Argentina (Argentine Republic)

Argentina. Argentine Republic.

A country in the southeastern part of South America. Area - 2.8 million km². Capital - Buenos Aires (Greater Buenos Aires, 12.75 million), other major cities: Córdoba (1.25 million), Rosario (1 million), Mendoza (773 thousand), La Plata (650 thousand), Salta (420 thousand). Administrative-territorial division: 22 provinces, a federal (capital) district (Buenos Aires), one national territory (Tierra del Fuego). Population - 37 million (2005); Argentines, mainly descendants from Spain, Italy, and Central European countries. The official language is Spanish. Religion: the majority of the population (93%) professes Catholicism. Currency - peso = 100 centavos.

It has diplomatic relations with the Russian Federation (established with Russia on December 22, 1885, suspended after October 1917, resumed with the USSR in 1946).

National holidays - May 25 - anniversary of the May Revolution (1810), July 9 - Independence Day (1816).

According to the constitution, Argentina is a federal republic. The head of state and government is the president, elected for a term of 4 years with the right to be re-elected for another term. The president is also the commander-in-chief of the armed forces of the country and enjoys broad legislative powers. Legislative power belongs to the National Congress, consisting of the Chamber of Deputies (257) and the Senate (72 members). Provinces have self-governing bodies, headed by elected governors. Every two years, the Chamber of Deputies is renewed by half, and the Senate by a third. The chairman of the Senate is Daniel Scioli, and the chairman of the Chamber of Deputies is Eduardo Camaño.

The executive power is exercised by the president and the government (the head of the cabinet is Minister-Coordinator A. Fernández). In the parliamentary elections of 2001, the Justicialist Party received a majority of seats in the Chamber of Deputies.

Political parties: The Justicialist Party (Spanish: justicia - justice) - founded in 1947 under the name Peronist Party, unites representatives from various social strata. Its positions are particularly strong in the labor movement. Chairman - E. Camaño. The Civic Radical Union - founded in 1891, represents the interests mainly of the middle class and part of the bourgeoisie. Chairman of the National Committee - A. Rosas. Other political forces include the Front for a Solidary Country (Frepaso), the Movement for Renewal, the Party for an Alternative Republic, and the Communist Party of Argentina.

Trade unions: The General Confederation of Labor - established in 1930 (in 1992, Argentine trade unions managed to overcome the split that had occurred in recent years due to attitudes towards the socio-economic course of the government and re-establish the GCT), the Movement of Argentine Workers - established in 1994.

In ancient times, the territory of Argentina was inhabited by indigenous peoples. In the first half of the 16th century, it was conquered by Spanish conquistadors. After the proclamation (during the war of the Spanish colonies in America for liberation) of Argentina's independence from the Spanish crown - July 9, 1816, the political life of the country was characterized by a struggle between various oligarchic groups for power, numerous coups, and counter-coups. Foreign capital, mainly British, and later American, penetrated the country intensively. From 1946 to 1955 and in 1973-74, the president of Argentina was General X. D. Perón. His policy was characterized by social maneuvering, nationalism, and adherence to the so-called "third way," which implied large-scale nationalization and state intervention in the economy.

In 1955, Perón was overthrown. From 1955 to 1983, military governments held power for most of the time (1955-58; 1966-73; 1976-83). The years of the last military regime's rule were generally marked by a worsening of the domestic political situation, which became particularly noticeable after the Anglo-Argentine armed conflict in the South Atlantic in April - June 1982.

This conflict led to Argentina's defeat and the occupation of the Falkland Islands (Malvinas), a disputed territory between Great Britain and Argentina, by the British expeditionary force.

Another surge of disappointment and public anger occurred at the end of the 1980s during the presidency of Raúl Alfonsín, leader of the Civic Radical Union. The economic situation in the country was catastrophic. Inflation in 1989 reached 5000%. This was the only case of hyperinflation in the world not associated with disasters such as civil war or foreign invasion.

Mass protests swept across the country, and several nationwide strikes took place. Discontent became widespread.

In this context, R. Alfonsín handed over power to the leader of the Justicialist (Peronist) Party, Carlos Saúl Menem, who won the elections.

The Minister of Economy in Menem's government became neoliberal supporter Domingo Cavallo. They focused on solving three tasks: ensuring monetary-financial stability, liberalizing the economy, and privatizing most state-owned enterprises. From 1993 to 2001, inflation was reduced to single digits.

