraint to English absolutism. The legal level bureaucrats took advantage of the distance from Spain and the local social environment to strengthen their own power bases in the colony. In response to this threat, the Bourbon monarchy in the eighteenth century established a system of administrative reforms designed to re-centralize power in Madrid and curb abuse of colonial officials (Donghi Halperin, 1970, pp. 53-56) . Mercantilism
Another feature of the system Colonial Latin America-closely linked to absolutism-era economic statism and mercantilism. Mercantilism is defined as the permanent state intervention in the life and private activities of its citizens. While absolutism was used as a means to consolidate the English unit, mercantilism was the instrument by which Spain was trying to take advantage of the natural and economic resources of Latin America. From the beginning, nobody was allowed to conquer and colonize land in India without prior explicit permission of the Crown. To make his first voyage, Columbus had to fight for eight years for the endorsement and support Financial kings. Finally, in April of 1492, signed the famous chapters with the Crown. This agreement became Columbus on a representative of the Crown and granted him conditional titles of admiral, viceroy and governor of the territories he might discover.
As a guiding principle, mercantilism was especially notable in what concerned the distribution of land. As a result, the transfer was always commendable ¬ mended by the Crown and was the main expression of the tendency of the state to distribute privilege. The parcel was an institution through which the monarchy gave a group of Native Americans to a English conquistador, that should teach them a religious education. In return, the conqueror could force the natives to work for him. The cheap labor that provided the natives was the factor most important generator of wealth in America. Since they were the King and his staff who gave to these people, it was essential to get along with them, in order to exploit the cheap labor available through clientelist ties. In essence, economic success depended on access to patronage system established by the imperial state. All the English in America wanted Native Americans to their orders. A letter to the King by the Viceroy of Peru in 1597, categorically ruling that "the English did not come to America to work, but to make labor and Indian lands" (Tehran, 1982, pg. 134).
The Crown ordered that no parcel consisted of over 300 native. With this limitation, successive monarchs tried to ensure equitable distribution of the native workforce and also evangelism and protection of indigenous peoples. However, this rule was not observed, and the conquerors adopted a general policy of concentrating wealth in the hands of a few. The conquistadors used to ask their relatives or friends in Spain to record parcels in their name.
Like labor, real estate also were among the most important sources of wealth and prestige. The kings of Castile were the owners of American land, who had conquered their representatives and they had been delivered by the Pope. As a result of these rights, the Crown monopolized the distribution of land, and no individual had access to land without a real assignment. In practice, then the territories occupied by individuals with or without a title could be bought by paying a sum of money or a composition of kings.
In the early years of the American Empire, the land grants were free but in the sixteenth century, Philip II began to sell to finance their wars. Both systems coexisted until the end of the colonial period. Notably, whether the Crown lands distributed free of charge or sell them for money, people always need the consent of the monarch, or their representatives, to obtain land (Mariluz Urquijo, 1978, pp. 16, 33-36, 50).
Another factor of economic importance were the mines. In Spain, they had always been monopolized by the state. Briviesca Royal Ordinances of 1387 stipulated that individuals could find metals in public or private places, but two-thirds of the gains were due to the Crown. Under this law, all mines belonged to the crown, no matter who owns the land. This practice continued throughout the colonial period, although in 1563, Felipe II stipulates new rates of income, ranging from half to one-eighth of the mineral obtained. This system of contributions and obligations is a clear example of state intervention in the economic area but, often, there were private financial support. The famous ordinance of Toledo, as authorized by the Viceroy of Toledo in 1574 for Peru, reaffirming the absolute right of monarchs on the property, specifically metals found in their colonies (Martire, 1979, pp. 15, 66, 69).
The state monopolized the trade between Spain and its Latin American colonies. The House of Trade, an institution founded in Seville in 1503 to control and regulate trade, was also in state hands. In addition, the Crown monopolized other activities such as production and trade of mercury, salt, pepper, snuff, gunpowder and playing cards. Sometimes these concessions were granted to private activities. However, this did not used to be free, but usually, the concessions were sold, not eased. Even the Treasury increased their councils through the granting of trading rights on these products to private interests.
