This is a little unfair to post on an English language blog about LatAm, it's also impossible to translate correctly (the words do translate, the meaning doesn't). But I cannot resist. Thank you JS.
Showing posts with label nestor kirchner. Show all posts
Showing posts with label nestor kirchner. Show all posts
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Thursday, October 28, 2010
10,000 photos to choose from
IKN chooses this one.
The scenes at the Casa Rosada and the Plaza de Mayo today are deeply moving. The fallout from the death of Kirchner is set aside for another day.
UPDATE: Y las palabras de Calamaro (if you don't know what "calamaro" refers to, don't bother to click through. If you do, they're unmissable)
UPDATE: Y las palabras de Calamaro (if you don't know what "calamaro" refers to, don't bother to click through. If you do, they're unmissable)
Kirchner fallout
Highly recommended is Joshua Frens-String's roundup of reactions to the death of Nestor Kirchner yesterday, found on this link. JFS has done a good job of digesting news and opinion on the event from all sides of the political and economic spectrum (and includes the transcript of the famed Kirchner/Krugman debate back in 2004, which is to be especially applauded).
Click here for the JFS note. A whole world of reaction in just a few lines.
To add my own little dos centavitos, right now I'd make Cristina a red hot favourite for re-election next year, assuming she wants the job (I respectfully suggest that she is allowed to mourn first, as even politicos are human beings). Reason? Nobody does death like the Argentines.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Breaking: Nestor Kirchner is dead
Here's Argentina's La Nacion with the news. Cause of death is apparently a heart attack, which comes as little surprise as he was known for many years to have heart problems and had gone through several operations. My sincerest condolences go out to his family at this time.
Nestor Kirchner, born Feb 25th 1950, died October 27th 2010. QEPD.
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UPDATE: No more posts today, as there are moments that demand quiet reflection, not constant noise. IKN returns tomorrow and leaves you with this.
UPDATE 2: Larry of Los 3 Chiflados writes an elegant eulogy.
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Friday, May 28, 2010
The perfect video for memorial weekend
My thanks to reader 'AT' for the headsup.
Here's the link to the article in Harper's, here's an extract of the text....
Here's the link to the article in Harper's, here's an extract of the text....
".....with former Argentine president Néstor Kirchner, Oliver Stone learned that Bush claimed that waging war was a formula for economic growth. Here’s the key exchange:
......and here's the video:kirchner: I said that a solution for the problems right now, I told Bush, is a Marshall Plan. And he got angry. He said the Marshall Plan is a crazy idea of the Democrats. He said the best way to revitalize the economy is war. And that the United States has grown stronger with war.
stone: War, he said that?
kirchner: He said that. Those were his exact words.
stone: Is he suggesting that South America go to war?
kirchner: Well, he was talking about the United States: “The Democrats had been wrong. All of the economic growth of the United States has been encouraged by wars.” He said it very clearly."
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Nestor Kirchner
Ex-prez and husband of Cristina, Nestor Kirchner underwent emergency heart surgery today. The operation was deemed a success by doctors but still he is in instensive care, a stable condition and out of immediate danger according to latest reports. A priest offered to give him the last rites at one point but immediate family (presumably the president herself, who is present at the hospital) refused the offer.
Political differences are one thing, life is another. Wishing you a speedy recovery, Nestor.
Update: It sounds like he's out of danger now. Good, we can get back to calling him names.
Political differences are one thing, life is another. Wishing you a speedy recovery, Nestor.
Update: It sounds like he's out of danger now. Good, we can get back to calling him names.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
You can tell there's an election coming up in Argentina...
The comedy never stops...because Neshtor isn't just talking his usual crap. He's talking triple crap with a BS side, whipped cream and a cherry on top.
Example yesterday, as he told a crowd of descamisados that "Not only have we (Argentina) not fallen into recession but we have managed to reactivate the economy in dramatic fashion," which made me chortle as his words hit the wires almost the same time as two reports from independent buffets (forget the INDEC massage, the indies are as close as we're gonna get to reality) that said almost exactly the same thing; Argentina's economy had contracted for the last two quarters and is now in recession.