A serious test of the liberal model came in the second half of the 1990s, starting with Menem's re-election in 1995. In 1995, Mexico was shaken by a financial crisis ("tequila effect"), the consequences of which were also felt by Argentina. The need to improve the socio-economic model became apparent. Cavallo's ideas in this direction did not find support from the government. The result was his dismissal and the appointment of the president of the Central Bank, Roque Fernández, as Minister of Economy.

From 1998, Argentina entered a prolonged economic and social crisis. In the elections of October 24, 1999, radical Fernando de la Rúa outpaced the Peronist candidate Eduardo Duhalde and became the president of Argentina. However, he was unable to change the situation for the better.

In mid-December 2001, public outrage spread to the provinces, reaching Buenos Aires on December 19. Driven to despair, the people began to smash stores, McDonald's, and banks, including foreign ones. A state of emergency was declared in the country, and the use of firearms was authorized. On December 20, F. de la Rúa, having served only half of his presidential term, resigned. This circumstance led to a severe institutional crisis. In a short period, from December 20 to 31, four leaders changed at the top of the power pyramid. On January 1, 2002, the Peronist E. Duhalde, the main competitor of F. de la Rúa in the 1999 elections, took the chair of the interim head of state.

A total of 18 candidates participated in the presidential race, with the Peronist party nominating 3 candidates - E. Duhalde, F. de la Rúa, and D. Cavallo. For the first time since the founding of the Justicialist Party, it entered the elections divided into 3 factions. One of them nominated 72-year-old K. Menem, an experienced politician representing the right wing of Peronism. Menem had the support of circles that became wealthy from privatization, as well as the most impoverished segments of the population with low social and educational levels. Another candidate was 53-year-old Néstor Kirchner, a moderate political figure, three times elected governor, who enjoyed the support of the interim president.

The voting took place on April 27, 2002. For the first time in the history of the republic, a second round was required. Menem and Kirchner emerged as the leaders. However, on the eve of the decisive battle scheduled for May 18, Menem withdrew his candidacy. Kirchner automatically became the winner.

Currently, Argentina's foreign policy is focused on ensuring support for the current administration and its course, obtaining external loans, and creating favorable conditions for national exporters. At the same time, official Buenos Aires strives to maintain its positions on important issues for the country, such as regional problems, activities in the UN, and other international organizations. Conceptually, the Argentine leadership adheres to a strategy of "multilateralism," multilateralism in defining its approaches to key regional and international political issues.

Great importance is attached to the development of economic integration with Brazil and other countries in the region. In March 1991, an agreement was signed between Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay to create a South American common market - MERCOSUR (since January 1, 1995). Argentina participates in the work of the OAS (since 1948), ALADI (since 1981), and ALADI (since 1975).

Argentina has reserves of silver, iron ore, uranium, lead, tin, copper, tungsten, manganese, and others. It fully meets its domestic needs for energy resources (oil, gas, and coal). The country is an exporter of nuclear technologies (it ranks among the top in the list of "near-nuclear states") and has a solid industrial base.

An important sector of the economy is agriculture, the products of which (grains, legumes, meat, leather, wool, wine, vegetable oils) account for about 65% of Argentine exports (over 75% of all foreign currency earnings). Main trading partners are MERCOSUR member states, primarily Brazil (1/3 of the volume of foreign trade operations), the EU (23%), and the USA (14%).

Until recently, Argentina was part of the so-called "new rich countries." After the economic crisis at the end of 2001 - beginning of 2002, certain progress has been achieved in the economy. President Kirchner's administration is acting quite effectively. Argentina is emerging from the crisis more successfully than expected. The country's leadership has confirmed its departure from the neoliberal and monetarist models that led the country to crisis. A line has been proclaimed for "people's capitalism," which implies creating equal "playing conditions" for large, medium, and small enterprises. The main emphasis is placed on reviving national production, developing export-oriented sectors, and infrastructure using internal resources and elements of state regulation. Great attention is paid to the social component and the implementation of a plan to create new jobs.

According to the results of 2004, GDP growth was 8.5%. The Central Bank's foreign currency reserves increased to $18.9 billion. The government managed to bring inflation under control - 6.1%. For the first time in many years, deflation was recorded in Argentina. The average annual exchange rate of the national currency (peso) was 2.9 per dollar. Overall, banking restrictions were lifted, and domestic lending was restored.

Tax collection increased by 36%. The budget surplus was about $6 billion (50% more than in 2003).

In 2004, Argentina's foreign trade turnover amounted to $56.8 billion (an increase of 35% compared to the same period in 2003). Exports grew by 15% ($34.5 billion), imports by 70% ($22.3 billion), leading to a 35% reduction in the positive balance of the foreign trade balance. In foreign economic relations, the government, emphasizing deepening cooperation with regional partners, simultaneously pursued a path of diversification and stimulating access to new markets (China, Southeast Asia, India, Russia, South Africa).