Internal trade was also regulated by the state. For example, bar owners need the authorization to transfer wine from one barrel to another (Haring, 1972, pg. 321; García, 1986, pg. 136). That is, English colonialism was based on the omnipresence of the State in all areas of economic, social and political. In colonial times, the state did not intervene only in the economic field but also in the private life of his servants and subjects. Until an official alleged adultery or marriage to a citizen generated a lot of red tape (Terán, 1982, pg. 125, Bayle, 1952, pg. 582). Failure
law
Another feature of Latin American colonial society was a permanent divorce between the legal order and social practices. In this case, the situation differed from that recorded in the Iberian Peninsula, where local laws customs consecrated the population had ever implemented. This did not happen in America, where the Crown itself ignored the "capitulations" signed with Columbus, in a preview of what is breaching the law in the new continent (Haring, 1972, pg. 24; De Madariaga, 1973, pg. 262). The Royal Orders, which established the good treatment and freedom of the natives, are a good example of the separation that existed between law and reality in the English empire. While the Crown enacted laws to protect the native population and to declare free, the reality is that they were slaves, although they were not called that way.
Another example of this dichotomy between law and practice was the creation of "Demand", a text that read English captains were natives before attacking them with his armies, written by the English jurist Juan Lopez de Palacios Rubios to justify right as English had on the natives. The document claimed that the Crown had authority over the American territory and urged the natives to obey. Of course, both the spirit of the document and the letter was incomprehensible to the natives, as it was written in English-language poorly understood, and written in terms of ideas alien to their culture (Ots Capdequi, 1943, pg. 254). It is possible that the conscience of officials remain calm after complying with this formality, but neither the sense nor the spirit of the law were never respected.
In fact, the Crown was actively supporting the failure of colonial rule among its staff, rather of eradication. Al Viceroys give the ability to suspend the laws they considered that compliance was dangerous, inconvenient or troublesome, the Crown directly helped deepen the erosion of the rule of law in their own colonies. The viceroy consigned all derogations, or suspensions of a law in a memorandum explaining his decision and sent the law back to Spain for reconsideration.
The old adage about local authorities ("the authority is obeyed, but not fulfilled the law") was particularly appropriate to reflect what was happening in Latin America (Haring, 1972, pg. 130). The so-called "concealment" was another English practice undermining the initial stages of development of the Argentine legal system. The law stated that assignments were due for a maximum of two generations, ie for the original owner and his heirs. In practice, the following parcels to heirs continued after the deadline of two generations, and the viceroys ignored the violation of the rule. Interestingly, in certain circumstances, the Crown itself authorized the viceroys to "hide" the extent of the parcel to a third generation and then to a fourth or fifth (Ots Capdequi, 1943, pg. 254, Haring, 1972 pg. 269).
generalized Collusion English officials for smuggling is a final example of the corruption which arose from inadequate law enforcement. This activity flourished during the three centuries of colonial rule due to the strength of the Crown to accept free trade. Commercial monopoly rules stipulated that the goods that departed from Spain to America, sent by English merchants in English ships, came to their agents through default routes with high freight rates. Therefore, in the Río de la Plata, the prices of smuggled goods were significantly lower, and the breach of the law was a constant practice. In this case, the attempt to restrict trade to a few sites created powerful incentives to break the law and practice free trade. Militarism
The English conquest of America was a feat of arms, a fact that left a mark that lasted throughout the colonial period. The colonial society was organized in a hierarchical and stratified, and established a separate military jurisdiction. Under military jurisdiction, military personnel who committed crimes were tried by their peers and not by civilian judges. Church members also enjoyed a similar privilege of special jurisdiction (Zorraquín Becú, 1978, pg. 91). The consolidation of militarism was supported by the fact that since the dawn of the history of Spain, war and religion were closely related. This phenomenon is rooted in the Muslim occupation of Spain and is a modern vestige of Muslim philosophy in the medieval Western world: war and religion are two concepts closely linked to the Muslim creed. The Koran says that when Muhammad learned that he was inspired by Allah and that he had a prophetic mission, he asked his neighbors to follow him. Nobody did, except his cousin Ali, who said: "O Prophet, I will follow. We bring out the eyes of your enemies, break your teeth and oppress their breasts "(Miguens, 1986, pg. 74). Arab military forces arrived in Spain in the eighth century and quickly conquered most of the peninsula. As English Christians began to recover their territory from north to south to fight the Moors, they sought the help of God, as their opponents.
