They steal and do nothing: the worst way to try to "get back"

Few parameters are more sensitive for measuring the evolution of a society than child poverty . It is no longer just the struggle of a group of citizens to survive; the development of the generations on whom the country's future depends is at stake.

A few days ago, the Catholic University of Argentina (UCA) reported that this index had dropped 14.5 points in one year : from a catastrophic 67.3% to a shameful 52.8%.

As with other variables, Javier Milei's government is beginning to compare itself with itself . Due to the fierce adjustments made during the libertarian era, child poverty had soared to unbearable levels in the first half of 2024 (67.3%). A year later, it returned to a figure more palatable to the Argentine mainstream (52.8%).

But if you look further back, that still very high 52.8% is lower than the 58.8% of the second half of 2023 (almost all of Alberto and Cristina + Massa, except for 20 days of Milei) and lower also than the 56.6% of the first half of that year (all of it from the previous government).

The reduction in child poverty, the UCA report highlights, is due to the decline in inflation , the stability of the dollar , and the improvement in the Universal Child Allowance (AUH). Still within a critical context, statistics show that under Milei, the most vulnerable sectors are beginning to fare better than under the last Kirchner administration.

A very uncomfortable fact for the heart of the slogan Cristina Kirchner broadcast this Wednesday through loudspeakers to the thousands of supporters who supported her in Plaza de Mayo. "I like that 'we will return' because it reveals a will, the will to once again have a country where kids can eat four times a day."

The former president doesn't notice (or perhaps doesn't grasp) how bad the government she shared with Alberto and Massa was for the majority of society. Or worse: even though she chose the candidate, was vice president, and had key ministers who answered to her, she pretends she wasn't there .

Clarín has been reporting a fact that continues to draw attention: although Milei has been in power for more than a year and a half, the majority continues to blame the Fernández administration for the current crisis.

An analyst who served under Cristina sums it up this way: "The last administration destroyed an asset Peronism had, and that was the idea that it knew how to manipulate the buttons. That there might be corruption, but it knew how to manage it."

The questionable "they steal but they do things" (Menem?) thus becomes the worst formula for trying to return: "They steal (Cristina imprisoned) and they don't do things (Alberto)."

Another extremely complex issue for Peronism is the succession. The Kirchnerist march to Plaza de Mayo reaffirmed Cristina's centrality.

A strength, but also a trap: it is not enough (he no longer headed the ticket in 2023 and was now settling for a sectional candidacy in the Province), without it things could be worse .

Due to the court ruling, the former president will not only be barred from holding public office: since she's removed from the electoral roll, she must resign as president of the Partido Juventud (PJ) and won't even be able to vote. And now, who can help us?

A UBA poll published by Clarín asked about Peronist leadership without Cristina . It revealed the following:

1) Axel Kicillof won, whom Kirchnerism has worn down as much as it can, with 39%.

2) Second, with 31% , there was "I still don't see anyone capable of succeeding her."

3) The podium was completed by Juan Grabois , with 21% .

The picket leader is the one some are beginning to see as a possible heir to the K-12 party. Grabois? If you look at the rest of the numbers, it doesn't sound so far-fetched: Máximo gets 3% , Massa 2% , and Wado de Pedro 1% .