NYT: Argentine Leader's Quirks Attract Criticism

By LARRY ROHTER

Published: December 27, 2004

BUENOS AIRES, Dec. 23 - He has never convened a full meeting of his cabinet and regularly humiliates his aides in public. He cancels trips abroad at the last minute, shuns regional conferences with fellow heads of state, and cannot be counted on to even appear at meetings with foreign dignitaries who have come to see him.

When Néstor Kirchner became president of Argentina in May 2003, his informal approach to governing and his disdain for protocol and authority were seen as refreshing. But criticisms of the K style, as it is called here, have been growing in recent months in Argentina and in neighboring countries, as the behavior once deemed simply rebellious seems to be reflecting a provincialism and an eccentricity inappropriate for a head of state.

snip

But foreign diplomats and independent Argentine political analysts say he has lost much of that momentum in recent months. The initial crusader's zeal, they maintain, has given way to a more traditional Peronist leadership style, concerned primarily with wielding authority and making deals and given to authoritarian displays, both of power and of pique.

snip

Instead, Mr. Kirchner appears to rely on a core of four or five certifiably loyal advisers whom he brought with him to the capital from Santa Cruz, the oil-rich but underpopulated province in Patagonia that he governed for a dozen years. Mr. Kirchner's sister Alicia, the minister of social welfare, is part of that group, as is his wife, Cristina Fernández, an influential senator with a power base of her own and a reputation for being a tough political enforcer.

snip

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/27/international/americas/27argent.html?pagewanted=1&oref=login

Funny timing on this article, coming right on the tail of "Argentina's Economic Rally Defies Forecasts" though the author (same for both articles) took pains to say: "Traditional free-market economists remain skeptical of the government's approach. While acknowledging there has been a recovery, they attribute it mainly to external factors rather than the policies of President Néstor Kirchner, who has been in office since May 2003. Increasingly, they also maintain that the comeback is beginning to lose steam."

I'd be interested to know about the various policy centers, think tanks, and analysts quoted in both of these articles. Couldn't find much on Google.

The portrayal of Kirchner in this article sounds every bit like *!

...like this, you know that leader is actually trying to make life better for people who work for a living.

To be a leftist arguing that the NYT is status quo, neo-liberal, pro-American economic agenda is just absurb in our current political climate. I have a hard enough time convincing my leftist graduate student colleagues that the NYT is in no way the voice of the people, that they have never met an imperialist war they didn't endorse - all documented Chomsky, et al..... And then you consider trying to convince some Rush Limbaugh aficionado of the same..... You'd just get laughed at.....

A lot of folks on both the right and the left can't get past the paper's traditionally progressive stance on a small set of narrowly defined social issues - freedom of choice, affirmative action, gay rights and suchlike. On foreign policy and the economy, the paper is very much part of the conservative mainstream, and has always been so.

One really has to see the Times as a reflection of its ownership and readership base - the agnostic, cosmopolitan NY bourgeoisie. It is perfectly satisfied with the conservative status quo as long as the social atmosphere in the country isn't too restrictive.

Sound familiar?

The money boys are very unhappy with Kirchner, and are getting
ready to attempt the re-installation of a reliable stooge in his
place:

Menem is back and promises strong opposition to Kirchner.

http://www.falkland-malvinas.com/Detalle.asp?NUM=4871

I doubt they will have much luck at the political level, but if I
were Kirchner, I would spend some time thinking about my security
arrangements.

...to get the NYT on his ass like that. Must be these "controversial" economic reforms he's conducting aimed at actually helping his country, rather than Western speculators.

Soon in the series by the same hack - Hugo Chavez, Portrait of a Tyrant.

Ignoring orthodoxy, Argentina rebounds

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=116x8669

If this was some fascist asshole stooge of ours, they would be singing
his praises to the rafters. Essentially the same sort of bilge can
be read about the other "leftists" in Latin America that are succeeding
if turning their economies around by telling the Globaloney types to
screw off.

In other words, global capitalists are not being allowed to raid Argentina.

Ever since the group of twenty developing nations stopped the rich nations from raiding their agricultural assets through the WTO, the NYT has been highly critical of each nation in the group.

Menem back in Bs. Aires today
http://www.falkland-malvinas.com/Detalle.asp?NUM=4886

"Former president Carlos Menem is scheduled to appear in court today and promise a judge investigating him on charges of tax evasion that he will never again shun court summons.

..."

Interesting choice of coverage and non-coverage by the Times.