This combination of military and religious furor spread to the New World. Therefore, the battles in the colonial context were tinged with a certain religious overtones. It is undeniable that the conquest of America was imbued with a missionary spirit. Before fighting against the natives, the English shouted "Santiago and close Spain!" To appeal to the apostle, and part of this spirit was maintained until the last years of the empire, as when General Manuel Belgrano was appointed to the Virgin Mary "Army General" after defeat the English in the Battle of Tucumán. Modernization
After the formation of the first national government in 1810, the fledgling nation Argentina began a process of change in their institutions, policies and customs. After the wars of independence and a long period of civil conflict, including the dictatorship of Juan Manuel de Rosas (1829-1852), turbulence emancipation came to an end with the promulgation of the Constitution of 1853, designed to change cultural values \u200b\u200binherited from the English colonial period. This left the political absolutism in favor of the separation of powers, the only state religion by the adoption of freedom of religion, was abandoned mercantilism, and support private property and free trade, was abandoned and instead xenophobia immigration was promoted, breach of law was replaced adherence to legal principles and inequalities based on social class differences gave way to equality before the law. This constitution was partially amended in 1860. This amendment included, among other important reforms, the reinstatement of the Province of Buenos Aires had not agreed to join the Confederacy signed the Constitution of 1853 - and the application of the Constitution throughout the country.
These values, highlighted in the 1420 Act of 1884, which established free, compulsory and secular, generated a remarkable political and economic development. Naturally, the growth went through good times and bad, but inside the fluctuation, the ruling classes agreed on some basic values, such as the need to create a service infrastructure to promote productive activities (mail, telegraph, railway, education, ports), to facilitate immigration, encourage foreign investment and raising concerns about the national credit.
In 1876, President Nicolás Avellaneda, struggling to avoid default on foreign debt, said the Legislature against the holders of Argentine bonds had no reason to worry. "The Republic can be divided deeply into domestic games, but has only an honor and credit, as only a name and a flag, before the foreign peoples. There are two million Argentines who would save up on his hunger and thirst to respond, in a supreme situation, the commitments of our public faith in foreign markets "(Páez de la Torre, 2001, pp. 222-23).
By 1910, the centenary of the first local government, Argentina was one of the leading countries in the world. He was one of the largest exporters of grains and meat. The country's GDP amounted to 50% of the GDP of all Latin American countries, it ranked tenth among the world's economies and their trade accounted for 7% of total international. The areas cultivated with wheat, which in 1872 covered 72,000 hect ¬ areas, came to 6,918,000 hectares in 1912. Exports of cereals, who in 1885 had totaled 389,000 tons, reaching 5,294,000 in 1914. Furthermore, in contrast to previous colonial period, there was a marked reduction of illiteracy, in a nation known for its cosmopolitan character and not by xenophobia (Torquinst, quoted in Escudé, 1984, pg. 102). In 1913, annual GDP per capita stood at U.S. $ 470, surpassing the productivity of many European rivals: U.S. $ 400 in France, $ 225 in Italy and $ 90 in Japan (Maizels, 1963, pg. 17). Moreover, if we compare hourly wages collected in 1911 and 1914 in Buenos Aires, Paris and Marseille, in seven different job categories, we see that wages Buenos Aires were 80% higher than those of Marseilles in all categories and 25% higher than Paris in most categories. Until the First World War, although income per capita in the United States was much higher than in Argentina, the average wage received an immigrant arriving in Buenos Aires was similar to that received an immigrant who came to New York. A 1921 report of the foreign trade department of the United Kingdom confirmed that wages in Argentina were higher than in Europe (Díaz Alejandro, 1970, pp. 43-44).
retracement of the twentieth century is precisely at this point of remarkable progress politically and economically, in first decades of the twentieth century, after two generations of institutional normality almost continuously, Argentina administration began to show once again the old colonial characteristics. Despite impressive economic gains achieved since independence, the resurgence of colonial practices end up condemning Argentina to the path of underdevelopment that could not be reversed by the democratic government of the nineties.