As a result of the implementation of the state program to contain prices for consumer goods, energy resources, and infrastructure services, the level of domestic consumption increased (by 11% compared to 2003). The implementation of the social assistance program for low-income segments of the population and the creation of new jobs led to a reduction in unemployment to 13% of the economically active population.

At the same time, macroeconomic indicators demonstrate only a relative improvement in the situation. The Argentine economy still cannot reach the level of 1998 (the year of peak national production indicators). A state of emergency in the economy continues to operate. Banking restrictions on the domestic market and state control over export-import operations have not been completely lifted. By government decree, the export of profits is strictly limited, and in some cases completely prohibited. As a result, the investment climate in the country remains generally unfavorable. In 2004, Argentina's total external debt amounted to $181.2 billion. Due to the unresolved issue of partial default, the government was unable to achieve the signing of a new medium-term agreement with the IMF for the restructuring of the current debt. In 2005, Argentina's total payments on external debt will amount to $13 billion, and in 2006 - $12.5 billion. As a result of the ongoing dispute with creditors, the inflow of foreign capital into the economy decreased to $800 million. In March 2005, the Argentine leadership managed to complete the exchange of debt obligations with private creditors. As a result, the nominal state debt decreased from $181 billion to $141 billion and now constitutes 80-85% of GDP. The restructured debt must be repaid by 2046. President Kirchner officially declared that Argentina had emerged from the state of default on private debt.

Negotiations on the issue of debt repayment to private creditors took place under pressure on Argentina from the IMF, the USA, and the EU. Confirmation of this was the voting of Italy, Great Britain, and Japan in the IMF against the approval of the medium-term assistance program for Buenos Aires. Russia supports the efforts of the Argentine leadership to overcome the crisis at international forums, including the "G8".

For a long time, Argentine energy was focused on oil and gas; in the last two decades, this trend has been partially overcome due to the transition (especially in electricity) to the use of more diverse energy sources (hydroelectric and nuclear power plants). The significance of the mining industry is relatively small; the main role in it is played by oil extraction (3rd place in the region). The level of development achieved by Argentine manufacturing allows it to largely meet domestic needs for industrial products through national production. In the structure of manufacturing, significant changes have occurred in recent decades, and currently about half of the total industrial production value comes from metallurgy, machine engineering, oil refining, and chemical industries, while the share of traditional sectors - food and textile - has decreased to one-third. Metallurgy is represented by the smelting of ferrous metals - mainly from imported raw materials, as well as non-ferrous metals - lead, zinc, aluminum, tin. Transport and agricultural machinery, production of simple types of metal-cutting machines, electrical engineering, pipes, cement, etc. have developed. Argentina also has industries related to the most modern technologies (e.g., electronics, nuclear industry), which were established here earlier than in other Latin American countries. The main sector of the agro-industrial complex is meat processing; flour milling, winemaking, canning, textile, and leather-footwear industries are also well developed. In many sectors of Argentine manufacturing, especially the most advanced and dynamic, foreign capital has a significant influence.

Agricultural products account for about 70% of exports (over 75% of foreign currency earnings). Agriculture practically meets all domestic needs for food and industrial raw materials (except for those types for which the necessary climatic conditions are absent in the country) and continues to characterize Argentina's position in the international division of labor. In terms of grain production, beef (over 50 million head of cattle, 2.5 million tons of meat per year), wool, grapes, etc., the country ranks first in Latin America. It remains a major supplier to the world market of many types of food and agricultural raw materials from the temperate zone. The development of Argentine agriculture is significantly hindered by the preservation of an archaic system of agriculture and land use. The main agricultural region of the country is the Pampas.

The main export items are grain, meat, wool, wine, fruits, and processed goods; imports include machinery, equipment, fuel, chemicals, and power plant equipment. Main trading partners are countries in Western Europe, the USA, Japan, and Brazil.

The length of the railways (in use) is 34,000 km; highways - 55,000 km. The main seaport is Buenos Aires. There are 4 international airlines and 10 international airports.

In Argentina, there are over 50 universities, the largest of which is the University of Buenos Aires, with about 200,000 students. Among the largest periodicals are daily newspapers: "Clarín" (600,000 copies), "Crónica" (330,000), "Nación" (210,000), and others.

There is a government information agency, Telenoticias de América - Telam, and 2 private ones. More than 200 radio stations and over 60 television centers operate.