A week with oxygen and good news | Come on …

The victory of President Luis Arce in Bolivia oxygenates the regional picture, specifying a political feat. The MAS leaders resolved to compete at a disadvantage, although they were persecuted, suppressed, ex-president Evo Morales banished, exiled from decades of pre-rulers. They played as a visitor, with a declining court, they struggled.

They used direct action to force former de facto president Janine Añez to stop delaying the elections. They mobilized their activism in a threatening context. They managed to transfer the voices from Evo to “Lucho” Arce (increase them, to be more strict).

Evo contributed by sanctifying the formula, also by staying away from Bolivia. He honored his word yesterday, depriving himself of appearing before the jury.

President Alberto Fernández went there with many scrolls. Without having assumed it, he ensured that Evo and the former vice-president Álvaro García Linera flee the vindictiveness of the right, taking asylum first in Mexico and then in Buenos Aires. Mauricio Macri, who still lived at Casa Rosada, was quick to recognize Añez and leave Evo to himself … or misfortune or tragedy.

Strong opinions have pointed out that Fernández was wrong. They argue that good foreign policy is to be a licker for the Yankees and their southern allies, forgetting about human rights. Bad AF advice ignored.

They then predicted that Evo would use Argentina as a new variant of the insurgent hotbed. I would organize provocative and massive marches towards the border between our countries. This would stir up the crowds, destabilizing statesman Añez. Morales acted calmly, did not sulk before the successive provocations, gave power to his colleagues, asked the Bolivians for temperance, commitment and votes.

They won and this is just the start. It is led by an anti-democratic and violent right. The economic and health conditions are terrifying and require urgent responses. Either way, a promising new scenario is opening up.

Argentina is no longer completely surrounded by right-wing regimes. Among them, the Chilean has received an electoral beating that may improve the history of the neighboring country.

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Goodbye Trump, we won’t miss you: Democratic systems are reformist (at best), dialectical, changes often occur slowly, they are revocable. The President-elect of the United States, Joe Biden, offers no reason to fall in love. But either way, defeating Donald Trump was the best thing that could have happened within the limits of what was available. Or worse, if you prefer to put it that way.

The new scenario is less worrying than the eventual re-election of Trump. Racist, Islamophobic, misogynist, defender of a group of Chocobares who have made their own in different states. The revalidation would have validated and accentuated these policies. The example for the rest of the world, without being linear, exists.

Biden may not even be a progressive by Yankee standards. But many of his constituents are. The esteemed minorities, persecuted and discriminated sectors won this weekend.

It is becoming fashionable to emphasize that Democratic presidents were warmongers (from Harry Truman, to John Kennedy, even Barack Obama at a lower dose). Corroboration does not embellish or excuse Republicans. Ronald Reagan was aggressive in our region and his leadership lubricated the neoconservative global tide.

George W. Bush carried out massacres and massive destruction in the Middle East while relaxing constitutional guarantees in his country in his crusade against terrorism. It is argued that those years bode well for South America because the State Department “forgot us.” Two objections are worth making: they were favored by the action of the majority of South American leaders; not for the favors of the gringos. But, in addition, the distance was far from absolute. The “embassies” or the White House have kept Bolivia and Venezuela under control, they have surrounded them as much as they can, they have organized coups. And they fortified Colombia, in part because of their right-wing membership, in part as a military spearhead to harass Hugo Chávez’s homeland.

As for Trump, his CV in relation to this South and Argentina in particular looks like a medical file. He supported Macri, business partner and ideological ally.

He “played” in a crucial way to get the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to disburse the exorbitant loan which plunged us into the economic doldrums.

He put Mauricio Claver Carone at the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) betraying pre-existing pacts, with a long tradition.

With Añez, the best wave. Arrumacos with Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, his invincible clone.

One of Biden’s first differential gestures, the return to the World Health Organization (WHO), thwarts denialist tendencies on the planet, strengthens the international organization. This gives a patina of common sense to international relations.

The plague forces us to seek out the lesser evil, to minimize the damage. Biden fulfills this role. Welcome, as long as it lasts, without getting too excited.

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Alberto’s strange isolation: Strange president isolated from the world, Mr. Alberto Fernández. Contribution to the return of democracy in Bolivia. Departure and articulation with the French and Spanish presidents. Yesterday he had a friendly conversation with Pablo Iglesias.

He reached an agreement with Vladimir Putin to acquire the Sputnik vaccine, the best hope of these months against covid-19. To Russia begging and with the mallet that gives: negotiations are taking place with laboratories in other countries.

All the experiments are conducted against the clock and the purchases are agreed “at risk”: the vaccines will only be applied after having met all the requirements demanded by the international medical community.

The government issued several cross messages, others recurring communication errors. Once cleaned, there is the prospect of being able to start vaccinations at the end of the year. Not sure until all required tests are met.

But an expectation opens, strengthened because the State has not put all the eggs in a single basket.

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Relief, for once: the IMF mission arrives which will remain until the eve of Thanksgiving. A prolonged period during which the government aspires to reach an early agreement. No payment for several years. And without any adjustment in public spending that would strangle the nascent (and not at all sumptuous) rebound in economic activity. The local establishment predicts (and wishes) the adjustment, to consolidate the regressive redistribution of income in the event of a pandemic. In La Rosada and in economics, they assure that the 2021 budget will not be affected. Better so, because it is not very good in terms of social investment. The economic wing of Cabinet believes that growth will (in part, of course) replace emissions and direct government spending.

The fair defense of the Budget does not for the moment entail an impulse of the Executive to the “tax on large fortunes”. Alberto Fernández berated the Chamber of Deputies for not dealing with judicial reform, but he said nothing about this progressive and necessary tribute. A bad sign, which can be fixed by energizing it.

Either way, it’s been a good week for the ruling party. Center stage, with good health and relief news on the international stage. This is no small amount in the age of dystopia; it is not enough but it relieves. Something similar to what happened with the crowd of dollar quotes in the city of Buenos Aires.

Meanwhile, the Chilean, Bolivian and even American peoples have proven that the vote still weighs, giving reasons to celebrate from a distance. Especially for neighboring countries, of course.

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