1907-1946: Colonial Revival
The 1907-46 period witnessed the gradual emergence of the same type of colonial administration that had hindered the growth of Argentina before Independence. Among these, the most obvious was the return to militarism and absolutist practices by political leaders and the renewal of the mercantilist state interventions that undermine the free market development.
First, Argentina English military rediscovered its roots in the early decades of the twentieth century, militarism became actively promoted by the educational policy. In 1908, in order to assimilate the children of immigrants, the government launched a campaign of "patriotic education." This campaign showed those who had fought for independence and established the Constitution as supernatural beings, almost sacred, capable of feats usual mythological gods and heroes in humans. Driven by government schools and compulsory military service, the exalted cross the country out of control and created a sense of grandeur exaggerated, which made people believe that wealth came directly from natural resources without human labor or appropriate institutions. The return to the dogmatic teaching, which replaced religion with patriotism and underestimated the intelligence of children, also instilled a strong sense of nationalism preached the need to recover the Islands Malvinas (Escudé, 1990, pg. 20).
Governments of the thirties expanded the "patriotic education" and extended it to secondary school and universities (Escudé, 1990, pp. 91-93). At this point, the authorities added the nationalist religious devotion to militarism and launched a political campaign to identify the origin and essence of nationality Argentina with Catholicism and militarism. To that end, many national authorities rewrote the history of the country in a way that showed that the heroes of Independence were devout Catholics and Masons and freethinkers not showing textbooks written by liberal authors in the second half of the nineteenth century (Zanatta, 1997, pp. 20, 35, 90). This tactic was used later by the military regime in 1943, which reestablished religious education in schools against the Law stipulated that 1420 and became a model of state-sponsored religion. Thus, the cosmopolitan nature of Argentina, which had contributed to the development of late nineteenth century, was eroded by the interventionism of the Argentine government in the classroom.
political absolutism and disregard for the rule of law-natural partners of militarism, characterized the governments of this period. Elected in 1916 President Yrigoyen significantly increased bureaucracy and widespread practice of hiring clerks with vague or no work in return for political favors. In 1930, Yrigoyen was a victim of the same absolutist tactics when he was overthrown in a coup, then ratified by the Supreme Court. The new de facto government deepened the institutionalization of absolutism and violence by closing the National Congress and some newspapers and the creation of a police force to prosecute and imprison political opponents. It was at this point that torture by electric shocks began to be implemented in Argentina. The relationship between political events and the old political absolutism and colonial intolerance and its effect on economic growth is undeniable.
economic practices were also affected by this apparent return to colonial rule. Throughout this period, governments are increasingly accustomed to intervene in the economy when they saw fit, despite the obvious economic and legal disadvantages in the long term. The government began to adopt a mercantilist approach to economic management, probably from 1907, when oil wells were discovered in Comodoro Rivadavia. At that time, a decree introduced changes significant economic policy in the Mining Code and the spirit of the Constitution, they preferred an economy with little government intervention. President José Figueroa at short ¬ issued a decree that the State reserved for subsurface hydrocarbons, which in practical effect was to deprive them of them to the owners of the land in question. Subsequent governments showed the same preference for interventionist tactics. During the first presidency of Hipolito Yrigoyen, was enacted a law establishing a freeze on rents. In connection with the claims of those affected, the Supreme Court confirmed that law-with the sole objection of Judge Antonio Bermejo, and stated that it violated the Constitution (CS Faults 04/28/1922). So, fend for the Supreme Court and against the rule of law, the Yrigoyen government ignored both the right to private property of individual autonomy. Although less controversial, but at the same mercantilist tradition, President Agustín P. Just-elected in 1932 - created marketing boards to regulate the production of meat, cereals and many other products, which consolidated the active state intervention in even broader spectrum of economic sectors.
