Demonstrators burn tires in front of Congress in a protest against the agreement with the IMF, this Thursday in Buenos Aires.AGUSTIN MARCARIAN (REUTERS)
The parliamentary approval of the agreement reached between the Argentine Government and the International Monetary Fund to restructure the debt of 45,000 million dollars contracted in 2018 is resisted by some sectors inside and outside Congress.
Hours before the session began in the Chamber of Deputies this Thursday, a crowd called by leftist parties had gathered in front of Congress to express their rejection of what they consider a "brutal adjustment" that will worsen the living conditions of the Argentine population.
Several columns of protesters had planned to remain in the square until dawn, when the result of the vote was known, but some moved away after the police confronted small groups of hooded men who set fire to tires, threw stones at the building parliamentarian and threw Molotov cocktails at the riot police.
There is a wounded police officer and a detainee.
The violent disturbances, unleashed when the session was just beginning, have raised fears that a pitched battle like the one organized in protest against the reform of the pension system in 2017 could be repeated. But around five in the afternoon the street returned to regain calm while the tension moved inside the enclosure.
Deputy Máximo Kirchner, president of the ruling block Frente de Todos until he decided to resign in rejection of the agreement, was absent at the start of the debate, as were seven other legislators close to the son of Vice President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner.
Máximo Kirchner's gesture once again shows the internal tensions in the ruling coalition.
Kirchnerism, like the leftist parties, opposes the agreement signed in Washington that obliges the Government of Alberto Fernández to submit to quarterly reviews of public accounts.
The disbursement of funds agreed with the IMF is conditional on the country meeting the agreed public deficit goals (2.5% of GDP in 2022, 1.9% in 2023 and 0.9% in 2024), limiting the monetary issue and reduce energy subsidies, among other demands.
After almost two years of negotiations, the Argentine government reached an agreement with the IMF because it did not have the capacity to meet the commitments made by then President Mauricio Macri when he received the loan.
The Argentine State had to return 19,000 million dollars this year and an almost identical figure next year and its reserves are insufficient.
But for the agreement reached after a year and a half of negotiations to enter into force, the approval of the two parliamentary chambers is needed and then the endorsement of the Fund's board.
The Argentine president has argued that the pact will not be an obstacle to economic recovery after three years of crisis.
“No one is going to bend our desire to continue growing.
I can do it because I argued for two years with that same International Monetary Fund that I despise as much as everyone else, ”he said two days ago.
The ruling party does not have enough votes to carry it out alone in the Chamber of Deputies and with the expected abstention —or vote against— of some of the Kirchnerist legislators, the Executive needs the opposition to approve the agreement.
The votes seem assured thanks to the efforts made in recent days by Sergio Massa, located at the other end of the ruling bloc.
The current president of the Chamber of Deputies has been key in obtaining the support of the main opposition alliance, Together for Change, for the project put to the vote this Thursday.
At the request of Together for Change, the details of the economic program agreed with the IMF disappeared from the bill and the opposition legislators will limit themselves to approving the restructuring of a debt contracted when they were government, with Mauricio Macri as president.
Thus, in case of failure, the Fernández Executive remains solely responsible.
Thursday's session is expected to last until after midnight.
In case of obtaining the green light, the project will go to the Senate for final approval.
Subscribe here to the EL PAÍS América newsletter and receive all the key information on current affairs in the region.