In the town of Manzanares, Argentina, on the outskirts of Buenos Aires, the effects of the pandemic weigh heavily upon the population as they are forced to cook with firewood and live without electricity, gas, or clean water. By the end of 2020, the poverty levels were up 6.5% from 35.5% to 42%. This rise is due to a combination of the effects of the pandemic and three years of recession. Argentina’s economy has been facing economic crisis for many years now and high inflation has pushed up prices so much that it is wiping many of the population’s savings. In a population of 45 million, about 10 million people now rely on food assistance, a number that had previously been 8 million. The Minister of Social Development has said that the main issue for Argentina is the price of food. President Alberto Fernandez has made it a priority to come up with a plan to reduce poverty before midterm elections due to most of his party’s voters coming from impoverished areas around Buenos Aires.
Combatting their growing poverty level should be the main goal of Argentina’s government at this time, as they continue to be plunged deeper. They’re fueling this issue by creating inflation as they continue to print more money to finance their social subsidies. They need to decrease their printing of money so that they can slow inflation and figure out a way to help their population that has been so heavily affected by both the pandemic and their failing economy. President Alberto Fernandez has been the president of Argentina since 2019 and obviously has not made many improvements to their economic situation. Although he had to serve during the pandemic, which obviously didn’t allow him to make many improvements to the economy, I believe there is more he could be doing for the population that is facing these effects on such a large scale.
In connection to class, President Alberto Fernandez is using geopolitics to his advantage in his run for reelection by appealing to the population around Buenos Aires that is being most affected by Argentina’s failing economy.