1946-1955: Perón
In 1946, General Juan Domingo Peron became president. His government was marred by the same political practices of clientelism, absolutism and the rule of law violation. Perón impeachment submitted to all members of the Supreme Court judges and replaced them with "friends." Abolished freedom of the press and suppressed his opponents, jailing opposition leaders, among them Ricardo Balbin. He also used the achievements of previous administrations of the twentieth century to their advantage, by manipulating the militaristic nationalism to consolidate his own populist government. Schools used primary policy to provide education to children and, through them, their parents. The book The reason for my life-signed but not written, by the President's wife, Eva Peron became required reading. It launched a campaign to equate President Perón who was named the country's liberator, José de San Martín, one of the top generals who participated in the war against Spain after 1810. A law designated 1950 as the year of "Libertador General San Martín" and made it mandatory for students, like all newspapers and write, write that sentence with the date, every day. Dozens of newspapers were closed by omitting the phrase (Gambini, 1999, pp. 196-304).
Perón's government continued mercantilist practices and expanded, and it was during his tenure that the economic costs of the colonial economy began to appear in government accounts. Peron's government expanded the scope of government involvement in the economy, nationalizing the electricity, gas and telephone, railways, urban transport buses and radios. This enormous expansion of the state-with obvious benefits for Perón's political clients and subsidies for groups of workers and businessmen started an inevitable increase in government deficit. The surplus on the balance of payments accrued during the Second World War (as Argentina remained neutral and sold products to both sides of the conflict) was not sufficient to fund populist Peron practices. Then he turned to: the inflation tax, central bank reserves, exports and capital taxes and especially taxes on a well-developed rural sector. In order to transfer resources from the sector to government, and with a history of freezing rents conducted by Yrigoyen, Peron set up a regulatory framework aimed at distorting the set of property rights established by the Constitution and the Civil Code, which guaranteed freedom of contract. By successive decrees and negotiations with Congress, the government introduced controls on contracts, pricing, suspension of evictions and extensions of leases, which benefited his constituency (tenants) in rural areas in the short term, but eroded property rights of owners Pampas, which contributed significantly to economic stagnation in the following decades.
Another prominent mechanism that was used to generate a financial transfer from the rural sector to the government was the Argentine Institute for Production and Exchange (IAPI). The IAPI eliminated private exporting companies and fixed domestic prices of the crops below international prices. Then the IAPI selling these products abroad and retained the difference, which was channeled into popular activity (Gallo, 2002, pp. 170-97). In addition, since 1950, the state began to finance its deficits by issuing currency, which led to an increase in inflation. So, despite a period of remarkable economic and democratic growth in the late nineteenth century, by 1955 the return to colonial practices schemes concocted by the first half of the twentieth century had eroded substantially the political economy of Argentina.
1955-1982:
successive dictatorships
The period between Perón and Argentina's return to democracy in 1983 is known for the vicious back to the mix of militarism and absolutism that characterizes the military dictatorships. Throughout the period, many coups erected by successive dictatorships, all characterized by violence, the violation of the rule of law and religious and political intolerance. In 1955 Peron was overthrown by a military coup, and the new regime took steps to prosecute their supporters. Newspapers were prohibited from mentioning the name of the deposed tyrant. In 1962, a military uprising took del poder al presidente Arturo Frondizi, y lo mismo ocurrió con el presidente Arturo Illia en 1966. Ese año, el General Juan Carlos Onganía se convirtió en presidente de facto. Se impuso la censura cultural y se prohibió la difusión de ciertos libros, obras de teatro y películas. Tal es el caso de Bomarzo, ópera compuesta por Gi¬nastera y basada en una novela de Manuel Mujica Lainez , cuya presentación en el Teatro Colón fue prohibida por Onganía. Otra prueba del absolutismo es la fragrante promoción realizada por Onganía del concepto de una religión patrocinada por el Estado: consagró la nación a la Inmaculada Concepción de la Virgen María durante una procesión solemne y multitudinaria into the sanctuary of Luján. In 1976, after a brief and disastrous return of Perón, a military junta seized power and reintroduced militarism and judicial stratification in society in Argentina. It created numerous secret prisons where people were tortured. Newborn infants, children of prisoners, they were often stolen and subject to change of identity. During this period, 9,000 people disappeared and external debt increased from U.S. $ 7,800 million to U.S. $ 45,000 million. In 1978, the military regime was on the verge of war with Chile in the Beagle Channel and its islands, and in 1982 occupied the Malvinas Islands, which led to war with Britain.
