For the political scientist, "there is no Alberto Fernández without Macri" – Radioinforme 3

The political scientist Andrés Malamud badyzed the "exit to the Portuguese" that the candidates of the Front de Todos consider as a model to imitate and warned that "in Argentina, we still do not know when the crisis we are ".

"I lived in Argentina in 2001 and Portugal in 2011 and these are comparable processes, where the explosion occurs and then rebuilds.The question is whether Lavagna is possible without Remic Lenicov or that Duhalde recovers the economy without paying the costs first "dirty work?"

In this context, Malamud warned that "we have to see at what point of the crisis we are, whether we fall or start to leave", because in Portugal, Prime Minister Antonio Costa "realized that the economy was rebounding and was beginning to disturb.

"It was his great merit to feel that the way out of the crisis was there and see the light at the end of the tunnel, while the others promised blood, sweat and tears and that the other was to restore the Brazil's Lula and Nestor Kirchner's self-esteem in Argentina for telling them it was not their fault, "he said.

However, he said that getting out of the crisis does not necessarily mean putting money in people's pockets. "My salary was reduced by 23% compared to 2011 and it was again what it was in 2018, put money back in people's pocket, it was recovering what they had won before the crisis, "he said.

Malamud recalled that in Argentina, De la Rúa, the wages of retirees and public sector employees had dropped by 13%, which was unacceptable for the company. "Governments are lowering wages because they can not devalue them and lowering them is an internal devaluation," he said.

"In Argentina, it could not be devalued because it was in convertibility and Portugal because of the euro and a reduction in production costs resulting in lower wages, but in Argentina it is unacceptable and devalued because reducing wages without being noticed, "he warned.

Malamud said that to get out of the Portuguese crisis, wages had to be frozen and reduced. "In Portugal, there are two annual bonuses, 14 salaries and they have stopped paying them, they represent 14% of the salary and they have lowered it between 5 and 10%," he said.

On the other hand, he said that these measures had been taken because the Portuguese "knew what had happened in Argentina a decade ago and that in Greece at that time, people were persecuting politicians in the street, with insults and kicks, and did not want to go through that. "" They accepted the necessary adjustments to avoid violence in Greece.We were the example of what was wrong. they wanted to avoid and half a million Portuguese left, "he added.

And he said "there is no Alberto Fernández without Macri". "The rebounds are the consequences of the falls, but we do not know when the crisis we are, there are those who think that the crisis has not hit the bottom," he said.

On this last point, he compared, "in Portugal, the agreement with the IMF ends in 2014 – it respects the agreement and adjusts more than what it asks – in 2015 Costa wins the elections without adjustment but with debt ". While "in Argentina, we have always intervened – that is to say that Costa arrives without intervention – but if Alberto Fernández wins, he arrives with the intervention of the Fund and the situation is more serious".

On the other hand, he also recalled that the European Central Bank had bought the bonds of Portugal in the secondary market, while the Argentine bonds were sold to anyone.

In summary, Malamud stressed that it was not necessary to lose sight of the fact that an "exit to the Portuguese" implied a reduction of wages and adjustment and that, to reach the exit, they had to reach the bottom of the crisis, in addition to the tourism boom.

Interview with Miguel Clariá