-Caveat Lector- Monday » January 20 » 2003 http://www.nationalpost.com/world/story.html?id={9298EFB4-2B8D- 4301-B978-9EC427F77F89}
Once-proud Argentina now has starving babies 49 children dead: Economic crisis spawned by inept governments Marina Jiménez National Post, with files from news services Saturday, January 18, 2003 It is the final, humiliating blow for a country once known for its café society and blowout beef barbecues: emaciated children, their limbs weakened by rickets, starving to death. These shocking images illuminate the crisis brought on by Argentina's economic collapse -- the world's fourth-largest exporter of agricultural products can no longer feed its own children. So far in Tucuman, a poor northwestern province 1,280 kilometres from the capital, Buenos Aires, 49 children have starved to death and hundreds more are being treated for malnutrition. In this region of sugar-cane plantations and lemon groves, mothers are forced to feed their children green tea because they cannot afford food or milk. "This is a tremendous humiliation for Argentines," said Sergio Karas, an immigration lawyer who immigrated to Toronto from Buenos Aires in 1980. "To see children go starving runs counter to all the teachings Argentines have received since childhood about their country being the breadbasket of the world with the best beef, the best place to live." Argentina still produces eight times the food needed for its 37 million people, but corruption and government mismanagement have led to extreme poverty in the northern provinces. Poor farmers continue to export the beef and grain that could be eaten at home because they need foreign capital. Five non-governmental organizations have filed a lawsuit against Julio Miranda, the governor of Tucuman, accusing him of "wilful neglect" of the children who have died of malnutrition in his province. They also claim he misappropriated federal funds intended for social programs. Although there are signs Argentina's economy is finally beginning to recover -- inflation is in check and unemployment is falling -- the effects of the dramatic default and currency devaluation a year ago are still being felt. Food prices have risen by more than 30% and employment is 70% in rural northern areas. According to the Argentine Centre of Studies on Children's Nutrition, one in five Argentine children is malnourished, and the infant mortality rate has risen in some areas to 30 per 1,000 born alive, nine times the national average. Before Christmas, the government defaulted again on its World Bank loans, cutting off its last credit lifeline and putting it on a fiscal rank with such financial disasters as Sudan and Belarus. The interim government of Eduardo Duhalde, a Peronist who took office after riots a year ago, finally worked out a new loan program this week with the International Monetary Fund. The recent reports of children suffering from intestinal parasites and severely underweight toddlers dying in hospitals have caused a national sensation. Such widespread poverty is typical in most of Latin America, but in Argentina, it is tangible proof the country has finally lost its special "European" status. "I think there has been a real consciousness-raising," said Hernan Cappeallo, a Buenos Aires journalist. "These images have mobilized the people." A once-proud nation, in the 1930s Argentina had a standard of living comparable to Canada's. Argentines revelled in late-night philosophizing, opera and fine dining. Today, they are not discussing poetry, but how to feed the poor. Soup kitchens have sprung up everywhere. Operation Rescue was launched recently to save malnourished children from death, and expatriates are organizing similar fundraising events around the world. The government recently announced it will form a social safety network to track and assist families living in extreme poverty. Observers say the roots of the crisis were sown in years of economic mismanagement by successive civilian and military governments. General Juan Peron, who ruled from 1946 to 1955 and again in the 1970s, created a bloated welfare state the nation could not afford. In 1982, a beleaguered military government made the disastrous decision to invade the Falklands Islands, involving itself in a conflict it could neither afford nor win. The government fell, leading to a period of international borrowing and runaway spending. Hyperinflation was finally tamed in the early 1990s, when the currency was pegged to the U.S. dollar, but the government failed to service a huge debt. By the time the peg was dropped last year, the peso had lost 70% of its value. Others blame the country's collapse on the 1976-83 "Dirty War," when 30,000 intellectuals and potential future leaders disappeared, presumed killed by the government. Judith Teichman, a political science professor at the University of Toronto, said economic growth has begun again in Argentina, but that is not saying much when the country has hit rock bottom. "Argentina has been more 'Latin American' than many other countries in the hemisphere for a long time, though the Argentines do not want to hear this," she said. Mr. Karas believes new political ideas are needed to rebuild the country and is hopeful a new leader will emerge in this spring's election. "The parties of the right and the left do not offer any solutions," he said. "Argentines must hunker down and take hard economic measures to reform their political system. They can no longer live on their credit cards." 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