Silvia Naishtat
07/11/2020 - 19:01
- Clarín.com
- Politics
Did you know the President?
-No, we have never met.
- And what do you think of the speech you gave at the close of the ACDE Meeting, when you said that there is no way out of capitalism but that this capitalism must be changed?
- Probably a new economy is being born worldwide, so it is to be hoped that here in Argentina we will also have to rethink everything again. The President also referred to capitalism in the style of Enrique Shaw (founder of ACDE), based on production. Obviously we very much agree there, because that is what ACDE has been proclaiming for many years. But we have to understand that this capitalism was based on respect for private property, on personal freedom to undertake any type of lawful activity and on free market competition. As long as those conditions are met, we will agree to sit down and review the rest. In this economic design of Argentina, we all have to be united and be part of the group that designs it.
-In your speech at the Meeting, you called to “forgive us”. What was she referring to?
-In Argentina we have almost a century of disagreements, we have long been in a rift that divides society, Peronists and radicals, businessmen and popular classes, light blue and green. We have an attitude that hurts us and that does not allow us to find consensus. We have a huge distrust of each other. Many leaders have passed through that real crack and I take the last two, Alberto Fernández and Mauricio Macri, as an example. Both said we want to unite the Argentines, we all left here together; but nevertheless the crack is still there, and I believe that until we go through a mechanism, through an exercise in forgiveness on both sides we are not going to achieve it, we are not going to be able to develop the confidence we need to then sit down at the table to design that new system in which we all want to live.
-And what would forgiveness mean in concrete terms?
- Forgiveness begins by putting yourself in someone else's shoes. At ACDE we promote Christian values, and the Christian value par excellence is forgiveness, what Jesus brought and modernized a world in which until then was governed by the law of Talion, from eye to eye, tooth to tooth. Jesus tells us it is not about revenge but about turning the other cheek, and turning the other cheek is something that costs us a lot because we feel we are masters of the truth. At some point we have to say well, we have come this far and the truth may be somewhere, in the middle. We have to understand that we are in a crisis so complicated and terminal for our country that we must leave the old grudges behind, turn the page, forgive many things on both sides and sit at a table.
-In order to get out of the crisis, investments will be needed. You are an entrepreneur, are you going to invest?
-The most basic thing for an entrepreneur is to get investors. Many times, entrepreneurs are not the owners of the silver we invest and we have to go out to international markets, to the stock markets to convince investors to invest in the country. That is one of the needs we have to continue operating our plants and factories. And for that a stable, safe country is required where investors will be able to have a return on their capital. Beyond that we are good or bad, if these conditions are not there, we cannot invest in Argentina because we cannot get the money. The sources of financing for companies come from the world's great capitals.
-In that sense, how will you see the new debt renegotiation offer?
- A fairly good process is taking place, obviously it has the normal tension of any negotiation where the parties, on the one hand, are encouraged to close, but on the other hand they want to close the best possible deal. The process is good, it is showing that both parties have a vocation to reach an agreement and that encourages me to think that an agreement will be reached. The truth is that it is a more thoughtful and consensual process than the previous default, where in the midst of a crisis where several presidents resigned, a president decreed the default in Congress and we realized later what we had gotten ourselves into. Today there is a much clearer awareness of the whole process, of what the problem of going into default would be and I think the government is doing a good job.
-How is your relationship with the unions? Did you know Héctor Daer, with whom you spoke at the ACDE Meeting?
-I knew Daer at the recommendation of Bishop Oscar Ojea. I called him, we had some meetings and a virtual relationship emerged in which there is a lot of spirit of dialogue and projects can be faced. The needs of workers are closely aligned with those of employers, trying to preserve work and encourage investment. Today there is much more that unites us than what separates us and that is a great basis to set a common agenda.
-What would that common agenda consist of?
-For a long time, unions have been realizing, as we entrepreneurs have been realizing, that the world is facing such rapid growth in technology that it leads to rethinking the role of work in the economy. The unions have shown maturity and a collaborative spirit to see how we all do our best. There is a new unionism that is much more in tune with the solutions that the world economies need.
- You propitiate then a table between companies, unions and government?
-I think that the forgiveness that we Argentines owe us is a more cultural forgiveness than a dialogue table. I can have a good dialogue with a union or a politician and reach consensus, but later if society is not willing to validate those consensus I do not know if it will be of much use. There are international examples of countries that have gone through calamities and disasters that put people's spirits to the test, and when societies face this type of drama it is when they hit rock bottom and recognize that the only way to get ahead is by coming together, forgiving things from the past and saying let's go forward. When faced with a great tragedy, the fights of the past are less important and we can find a way to forgive each other. I always rescue the figure of Nelson Mandela, who was able not only to forgive all the years he spent in prison and in one South Africa had Apartheid, served as an example so that all the hatred that existed between people was diluted.
-How is your relationship with Pope Francis?
-I met him when he was Cardinal Bergoglio. I saw him a couple of times with my wife in his office in Buenos Aires at the archbishopric. With my wife we are servants of the Virgin of Salta, and we went to see him to tell him our testimony and he received us. Later I visited him because it had occurred to me to make retreats for politicians, for businessmen and unionists. I went to tell him about the project, he gave me his blessing although he was not very involved, he encouraged me to do it. In this way, I founded the Christian Leaders Movement, which is a movement that continues to make retreats for politicians, businessmen, unionists and teachers. I was with the Pope at Santa Marta in Rome. On that occasion we had a nice talk. Francisco is doing a super difficult job because we all know that the Vatican is a very complicated environment, with a lot of pressure but I think he is doing a great job within the Church and I wish him the best of luck. I respect him very much.
