MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentine President off to Europe, leaves country in hands of internal rivals

“The idea is to be able to continue with the insertion of Argentina in the world,” Cerruti said.

Argentine President Alberto Fernández is leaving Monday on a European tour that regardless of what it may achieve (or not) in economic and political terms, will at least remove him from the spotlight of controversies within the ruling Frente de Todos (FdT) while at the same time leaving Vice President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner (CFK) at the helm of the Executive.

President Fernández's tour begins Monday in Spain and ends Thursday in Germany, the day on which the inflation data for April will be announced.

Alberto Fernández leaves behind a political scenario in which CFK has admitted that choosing him was “an act of intelligence” but giving him the freedom to choose his cabinet was a “generous action.”

CFK's son, Deputy Máximo Kirchner Sunday underlined the loss of purchasing power by the Argentine people. He made those remarks during a ceremony commemorating the 103rd birthday of Peronist icon Evita Duarte.

”Néstor and Cristina (Kirchner) did not tremble at the time of defending the workers,“ Kirchner said. He also called for the creation of ”political spheres“ to amplify management decisions.

Buenos Aires Governor Axel Kicillof also stressed that ”where there is a right, there is a duty; nobody can forget why we won the elections; those rights have to be enforced.“

Criticism from hard-line Kirchnerite groups against Economy Minister Martín Guzmán is not new.

After all the friendly fire he took in recent days, Fernández will leave the country. Presidential spokeswoman Gabriela Cerruti explained the trip had been scheduled long before. It will start in Spain with a meeting with Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and then move to Germany to hold a meeting with Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

”The idea is to be able to continue with the insertion of Argentina in the world and to carry out conversations regarding the international situation that Europe is going through, particularly at this moment,“ Cerruti said.

She added that there will also be meetings with businessmen aimed at ”obtaining investments for Argentina and to continue on this path of growth.“

The last meeting between Sánchez and Fernández was in early June 2021, in Buenos Aires, while the bilateral meeting with Scholz will take place on the day on which the National Institute of Statistics and Census figures will be released.

Government officials are well aware that the numbers regarding inflation will be nowhere near good, although some members of the President's entourage have been reported to be confident enough that they will be ”a little better“ than those of March.

Estimates by private consulting firms reveal that despite a slight deceleration, inflation in April will remain at around 6%.

Minister Martín Guzmán said last week that ”April's inflation will be much lower than that of March“ and that ”the worst is over.”