There was also a guerrilla group called Montoneros, organized by right-wing Catholics who believed they were fighting a crusade for a better society. Similarly, the military regime in 1976 said he respected the Western Christian values, which meant a return to the union of war and religion, typical of the colonial period.
Although economic policy is not something that is mentioned in most discussions of this dark period in Argentina's history, the impact on it of prolonged military mandates widespread collective fear are undeniable. Argentina's economic position was further weakened. In 1983, upon the return of democracy and constitutional government with President Raul Alfonsin, a lot of Argentines share the hope that the situation would improve, however, these hopes were unfounded. The members of the armed forces who had violated human rights were brought to trial, which meant the return to legality. However, the law calls "Stop" and "Due Obedience" allowed fraudulent amnesty is granted to the same soldiers who had committed crimes. This legal fraud marked both the continuation of a hierarchical society with corporate privileges for armed forces as a clear violation of equality before the law. Although militarism had suffered a setback, represented by the return of civilian government and the stratification of society, lack of respect for the rule of law and political practice were not attenuated absolutist. Reforms
the 1990's: too weak and too late?
By the late 1980's, the sense of economic crisis was undeniable. The reaction of President Carlos Menem was to introduce economic reforms aimed at reversing the twentieth century mercantilist practices. These reforms, with the help of the currency, giving the impression that economic recovery could be achieved. However, no steps were taken to reform political practices as absolutism and the failure of the law. As demonstrated by the culmination of the crisis in December 2001, the economic reforms put in place without being accompanied by changes in the vicious political culture Argentina were insufficient to reverse the economic decline that resulted in the return to the practice of the early colonial XX.
, they say, Menem's economic reforms were well supported and could be successful. In 1989, Menem broke with the past and embarked Argentina interventionist policy deregulation to privatize state enterprises and encourage a free market economy. The privatization process was powerful, built to modernization. The railroads, telephones, electricity, ports, maritime transport, radio, television, fuel, maintenance of roads and military factories were his goals. However, in his book Roots of Poverty, Guillermo Yeatts said that the privatization was carried out through concessions in the markets is reserved for the benefit of a select few. In fact, rates were secured so that the privatization process was merely a "transfer monopolies "of the state to private groups, in turn, became privileged sectors with enormous power. These measures signified a return to colonial commercial structures, in which the benefit was not the profit of selling the best product at the lowest price in a free market, but the income of a monopoly or an artificially created government restrictions competition (Yeatts, 2000, pp. 207-41).
Menem Other reforms introduced were not as favorable as expected. For example, the opening of the economy was positive but insufficient, since it is limited to the countries of Mercosur (Argentina, Brazil, To ¬ Paraguay and Uruguay). The result was that national isolationism is changed by a "regional isolation" restricted to an area even closer to the commercial monopoly of the colonial era. This measure was not significantly promote the competitiveness and provide the benefits of world trade.
half Economic reform was accompanied by a complete lack of political will to reverse the corrupt patronage system. Although the privatization process was conducted, in part, to generate government revenues in the short term, the State did not significantly reduce spending as a result of this process. Instead, the government changed the cost provision of public services expenditures called absolutist government social spending. That is, subsidies and jobs without stress to political allies. Meanwhile, the state-maintained and even increased, their participation in the economy. The trend Menem government patronage was also evident with increasing number of members of the Supreme Court aimed to give rise to their own clients and political allies. In addition, Menem pardoned the military commanders who had been condemned by human rights violations and urged a constitutional amendment to former President Alfonsin through what is called Olivos Pact. This reform allowed for re-election of chairman, which was not allowed under the current Constitution so far. Each measure contributes a little further back into the old colonial practice of political absolutism.
