Buenos Aires Herald 
Opposition leaders have accused Vice President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner and the government of the ruling Frente de Todos coalition of “failing” and “authoritarianism, decapitalization and poverty” after her hour-long speech in La Plata on Thursday night.
Speaking at the inauguration of the Justicialist Néstor Kirchner school in the city of La Plata, 60 km from Buenos Aires, CFK hit out against growing calls for Argentina to dollarize its economy, spearheaded by libertarian economist Javier Milei, as well as confirming that she does not intend to run for the presidency. The opposition didn’t miss a beat in responding.
“Hearing Cristina Fernández de Kirchner talk as if she weren’t Vice President of the nation, as if her photo hadn’t been on the presidential ticket and as if she weren’t the one who put this government together and leads it, that makes you angry,” said Buenos Aires Mayor and candidate for the Juntos por el Cambio opposition coalition’s presidential nomination, Horacio Rodríguez Larreta.
His comments referenced the fact that CFK, herself a two-term former president, announced that current President Alberto Fernández (to whom she is not related) would be ruling coalition Frente de Todos’ candidate for the 2019 elections, and that she would run as vice. Many Argentines feel the Vice President has continued to exert disproportionate influence on Fernández’s decisions during his term in government.
Rodríguez Larreta accused the government of having “failed” and said that “we are seeing the end of the irresponsible Argentina […] Different times are coming for our country.”
Patricia Bullrich, candidate for the Juntos por el Cambio opposition coalition’s presidential nomination, was also quick to respond, tweeting: “The people have grown tired of 20 years of authoritarianism, decapitalization and poverty. The worst government in history: its final work.”
While CFK steered largely clear of personal barbs in her speech, she made an exception for Milei, whom she called “hairy” – the economist is proud of the fact that he never combs his hair – and said she had no reason to be afraid of him. “Who is afraid of you? The nerve!” she said.
The Vice President dedicated a large part of her speech to comparing Milei’s demands for dollarization to Argentina’s convertibility period, when the peso was pegged one to one to the dollar. Convertibility came to an end with the catastrophic economic collapse in 2001-2002, amid protests in which 39 civilians were killed by the security forces.
During an interview with Radio Mitre this morning, Milei responded to her arguments by saying: “First, saying that [dollarizing] is worse than convertibility, yes, it’s worse for politicians, it’s better for the people. The only moment of stability Argentina’s economy has had since it got a central bank in 1935, up to today, was during convertibility.”
