Cristina Fernandez takes the re-election oath on Saturday with government accounts and the energy bill in red, which contrasts with the surplus condition enjoyed by Argentina when she first took office four years ago.
Argentina’s new cabinet chief and former Media Secretary of the Executive, Juan Manuel Abal Medina, 43, besides his own proven merits carries an illustrious name in the Peronist nomenclature.
Hernán Lorenzino, 39, currently Finance Secretary and beginning next Saturday Argentina’s Minister of Economy is considered market friendly, has a vast experience in debt negotiations and accompanied President Cristina Fernandez in her recent trip to the G20 summit in France.
The UK has protested to Argentina over its interception of Falkland Islands-licensed fishing boats, mainly Spanish in disputed South Atlantic waters and in the River Plate when they approach the port of Montevideo.
The Argentine government unveiled on Tuesday the list of the new cabinet members for President Cristina Fernández second mandate which will start next Saturday when she takes the oath of office. The initial reactions were positive both in the political system and from markets.
The newly appointed Argentine Lower House president, Julián Domínguez, in a conciliatory message assured on Tuesday that “plurality is guaranteed in Congress” and called for “everyone’s political commitment to guarantee everybody’s interests.”
Argentine Vice-president Julio Cobos confirmed that he will be part of the swearing-in ceremony of re-elected president Cristina Fernández, and that he is “ready to face any uncomfortable situation that may happen.”
The advance of the mosquito transmitted leishmaniasis in South America, (Uruguay and Chile are the only countries with no registered cases) motivated a recent symposium to address the challenge in Punta del Este.
Uruguay’s Vice-president Danilo Astori blasted Argentina’s protectionist and foreign exchange policies because they damage Mercosur, which is currently living its “worst possible moment”.
Uruguay will have to learn to live with Argentina’s ‘unpredictable policies” and its growing tendency to protectionism, both from President Cristina Fernandez as from Brazil in a context where both economies growth is slowing down.