Argentina, BRICS share similarities in economic policy: Analyst

Press TV has conducted an interview with Dennis Small, a Latin America expert in Leesburg, to discuss primary presidential elections in Argentina.

Following is a rough transcription of the interview.

Press TV: How do you interpret this outcome of these primaries?

Small: Well, the outcome of the primaries is not particularly surprising because the presidency of Cristina Kirchner preceded by her deceased husband, Nestor Kirchner, have been very popular inside Argentina but the issue is going to get very hot and very dangerous between now and October. Because what is at stake here are the economic policies which both Cristina and Nestor Kirchner have adopted which have been of confronting and battling the vulture funds and the Wall Street financial interests.

The Argentine nation under the Kirchner leadership has adopted a policy of development, industrialization, scientific and technological advance and has refused to buckle to the demands of the vulture funds and the Wall Street and the city of London.

The candidate who has won the majority of the votes, candidate [Daniel] Scioli, has promised to continue those policies but there is going to be massive international pressure brought to bear on Argentina from the vulture funds and the financial interests to get those policies reversed.

Press TV: Right. Looking at the more domestic outlook of this, as far as the average Argentinean is concerned and is worried about inflation and so on, there are concerns that policies that Kirchner has pursued up until now has not been very constructive for a competitive economy. What would you say to that?

Small: I would say that is a bunch of nonsense which has been published principally in the international financial media because they do not like the fact that the Argentine government, at a certain point, declared that the massive illegitimate speculative debt which had been piled on their country with one government after another, was simply not going to be paid at the expense of the living standards of the population. All of the actual indicators of the Argentina economy, from a physical economic standpoint have improved under the Kirchner government.

This is the same issue, which we are seeing today in Greece, except in the case of Greece, the troika –the IMF, EU and the creditor banks- have forced the Greek government to capitulate and they will now be facing increased unemployment where now you have 60 percent among the Greek youth, and it is going to simply get worse.

Argentina provides an example to many nations in the world as do BRICS nations in general, that it is not necessary and is a very destructive policy to follow the demands of the Wall Street and the vulture funds.

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