In addition, economic reforms misleading and convertibility system was established whereby a fixed exchange rate between the peso and the U.S. dollar during the 1990 - hid the harmful effects of political vice. The convertibility dodged the need to print money, which would produce inflation. However, to avoid the tendency to inflation, the government failed to address nor to reduce or redirect public spending. Since the currency board system seemed to allow the government to continue spending, it was not more than a device to change the financing of the deficit by foreign borrowing. By this sleight of hand, and despite the money received from the sale of public enterprises, the Menem administration (1989-99) succeeded in raising the public debt of U.S. $ 65,300 million to U.S. $ 146,210 million. As explained Eiras and Schaefer (2001), "The lack of economic growth combined with increased government spending, generated a fiscal deficit rose from 0.15 percent of GDP in 1994 to 2.4 percent of GDP in 2000. " Furthermore, "Argentina's total public debt increased from 34 percent in 1991 to about 52 percent of GDP in 1999. Thus, the advantages of a fixed-exchange rate stability and reliability-were thwarted by an overwhelming national debt also increased the cost of private investment. Finally, this led to a breach of internal and external commitments of the government in December 2001, which, in turn, generated a bank run early in 2002.
simply reforms of the 1990s were insufficient to offset the negative political practices began to resurface in the early twentieth century and continued almost until the twenty-first century: a hegemonic executive and personnel capable of allocating economic resources and change the rules at will by decree, the lack of an independent judiciary that controlled the other branches and defend the interests of citizens, a large and supposedly welfare state, symbolized by officials who had the power to set fares and alter private contracts, pensions totaling privilege to their own wages and unjustified subsidies granted to the unemployed.
Restrictions on private bank deposits in the last days of the administration of Fernando de la Rua and the default announced by President Adolfo Rodriguez Saa in late 2001-applauded by legislators from all parties, are the culmination of a century of mismanagement, misappropriation of public funds and lack of respect for property rights and the legal system. Only a cultural tradition rooted in rejection of the alien is responsible for the Argentines blame others and prevents recognize their own shortcomings.
Causes of kicks and a possible scenario
While the economic collapse is the obvious result of this cultural tradition is not so easy to explain the causes of the regressions of the twentieth century. A simplistic explanation might be that the reforms of 1853-60 were incorporated by an enlightened minority, and when the law was enacted universal suffrage, secret and compulsory in 1912, and a popular government came to power in 1916, modernization was rejected by the majority. Argentina favored the Argentine people, however, a populist regime based on concessions granted by the government, even though they violate private property. In this sense, we might think that the people never incorporated as a permanent social and political practices the principles and rules established by the legal and political institutions during the last decades of the nineteenth and early twentieth century. However, history reveals that even the elite "liberal" showed signs of colonial practices.
The decree reserved the subsurface oil was sanctioned by the State President Figueroa Alcorta, clear representative of the liberal regime. Similarly, the campaign of "patriotic education" instituted in 1908 was designed by a president "liberal" for excellence and fostered by an education minister intellectual and "liberal." Since by then the law of universal and compulsory suffrage was not in force, we can not attribute these actions to the public will. To further reinforce this conclusion, it should be noted that the emission Money rampant century was undertaken by both democratically elected governments Juan Domingo Peron, Isabel Peron in 1974-76, Raul Alfonsin and Carlos Menem in 1983-89, especially in his second term, 1995-99 - as military dictatorships who ruled during the period 1976-83. Perhaps it is best to assume that the modernization process that took place around 1853 was an abrupt institutional break with the colonial regime. Was not accompanied by profound changes in the political culture in Argentina, so it was expected to emerge some setbacks to colonial practices, even among liberal regimes.
might also speculate that large flows of immigrants from countries established a hierarchy and Catholics who got Argentina in the late nineteenth century hampered cultural renewal sought by the Constitution of 1853-60. Juan Bautista Alberdi, the man who inspired Argentina to their bases Constitution for the Na ¬ tional Organization, 1852 - believed that the Anglo-Saxon immigration in Argentina could help develop "industrious habits" and "work culture" among Argentines, and reinforce the values \u200b\u200bof the constitutional organization (Alberdi 1964, chap. 15, pp. 39-40). However, Anglo-Saxon immigration in Argentina was very small compared with the arrival of citizens of hierarchical organization Catholic countries like Spain and Italy. Between 1857 and 1930, Argentina received 3,385,000 immigrants, temporary workers have returned to their countries, in 1914, 30% of Argentina's population was born abroad. Of these immigrants, 47.4% were Italian and 32.3% were English, so that these two nations together accounted for 80% of the immigrant population (Germani, 1962, pg. 226). Could this hinder acculturation demographic composition of the population of Argentina to the ideological reforms Constitution? This immigration prompted a period of great economic development in Argentina, but maybe the tradition of political absolutism and, in general terms the typical authoritarian Catholic countries have hindered the development of new political habits (García Hamilton, 1998).