There was at the time plenty of debate about the precise reasons for the bringing the date of the congressional elections forward. Was is some kind of finessed move? Had the Kirchners something special up their sleeve? Well, no. The whole idea is to lie through teeth until polling day, tell people that everything is rosy and then go through the painful hard landing post-vote. Or in other words, it's still the Argentina we've known and loved for all these decades.
Example yesterday, as he told a crowd of descamisados that "Not only have we (Argentina) not fallen into recession but we have managed to reactivate the economy in dramatic fashion," which made me chortle as his words hit the wires almost the same time as two reports from independent buffets (forget the INDEC massage, the indies are as close as we're gonna get to reality) that said almost exactly the same thing; Argentina's economy had contracted for the last two quarters and is now in recession.
There was at the time plenty of debate about the precise reasons for the bringing the date of the congressional elections forward. Was is some kind of finessed move? Had the Kirchners something special up their sleeve? Well, no. The whole idea is to lie through teeth until polling day, tell people that everything is rosy and then go through the painful hard landing post-vote. Or in other words, it's still the Argentina we've known and loved for all these decades.
Monday, March 23, 2009
From a Porteño viewpoint: Early elections
Centre of political attention in Argentina has been the move by the Kirchner's (Nestor and Klishtina) to bring forward the congressional elections from October 2009 to June. Today, our resident expert on all things Argentina, El Porteño, is back with his call on the recent development and what it all means.
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Early Elections, or "Who's the Sneakiest?"
Nestor cheated, for sure. Not only can't he run as he plans as a candidate for deputy (ottonote, the lower congressional house in Argentina) in the Province of Buenos Aires (he's more Patagonian than a penguin) but also he brought forward the whole elections by three months. It was a brilliant play, catching the opposition unprepared for the election campaign. He also anticipated the current financial crisis that will wear on the now five years and counting of Kirchner dynasty, as everyone knows that in October the Kirchners would poll 5% or 10% than in June. It was a great political move, but all the same it's cheating.
You can't do things like this, but the problem is that they all do the same. Mauricio Macri did it last week by separating the porteño (Buenos Aires City) election from the national election timetable. Macri goes on and on about how expensive it is to hold an election, as each one costs the capital city aorund 20 million pesos (U$6m). Mauricio bases a whole disourse on saving money, but when it suits him politically he has no problem in separating elections and spending an extra 20m. They're all as dirty as one another. Mauricio, once upon a time was candidate for deputy in Misiones (ottonote, far northeastern corner of Argentina) when everyone knew he'd hardly ever stepped foot outside of his upper class Recoleta neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. Daniel Scioli is more porteño than Gardel (bad example, he was Uruguayan!) but he's now the governor of Buenos Aires province. They all cheat. Menem did the same in his day. Duhalde, Alfonsin, Cavallo, none of them are clean.
These days Argentine politicos are evermore sophisticated, they resemble chess players. They spend their whole time hatching plots to eke out advantages and gain extra power. Cristina called a surprise press conference to announce new measures that only two or three people knew about previously. The surprise effect takes the advantage away from the opposition, for example the farmers. Then the government really takes care in how the media portrays every newsworthy event. I'm certain that Nestor spends hours every day reading the newspapers, listening to the radio and watching the political programs on TV, and that Macri, Duhalde and Carrió do exactly the same. Then later they meet with their teams and allies to form their electoral strategy. These days it's more important to have the best image advisor than it is to have the best Finance Minister.
But what about the country? Who is considering long-term strategies and state politics for Argentina? Shouldn't politics be about these things? Shouldn't it be something passionate? It's clear that none of today's political class gives a damn about the country, but sometimes it's worrying that everything is so improvised, Machiavellian and empty of real content. Nowadays there's no debate on issues and projects, as the only thing that matters is who's the sneakiest among them. Up to now, Nestor has shown himself to be the best chess player.
