Radical silence | UCR and the Macri Government

"The agreement we want to make has limits, we can not combine with the law.The right is Macri, we can not betray our principles," said Raul Alfonsin in a well-known TV interview directed by Mauro Viale . The conformation of Alianza Cambiemos contradicts the mandate of the radical leader. This was also understood by the youth branch of the Socialist International, which suspended in February 2016 the accession of radical youth.

This decision was explained because "a government that applies a liberal economic policy increases inequalities, continues the destruction of natural resources, supports powerful media groups and criminalizes social events, young people fighting for equality, solidarity ". and freedom, we must express our concern, because this type of government definitely takes us away from the global transformation we are seeking. "

The JR tried to re-examine the measure by claiming to be the "social democratic leg" of the macrist government. On February 22 of this year, the council of this organization rejected the proposal and maintained its decision.

At the same time, the economic failure of the national government has awakened some old leaders of the white beret. For example, Federico Storani has questioned the continuity of Cambiemos: "We have a hundred years of validity, we must not tolerate many policies that go against the essence of our constitutive identity and our identity" said the radical leader on the radio. However, the voices that propose a distancing of the macrismo are minority.

The centennial party has maintained a much more critical profile with its own government, such as that of Fernando de la Rúa, than with Macri's. In March 2001, the appointment of Ricardo Lopez Murphy as Minister of Economy was rejected by the majority of radical leaders / activists. For example, Raúl Alfonsín did not attend the ministerial exchange under oath. In addition, the former president called for "defeat the fundamentalists of the market". A few months later, the approval of the zero deficit law, with Domingo Cavallo as Minister of Economy, had many internal resistance. A senator in power said that "now, the government will have to consult the party before sending a project, because another law under pressure will not be adopted". On July 11, Alfonsín warned that they were not being listened to, "we will have to consider making the party independent of the government leadership".

"The bulk of the radical structure was considered foreign to the government because it did not occupy large spaces." Almost every day, Alfonsin, governors, legislators and other political parties complained of the exclusion of they were victims or because there were only delarruistas in the cabinet, without other sectors of the UCR being represented, "says Julián Zícari in the book Camino al collapse. How did the Argentineans arrive in 2001?

In the parliamentary elections of October, the radical candidates seemed to be opponents. The party's national convention (which was to meet two weeks before the elections) was suspended to prevent an open rebellion against De la Rua. Once the electoral defeat was consumed, Rodolfo Terragno said that "the president should be suicidal to maintain this economic model after the elections". Compared to this historical experience, the current silence of the UCR is stunning.

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