MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

“We can't be seen as second rate republics”

Argentine presidential candidate Nestor Kirchner who today will be visiting Brazil said that if elected he will work for a greater integration with Brazil and Chile and a strong Latinamerican “space”.

Mr. Kirchner whom opinion polls indicate as favorite in the May 18 run off against former president Carlos Menem, interviewed by the Brazilian press emphasized that "(Brazilian president) Lula da Silva has shown us that it's possible to build a rational and responsible country model. Argentina historically never understood the importance of integration or helping build a Latinamerican space. We must create that space, we can't be seen or treated as second rate republics".

The governor of Santa Cruz who confessed that his candidacy originally was targeted for 2007 and not 2003, ("tragic events in my country forced the timetable") pointed out that the recent joint position of Brazil and Argentina regarding Cuba in the United Nations can be described as a critical attitude towards the United States but, "we're independent countries, and I think it's absurd that Latinamerican governments should feel concerned with what American ambassadors think or believe. Our intention is to have a serious, responsible relation with the United States as well as with Europeans".

When asked if his eventual victory will not belong to caretaker president Eduardo Duhalde, his staunch ally and sponsor, Mr. Kirchner said that Mr. Duhalde belongs to a plural space "with whom we want to start a new vision of Argentina, Mercosur and Latinamerica", adding that he was grateful to Argentines of all venues of life and political parties who support him.

"I belong to a generation that believes politics can help change a country. I will never surrender my convictions".

Mr. Menem has repeatedly described Mr. Kirchner as a "puppet" of caretaker president Duhalde the strong man of Argentina's main electoral circumscription, the province of Buenos Aires. Mr. Duhalde was nominated by Congress in January 2002 after violent street rioting and looting in December 2001 forced the resignation of elected president De la Rúa and the collapse of the Argentine economy.

Mr. Kirchner describes Mr. Duhalde's administration as "a national survival government".

Regarding a specific question about privatized public utilities from Mr. Menem's time, Mr. Kirchner said that leaving aside the controversial debate of whether it was necessary to privatize or not, "I believe many of those foreign investors committed the mistake of associating the sale of government assets to political power. That is why Argentine public opinion nowadays is so mistrustful of privatizations".

"Those companies that came to Argentina to exploit public utilities should have concentrated in that, and not get involved in sustaining a policy completely confronted with ethical values. A future Kirchner government will fully respect the rule of the Law, we want to put an end to uncertainties and for that we have to keep strictly to the law", stressed candidate Kirchner.

When asked about his contestant, Governor Kirchner said that Mr. Menem started as a popular leader in 1988/89 who conveyed great hope. However those same voters who supported him finished as the most impaired and impoverished.

"After a relatively good start Mr. Menem changed and implemented an economic exclusion model concentrating wealth and indebting the country in a way never seen before".

Governor Kirchner who lacks international experience is scheduled to hold a private meeting with Brazilian president Lula da Silva, a gesture that has been criticized by the US leaning Mr. Menem's supporters.

In a similar attitude Mr. Kirchner did not include Uruguay in his Mercosur brief tour. Uruguayan president Jorge Batlle outspokenly favors "my experienced friend Dr. Menem", and as the former Argentine president is a close friend of the Bush family.