You can't do things like this, but the problem is that they all do the same. Mauricio Macri did it last week by separating the porteño (Buenos Aires City) election from the national election timetable. Macri goes on and on about how expensive it is to hold an election, as each one costs the capital city aorund 20 million pesos (U$6m). Mauricio bases a whole disourse on saving money, but when it suits him politically he has no problem in separating elections and spending an extra 20m. They're all as dirty as one another. Mauricio, once upon a time was candidate for deputy in Misiones (ottonote, far northeastern corner of Argentina) when everyone knew he'd hardly ever stepped foot outside of his upper class Recoleta neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. Daniel Scioli is more porteño than Gardel (bad example, he was Uruguayan!) but he's now the governor of Buenos Aires province. They all cheat. Menem did the same in his day. Duhalde, Alfonsin, Cavallo, none of them are clean.
These days Argentine politicos are evermore sophisticated, they resemble chess players. They spend their whole time hatching plots to eke out advantages and gain extra power. Cristina called a surprise press conference to announce new measures that only two or three people knew about previously. The surprise effect takes the advantage away from the opposition, for example the farmers. Then the government really takes care in how the media portrays every newsworthy event. I'm certain that Nestor spends hours every day reading the newspapers, listening to the radio and watching the political programs on TV, and that Macri, Duhalde and Carrió do exactly the same. Then later they meet with their teams and allies to form their electoral strategy. These days it's more important to have the best image advisor than it is to have the best Finance Minister.
But what about the country? Who is considering long-term strategies and state politics for Argentina? Shouldn't politics be about these things? Shouldn't it be something passionate? It's clear that none of today's political class gives a damn about the country, but sometimes it's worrying that everything is so improvised, Machiavellian and empty of real content. Nowadays there's no debate on issues and projects, as the only thing that matters is who's the sneakiest among them. Up to now, Nestor has shown himself to be the best chess player.
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Nestor Kirchner is unwell
Rumours and rumbles about Nestor Kirchner's health have been doing the rounds for as long as this observer can remember. Since at least 2004 (and maybe before) talk of bowel and/or colon cancer in particular has done the rounds from time to time. There is a whole network of supposedly well-founded gossip (that never seems to get anyone on record, though) which has the 58 year old Neshtor visiting a specialist clinic in Rosario, Argentina, has him on special vegetable-only diets and even has him collapsing in the Olivos Presidential residence. Plenty of variations of these themes have been heard by your tuned-in Otto, too.
It's one of those urban legend rumour things that is part of the fabric down here. It's never occurred to this humble scribe to mention the issue because it's a bit of a cheap shot, really. It's too normal for bitchy K detractors to go after Neshtor this way and there's not much the guy can do to defend himself on the issue. But when I saw this photo today of Neshtor going to pay his respects to local BsAs Peronist stalwart politico Manuel Quindimil who passed on Friday....
Nestor Kirchner, December 2008
..... here he is in 2006.....
....and this final one below is from 2007.
I've tried to be fair with these examples, rejecting photos that are either too modeled or too informal, just attempting to get an honest shot of the guy in the years in question. The bottom line is that he suddenly looks 15 years older. Correct me if I'm wrong cos I'd like to be, but my next door neighbour is 79 (just asked him this morning) and looks in far better shape.Is the health of Nestor Kirchner truly newsworthy and worth mentioning here? Well, yes it is. It's not just gossip and snark, not while he's the President of the PJ (Peronist) party, he tries (and fails) to get the top job at the newly formed regional Unasur body and he continues to be the undisputed driving force behind Argentine governmental politics. It's also notable how his eldest son Maximo is suddenly making noises inside the party and trying to secure a powerbase in his local structure; the thought of him doing that without Nestor's help is just too silly to imagine. Thoughts of setting up his lasting dynasty before it's too late, perhaps.
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