In this interview, international relations scholar Richard Falk reflects on Powell’s life and the US reaction to his passing: including the relevance of identity politics, the question of moderation, his contribution to the horrors of Vietnam and Iraq, and US governmental hypocrisy in the wake of its January 2020 assassination of the comparable Iranian general, Qasem Soleimani.ĭaniel Falcone : As the US media mourns the death of Colin Powell and regrets the passing of a “memorable and principled statesman,” can you comment on how the actual history competes with this memory and knowledge construction of this notable figure? Over the course of his high-ranking military and government career he formulated the Powell Doctrine and later became known for justifying the illegal Iraq War in 2003. Born in New York City in 1937, he attended City College where he studied geology.
In any case, it’s the vice-president’s voice that everyone wants to hear after the midterm, including if she still supports Guzmán as Argentina’s top negotiator in the IMF talks.Photograph Source: Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff – CC BY 2.0Ĭolin Powell died on Monday at the age of 84. Not paying the IMF would cut off Argentina from almost all forms of international financing, while it would be a black eye for the institution’s reputation. Even if Argentina needs a new IMF deal to put the economy back on track after the record bailout given to Macri’s government in 2018 failed to stabilise it, Fernández is unwilling to commit to the multi-year fiscal effort that such deals usually entail.įears are thus growing – in the government, Washington and Wall Street – that no deal will be reached between the parts before large payments are due in March after more than one year of low-intensity talks. In campaign mode, Fernández and his Economy Minister Martín Guzmán have lately hardened their rhetoric on the IMF, with the president declaring Argentina “won’t kneel” to the Washington-based institution. Fernández was already under fire for a birthday party scandal despite ordering a strict lockdown during the pandemic, causing Argentines’ confidence in the government to plunge to the lowest since 2014. Yet a major shift in strategy hasn’t emerged in the past two months, with faster price gains and social unrest hindering the coalition’s standing.
Tapping governor Juan Manzur as Cabinet chief brought expectations that Peronist regional bosses – key power brokers in Argentine politics – would rally behind the government and provide political stability. In the days after the September vote, Fernández de Kirchner penned an explosive essay criticising Fernández, prompting the president to reluctantly fire loyalists from the Cabinet and boost his anti-IMF rhetoric in a concession to the coalition’s hard-left groups. Additional legislative seats also means they are likely to boost demands for a change toward more business-friendly policies. The ruling Peronist coalition, heir of the political movement President Juan Perón founded in the 1940s, lost the majority of races in a September primary vote, exposing a deep political divide between President Alberto Fernández and the powerful Vice-President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, who herself governed the nation from 2007 to 2015 with anti-business policies.įor the opposition parties, the vote represents an opportunity to signal a more unified, pro-market coalition could return to government in 2023 after then-president Mauricio Macri lost a re-election bid two years ago. “Incomes are worsening, poverty is rising – it’s a social time bomb.” “Doors are closing in, the problems keep getting bigger, the costs to resolve those problems keep getting bigger and as always nobody wants to pay those costs,” Marina Dal Poggetto, director of Buenos Aires-based consulting firm EcoGo, said. Argentina faces a complex negotiation with the International Monetary Fund over more than US$40 billion in loans, with the crisis-prone economy drifting through 50 percent inflation, 40 percent poverty and no access to international debt markets. Voters will pick half of the lower house seats and a third of the senate, in an election that will act as a crucial test for the government’s fragile unity.
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