02/22/2020 - 17:13
- Clarín.com
- Politics
The president of the Argentine Episcopal Conference (CEA), Monsignor Oscar Ojea , joined the line of speech that Pope Francis has been holding in meetings with international leaders on the payment of debts to the International Monetary Fund. Ojea said that, although "we must honor the debts and fulfill the commitments" assumed by Argentina, the payment "cannot be carried out at the expense of the hunger of the people ."
The declarations of the head of the Catholic Church are known in the middle of the process of renegotiation of the public debt carried out by the government of Alberto Fernández, at the end of this week a technical mission of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
They were during an interview with the agency Télam, and Ojea continued in tune with Francisco. "We have released a document through the Social Pastoral where we cite the position of St. John Paul II on external debt, it is the same text that Pope Francis has cited in the intervention of the meeting in the Vatican," he said about the meeting in which Kristalina Georgieva and Economy Minister Martín Guzmán participated, to whom the Supreme Pontiff said that "debts cannot be paid with unbearable sacrifices."
The payment "cannot be carried out at the expense of hunger and very painful situations for most of our people. We think we have to pay as far as we can, not conditioning essential things that have to do with the social balance of the country," said Ojea.
That pronouncement of the body of the Episcopate was known days after President Alberto Fernández asked businessmen, trade unionists and social movements for their support to face negotiations with the IMF.
The Argentine Pope is promoting a new event that will take place from March 26 to 28 in the emblematic city of Assisi. Under the title " The Economy of Francisco ", students, entrepreneurs and young economists - strictly under 35 years - from around the world they will debate "a common pact to change the current economy , and find innovative forms of economic and social relations", and Argentina will have an important representation, with a delegation of almost a hundred participants.
Ojea said: "The Pope wants young economists to work to find ethical foundations in the international financial system and discuss what is the place of nations and multinationals on these issues. Also think about how you can go out to a more human economy that has as its center the interest of man and not the multiplication of profit and how a world can be rethought through dialogue and the indispensable consensus for the climatic risks that the planet lives. "
On Friday, March 27, the meeting of Assisi will have its replica in the Marist village of Luján , organized by the Homes of Christ - neighborhood centers that seek to give a comprehensive response to situations of vulnerability and problematic consumption - and social movements, who will develop a document with conclusions that will be delivered to Pope Francis.
At the end of the meeting, in which, among others, Ojea and Esteban 'Gringo' Castro, general secretary of the workers' union of the popular economy, will present a Mass in the basilica of Luján.