Versión Español
Spanish – Last week’s posturing was too much. Even for Argentina and its sad international politics, if it even has such a thing. On September 29, at a meeting of the Organization of American States (OAS), the representative of Alberto Fernández (and his schizophrenic coalition with Cristina Kirchner) took the opportunity to justify the regime of Nicolás Maduro. Carlos Raimundi assured that there is “a biased interpretation of what human rights violations are in certain countries” and that the government he represents will not take an “ideological position” against Chavismo. In his embarrassing speech, the official assured that he prefers to focus on “the people who suffer,” as if Venezuelans under the dictatorship do not.
We in the media were surprised since, despite the usual ambiguity of the current Argentine ruling party on this issue, Raimundi’s Chavista position was explicit. Until that moment, the Bachelet report had been the point that Alberto Fernández had chosen for his lukewarm position, avoiding falling into the most impudent justification of the dictatorship. But as the hours passed, it became clear that the journalists were not the only ones surprised. The president himself was hysterical about the words of his representative and, according to those close to the Casa Rosada and the Quinta de Olivos, even began to shuffle around with a request for his immediate resignation. At this time, the executive branch was thinking of a decent way out to avoid revealing the lack of command and real political weight of the head of state.
In a desperate attempt to correct the course, the Argentine government now supported the work of the former Chilean president at the United Nations on the human rights situation under Chavista totalitarianism.
“Argentina is concerned about the human rights situation and the political and humanitarian crisis aggravated by the sanctions and the COVID-19 pandemic. We understand that the fundamental rights of all Venezuelans must prevail over other considerations,” said Ambassador Federico Villegas. Accordingly, Fernandez’s envoy sought to erase what Raimundi said to the world last week.
More than a clear course, the Argentine authorities once again show nothing but improvisation and opportunism. But this pathetic behavior in international politics is not new and has been going on for many years.
From Axis affinity to the ridiculously late declaration
During World War II, the nationalist military process to which Juan Domingo Perón belonged was openly Germanophile. The same founder of the Justicialist Party had been formed in Italy and took the main ideas of Benito Mussolini for his movement. Incredibly, the fascist Carta del Lavoro continues to inspire Peronism’s backward labor legislation.
The current hesitation regarding Venezuela, speculation, and the tendency to be on the wrong side of history is very reminiscent of Argentina’s international alignment during the first half of the 20th century. Only a year before the end of the war, local authorities were encouraged to break off formal relations with the Axis. On March 27, 1945, when the war was absolutely defined, Argentina finally declared that it supported the Allies against Nazi barbarism.
That week, Hitler’s Germany was dropping its last bombs on England, with the European territory absolutely lost. A month later, the Führer’s psychopath committed suicide in the Berlin bunker. Although Argentina tried to take the winning side, the Allies never forgot their ambiguous and filonazi position. This was something that the country paid dearly for many decades. It seems that we learned nothing.
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