Double battle: Massa seeks to win Argentina’s presidency while dealing with economic crisis

Argentina’s Economy Minister, Sergio Massa, has a difficult task ahead of him: convincing the country’s electorate that he is the alternative to the economic crisis that has inflation at 138% per year.

With the aim of gaining enough votes in the October 22nd election to reach the second round, the liberal Peronist has implemented tax cuts and social benefits in recent months in an attempt to reverse the population’s dissatisfaction with the country’s economic situation.

After being the second most voted candidate in the August primaries, behind the ultra-liberal Javier Milei, most opinion polls show the current minister with a good chance of reaching the second round, in which his chances of victory, however, would be lower.

If he goes to the second round, Massa — one of the most liberal officials in the ruling party — will reach the last stage of a journey to the Presidency that began in mid-2022, when he took on the role of Economy Minister at a time when the finances of the Argentina appeared to be on the verge of collapse.

“I took office in a super delicate situation from a political and economic point of view, and my responsibility was and is to stabilize the economy”, said the candidate from the União pela Pátria alliance.

Around 40% poverty driven by high inflation, a serious shortage of dollars and a debt of 44 billion dollars to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) are some of the challenges faced by Massa in a year in which the agro-export country suffered the worst drought of its history.

The delicate economic situation allowed the 51-year-old lawyer to achieve something unthinkable just six months ago: the alliance left behind the internal fights between President Alberto Fernández and his powerful vice-president, Cristina Kirchner, to have a chance of winning the elections .

Furthermore, some cases of corruption have deepened Argentines’ fatigue with politics and Peronism, making Massa’s task even more difficult and boosting anti-establishment candidates such as Milei.

Amidst the difficulties, left-wing sectors criticize Massa for implementing cuts in social spending, while more conservative sectors believe that he is not doing enough to reduce the fiscal deficit.

However, the apparent unity of powerful Peronism gave it unexpected strength after four years of internal disputes.

“With Massa, power is reconfigured within the alliance. Massa has its own political structure, which makes it possible to organize space,” a spokesperson for the ruling party told Reuters.

The minister with fluid contacts with the business world promised that, if he wins the elections, he will call on leaders from different political parties to participate in a government of “national unity”.

“Is Massa the ideal representative of Peronism? He’s not for a first round, but maybe in a second round scenario. Massa is the least Peronist of the Peronists, and this puts him in tension with the ‘hard core’ of this electorate, but it is an advantage in a second round”, explained analyst Julio Burdman, from the company Observatorio Electoral.

VIDEO – Milei wins over Argentine voters with attacks on Lula?

Source: CNN Brasil

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