MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Kirchners Have Long Term Plans to Remain for Another 10 to 15 Years

Nestor Kirchner during the May first celebration

Argentine former President Néstor Kirchner harshly criticized a sector of the press and the government's “opposition” in Congress that wants “to set the country on fire”, but in spite of all he was optimistic about a long term plan for Argentina.

“We have a very particular opposition, the concentration of the media,” said the head of the ruling Justicialist Party, Néstor Kirchner, who also underlined that “this government is working on a long term project, 10 to 15 years” to overcome all the improvised policies that have signalled past administrations.

Kirchner was the main speaker last Saturday at a rally held in Paraná, province of Entre Rios to celebrate May first International Workers' Day. Next to him were Entre Rios Governor Sergio Urribarri and the head of the Labour Confederation (CGT), Hugo Moyano.

“We are beginning with the construction of a new Argentina. With courage and despite the obstacles, the President is carrying out this construction,” said  Néstor Kirchner, who is expected to run in the presidential election of 2011, according to his aides and members of the ruling coalition. “Those who set the country on fire back in 2001, are attempting the same but now from Congress, but the Argentine people—from one end to the other of the country—are seeing that the current model is working” and has helped to create jobs and put the economy on the growth track again.

“Men and women change, but what matters now is to continue strengthening the model, a long term prospect for Argentina, 10 to 15 years which definitively ends all the improvised policies enacted in the last few decades”.

“The election is still far away, we have to focus in the current administration of the country, support the mayors, the governors and the President, of course,” Kirchner continued. Kirchner then went straight on to attack the “media and economic concentration” with its most useful instrument: the Clarín Newspaper (LSE: GCLA) “and the group’s mastermind, Clarin’s CEO Héctor Magnetto.”

“We are very concerned about the visit the group’s representatives did to the High Court, I imagine with the purpose of putting pressure on Magistrates about the Media Bill and other issues”, said Kirchner. “We want an end to that monopoly, to that concentration of power, money and influence,” he added.

The new Argentine media bill being challenged in the courts severely limits media groups in different ways and would force them to split up in a very short time, which is seen as an opportunity for Kirchner “business friends” to move into the industry.

The Kirchner administration has also gone after the main shareholder of Clarín, Ernestina de Noble and her two adopted children, now in their thirties. There are claims that they were originally babies taken away by the security forces from “disappeared” prisoners during the last military regime (1976/1983). Another bill allows courts to demand DNA tests form suspected children of disappeared when there are “sufficient doubts” to that effect.