is not easy to explain why, at the end of World War II, Argentina adopted a policy of mercantilism and economic isolation, completely ignoring the free-market policies such good results had given the late nineteenth century. We could say that this was a reflection of global trends widespread in the early 1930: Keynesianism in the United States, National Socialism and Fascism in Italy and Germany, and Bolshevism in Russia. At the end of World War II, including France and Britain began to nationalize some industries, while only small powers such as Australia, rejected this trend. Until 1989, when Menem launched its reforms, Argentina continued to apply a policy of nationalization in certain industries.
Nor should we overlook the influence of "patriotic education", as said Carlos Escudé, had an extremely nationalistic orientation from the beginning, in 1908. In The Bases of 1852, Alberdi had advised that it would be necessary to leave behind the period of the War of Independence to fully enter a stage of labor and production: "That the industry achieve what was achieved before the war" (Alberdi , 1964, pp. 14, 38). But in the early twentieth century, the cult heroes magnitudes reached incredible and culminated Perón laws that established the Year of the Liberator General José de San Martín. Before that, the remains of St. Martin had been brought to the Cathedral of Buenos Aires though, in life, General Mason was anticlerical. It was called "Father of the Nation." The author Ricardo Rojas had written his biography, entitled The Saint of the sword, and Belisario Roldán poet had dedicated a poem that began "Our Father which art in bronze."
During the twentieth century, textbooks stated that the two greatest military heroes of the War of Independence against Spain, General San Martin and Belgrano, had died in poverty, as if this is commendable (Escudé 1990). And the nationalist writers of the decade of 1930 ensured that, to strengthen national identity, it was necessary to fight against foreign powers, notably Britain (Quattrochi Woison, 1995, pp. 116-17).
Prolonged nationalist political indoctrination in schools helped perpetuate a culture of xenophobia, absolutism and state intervention mercantilist between generations. It is possible that this policy, which led Argentina into war with Britain because of the Malvinas Islands, also help the country become an international beggar with the highest debt per capita in the world.
However, what is clear is that, whatever the cause of the historical decline if the Argentines continue to apply political practices of colonial style, this country will benefit from a recovery economic in the near future. The English were the values \u200b\u200bthat gave rise to the term "merchant father, son and grandson gentleman beggar." Apparently, the grandchildren of the English colonizers did honor to this adage in twentieth-century Argentina. This does not mean that in the future, Argentina must resign themselves to permanent stagnation or crisis. The extraordinary growth experienced by the country between 1853 and 1946 shows that progress and cultural changes are possible. If Argentines take a moment and look in introspection of the past, may find in the constitutional reforms of the 1983-60 independence of the values \u200b\u200bthat could start a new period wealth and representative republicanism. Notes
This study was originally published in the Cato Journal, Vol 25 (No. 3) Fall 2005.
1. This reform also changed the name of the Constitution, which happened to be called "Constitution of the Confederation Argentina" a "Constitution of Argentina." It is known as the Constitution of 1853-60.
2. The reason my life was apologetic memoir published in 1951. In this book, Eva Peron tells the story of his life and sets out the principles of the Peronist movement.
3. The novel by Manuel Mujica Lainez Bomarzo was published in 1962. This novel was based on the Prince Pier Francesco Orsini, Duke of Bomarzo, who lived in sixteenth century Italy. The opera premiered at the Lisner Auditorium at George Washington University in Washington, DC, in 1967, the same year, he banned his presentation at the Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires (see http://libweb.princeton.edu/libraries/ firestone / RBSC / aids / lainez.html).
4. In my book I pointed out that Don José San Martín had two houses in Paris and other significant properties (some inherited from his wife), in the biography of the General Belgrano, Belgrano Ovid Giménez says left some properties In his will, but probably died as poor as when he was born. Bibliography
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