The president who administered the crisis of the corralito warns of a coup in Argentina

Former President Eduardo Duhalde participates in a business event on July 22, 2020.Telam

Former Argentine president Eduardo Duhalde, helmsman of the recovery that in 2002 followed the worst economic and social crisis in Argentine history, has dusted off the ghosts of the coup. On Monday night, during a television interview, he questioned the holding of next year's legislative elections and warned that the drift of the crisis that accompanies the pandemic could end in a military coup. “There will be no elections, because Argentina is the champion of military dictatorships: 14 in 50 years. Argentina runs the risk of a coup, ”he said, to the astonishment of the journalists who listened to him on the América channel . His statements managed to unite the ruling party and the opposition in the repudiation.

Duhalde assumed power on January 2, 2002, when Argentina was collapsing. The impossibility of complying with the constitutional succession put him in the Casa Rosada with the support of Peronism and the opposition of the UCR, then led by former president Raúl Alfonsín (1983-1989). His presidency ended abruptly in 2003, after two protesters who were taking part in a protest were killed by the police. The man he had chosen for the succession, Néstor Kirchner, won the election and became president. The relationship between Duhalde and Kirchner deteriorated rapidly and the former president took refuge in the rear of Peronism. Since then, he has limited his public appearances. The last one showed him in a photo with President Alberto Fernández, to whom he recommended "dedicating two or three hours a day to himself so as not to go crazy." Now he came back to turn on all the alarms.

“Argentina runs the risk of a coup d'état, because the truth is that this is such a great disaster that nothing good can happen. People are going to rebel. A worse climate can be generated for everyone to go to, ”he said, referring to the slogan of the popular revolts that ended with the government of Fernando de la Rúa in December 2001. He even spoke of the possibility of a civil war and warned that the regional climate does not help democracies that are under pressure. Militarism, he said, "is getting back on its feet in Latin America." And he named Brazil, which he considered governed by a civic-military coalition, also Venezuela and Bolivia.

On Tuesday, in another interview, he insisted on the diagnosis. “Due to social deterioration comes an anarchy with the smell of blood. If we don't get together, we are lost. There is social deterioration, not everyone eats every day, people are desperate; They are going to kill themselves not for a bicycle, but for a cake, ”he said.

“I regret the expressions of the former President. They constitute out of date comments.
I reaffirm the commitment of the Armed Forces with the National Constitution ”, Head of @EMCOFFA_Arg GB Juan Martín Paleo.

Duhalde's statements garnered widespread repudiation. President Fernández left the government's response in the hands of Defense Minister Agustín Rossi, a purebred Kirchner who deals with the military every day. “I have a daily deal with the military reality and I would say that it is impossible for such a scenario to take place in Argentina today. The Armed Forces are fully integrated into the democratic system, perhaps like no other force on the continent, ”Rossi told Radio Rivadavia.

From the official Twitter account of the Armed Forces, the Chief of the General Staff, Juan Martín Paleo, said that Duhalde's expressions were "comments out of time." From Together for Change, the alliance of former President Mauricio Macri, described Duhalde's statements as "irresponsible, serious and reprehensible".

Argentina has lost its fear of its Armed Forces in a slow process that began in 1983, with the trial for crimes against humanity by the military Junta. Today, there is no military figure who can even aspire to have a place in public discussion, in a country where vindicating the past of the dictatorship can be the end of any political career. Duhalde warns, however, that the threat is there, riding on the deterioration of the social situation and the inability of politicians to agree on solutions. His statements managed to unite everyone in the same rejection.