-Where do you think Argentina can get out of this crisis?
-The food sector –and the President also said it- is a sector in which Argentina has many competitive advantages, even so, it needs the government to take its foot off it.
-Why?
-The food sector is exporting with an exchange rate that is not the real one and also has withholdings, how can it continue to open markets, be more competitive if it has these two limitations? I agree that Argentina has to add value to its exports and nobody could disagree with that, I think the President is right to say that the great dilemma is to see how we manage to establish factories here and instead of exporting soybeans, we export pigs, instead of lemons, lemon juice, oil, pectins and their derivatives that have a greater component of Argentine work. It is very nice to say it but then you have to execute it, and the way to execute it is to give clear signals to the people who have to invest. Today, government aid to companies is very widespread and the government has signaled, paying salaries and that is good simply because of the fact that it is very important to keep these workers in the private sector. One of the problems and failures of Argentina in the last 50 years is that in each crisis, people who leave the private sector are absorbed by the public sector, either through public employment that is not needed or through social plans, because the State feels the need to absorb those people who are excluded by the private sector. If in this crisis we can do something different, which is to try to get these people to stay in the private sector, that the help the government gives to companies with strict rules so that they will not pay dividends to the shareholder but to maintain people, it may be the first time that we change from a vicious circle to a virtuous circle.
-At the ACDE Meeting, the silence of the businessmen was asked ...
-And yes, as much as it costs me to admit it, I agree that there was silence. The businessmen have been silent, a little because of the preservation instinct, a little because of a straw line… we have had cases where those who came out to speak were questioned, and the businessman is someone who does not want to have problems, to have a container stopped, which retaliate ... then there was a long time in Argentina when we could have spoken and we did not have the courage.
Son of a polo player and grandson of María Luisa Bemberg
His great-great-grandfather was Otto Bemberg, creator of the beer industry in Argentina. Her grandmother, the filmmaker María Luisa Bemberg and her father, the polo player Gonzalo Tanoira. He barely received a degree in Administration and after a master's degree in Wharton School in the United States, and following the tradition in a family, now with 200 members in 20 countries, Gonzalo Tanoria Jr., 50, began his career in banks and in the consultant Booz Allen before his uncle, Carlos Miguens, summoned him for Quilmes. It was 2004, just when the sale to the Brahma group was finalized. Currently, Tanoira is the director of three family companies, the San Miguel citrus, the Peñaflor group that leads in beverages and runs the Quilvest bank that the Miguens-Bemberg group owns in the US and Europe.
He says that as an older and "privileged" grandson he was able to closely follow the career of his grandmother, the great filmmaker. “He was such an active person, so dedicated to his profession, so focused on his films, he was an intellectual, not only when he was filming the films, but when he was looking for scripts. Of course, she told me I am the worst grandmother in the world ”Married to Pilar and father of seven children, the oldest is a 27-year-old woman, just like the youngest 9-year-old. And in the middle, five males. From his father, Gonzalo Tanoira, a polo player with a 10-handicap, he inherited a passion for horses. Tanoria father revolutionized the methods of raising equines.
He also inherited polo, although he confesses that he tried and reached an "honorable 4 handicap, which made me realize that it was better to go back to school." But the polo brand is in her blood and on weekends they share it with the extended family.
With a deep religious vocation, Tanoira says that he did not go to mass between the ages of 17 and 30. "He was quarreled with God, quarreled with Jesus, quarreled with the Church. My wife the same. But at the age of 30 we had our third child, he was born with a syndrome very difficult to diagnose and ... we received a very big sign, from a miracle that operated on him, and today he is perfectly fine, he plays polo, he was received, he works, he has a full life ”, he describes.
And he adds: “The miracle was so evident that there was no way to be distracted. My wife became a devotee of the Virgin of Salta, who gives us enormous peace. And that dynamic of conversion, she on the side of the Virgin and I on the side of Jesus, led me to start organizing spiritual retreats on weekends, an experience in which politicians, businessmen, unionists and teachers participate. ”
Itinerary
He is 50 years old and has a degree in Administration and a master's degree from the Wharton School in the USA. Married and the father of seven children, he was elected this year as president of the Christian Association of Business Leaders. He works in several companies of the Miguens-Bemberg group. In San Miguel citrus, the productive matrix diversified and expanded to South Africa, Peru and Uruguay. "That allows us to get to the west coast of the United States with grapes and avocado through Peru and go quickly to Asia to open more markets to the lemons of Tucuman."
Right now
A Sapiens book , by Yuval Noah Harari. It is a book that summarizes the entire history of humanity
A leader Enrique Shaw, the founder of ACDE. And also Nelson Mandela
A film "The Son of the Bride", by Juan José Campanella. I like Argentine cinema, I think there are great directors, and that film reminded me of the dynamics of a family-owned SME, although in that case it is a restaurant.
An Outlander series . It is a series that takes us to Scotland in the late 1700s.
A dream To see Argentina as a developed country. When I'm in developed countries, I wonder why not, why not us.
A pleasure Playing polo on the weekends with my children and nephews. Also, horse breeding.
A society that admires Australia focused on entrepreneurship and private business. It provides all the facilities and is clear about the role of the government, that of articulating and managing without replacing the private one.