Once-proud Argentina now has starving babies

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From: J. H. Newcomb <jnewcomb [at] UVic.CA>
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Sent: Saturday, January 18, 2003 8:30 PM
Subject: Once-proud Argentina now has starving babies

Once-proud Argentina now has starving babies

Marina Jimenez National Post
January 18, 2003

It is the final, humiliating blow for a country once known for its
cafe 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."

mjimenez [at] nationalpost.com

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