Peronist presidential candidate, Eduardo Duhalde, closed his campaign before the electoral blackout taking effect as of Friday at 8am, with a press conference along with vice-presidential candidate Mario Das Neves and the main candidates of his political front.
Always piquant with his comments, the former BA province governor took chances to bash the national government and warned “We are here to build a government based on consensus, as opposite to this government which governs with ignorance and pride.”
Likewise, the former caretaker president added “The agricultural industry is a clear example of the government’s ignorance as they are devastating regional economies. They are allowing the devastation of commodities and live stock to be replaced by soy.”
Furthermore, Duhalde remembered that the Peronism “was based on the figure of the industrial worker, but this has changed in the past 20 years as now the main role should be given to the small and medium farmers. They are the ones that should be granted with government subsidies.”
“This government does not focus on the market advantages of Argentina. Then we witness how Chile, even Uruguay are taking-off and caring for their market advantages while we don’t. Paraguay is another example; they are currently exporting more meat than us.”
“We should help those who really produce, but this government spends 90 billion pesos to subsidy gas and power companies. They also spend millions to keep Aerolíneas Argentinas airline alive as if it were a number one priority when it’s not.”
“Meanwhile, maize and wheat is accumulating and rotting up at silos. Farmers are collecting the second harvest while they are still trying to sell the first one.”
The willingness of forming a plural government seems to be Duhalde’s key for success. Thus he insists that in case he wins, he’ll focus on “reuniting the Peronism”, and implement serious State policies on which “we’ve been working for the past three years.”
Beside promising to reunite a broken Peronism, a tough work considering the eclectic profile the movement started to take almost half a century ago, Duhalde revealed he dreams with a cabinet “integrated with the best politicians and professionals available no matter which party they belong to.”
Asked about his gubernatorial methods, Duhalde went straight to the point and emphasized “I have large experience in control and order methods. We mustn’t be afraid of the word order, and we should make clear that it must not be linked to right-wing movements. Any government in the world, being it from left, centre or right has order as top priority in order to govern. Nothing can be done without order and respect for the others.”
Likewise, the man who masterminded and beefed up the arrival of late president Néstor Kirchner into power in 2003, charged, once more, against Kirchnerism and considered that “politics cannot be based on the victims of the last dictatorship. Plus those victims are not something of exclusive use of the government or the Plaza de Mayo mothers. They belong to all Argentines. Let them rest in peace, and let the Justice do its work to punish those who were responsible for those crimes.”
If you want to work on Human Rights, start spending the money in tackling down poverty, in recovering those kids living in the streets, in forming large armies of doctors and social assistants. Instead of that this government does worry about taking down the picture of a dictator and murderer from a Navy School. And you know why the do that? Because is much less expensive than taking care of real human problems taking place in the country.”
Asked on the government’s image, Duhalde was very conclusive, “No one can show any respect for the President is he doesn’t respect anybody”, and added, “The government made a terrible mistake when they questioned and attacked the citizenry for not having voted their candidates.”
At the end, Duhalde considered that after next Sunday’s primaries, the entire opposition “will most probably support the opposition winning force capable of overshadowing President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner”. Thus, Duhalde did not escape from the idea that October’s presidential elections will be polarized between two forces.”
Source: Buenos Aires Herald