Hi there,

In coming days Democracy Now! will continue to bring you post-election results and in-depth analysis on on the impact of the coming Trump administration. Because Democracy Now! does not accept corporate advertising or sponsorship revenue, we rely on viewers like you to feature voices and analysis you won’t get anywhere else. Can you donate $15 to Democracy Now! today to support our post-election coverage? Right now, a generous donor will DOUBLE your gift, which means your $15 donation is worth $30. Please help us air in-depth, substantive coverage of the outcome of the election and what it means for our collective future. Thank you so much! Every dollar makes a difference.

-Amy Goodman

Non-commercial news needs your support.

We rely on contributions from you, our viewers and listeners to do our work. If you visit us daily or weekly or even just once a month, now is a great time to make your monthly contribution.

Please do your part today.

Donate

Outraged Argentineans Take to the Streets and Occupy Banks … and An Independent Mediacenter Blossoms

Listen
Media Options
Listen

Related

A defiant Argentine government yesterday launched a last-ditch attempt to stave off complete financial collapse.Banks and currency exchanges remained closed in Argentina, and the decision to partially unfreeze bank accounts didnot silence protests. In light of continuing protests, the embattled government instituted a six-month ban on furtherlegal challenges to its economic plans. Over the weekend, the Argentinean Economy minister admitted that LatinAmerica’s second largest economy was “broke” as he announced an austerity budget and eased the unpopular depositcontrols, which the supreme court ruled unconstitutional last week.

Outraged Argentineans have taken to the streets and occupied bank branches to protest against the restrictions, whichthe previous government introduced in early December to stave off a run on deposits. Banks will now be banned fromselling dollars. The government will allow the peso to float freely against the dollar when the foreign exchangesreopen tomorrow after a two-day bank holiday to calm the markets.

But with no faith in local currencies after decades of devaluations and inflation, locals have voted with their feetand lined up at banks to buy whatever dollars they can. The measures received backing from the World Bank yesterdaybut the International Monetary Fund, which Buenos Aires is hoping will back the reforms with a fresh injection ofcash, made no comment.

Guests:

  • Alejandro Bendana, President of the Centro de Estudios Internacionales in Managua, Nicaragua, formerSecretary General in the Foreign Ministry of the former Sandinista government of Nicaragua and former Ambassador tothe United Nations. He is co-Chair of the Ethics and Justice Committee of the International Campaign to ban Landminesand the author of several books.
  • Rick Rowley, filmmaker with BigNoiseFilms at the World Social Forum who is setting up an Independent MediaCenter in Argentina.

Related links:

Related Story

StoryNov 21, 2023Argentina’s Trump? Far-Right Javier Milei Wins Presidency with Echoes of Past Dictatorship
The original content of this program is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. Please attribute legal copies of this work to democracynow.org. Some of the work(s) that this program incorporates, however, may be separately licensed. For further information or additional permissions, contact us.

Non-commercial news needs your support

We rely on contributions from our viewers and listeners to do our work.
Please do your part today.
Make a donation
Top