Why Not Default? by Jerome Roos

Author:Jerome Roos
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Published: 2018-12-07T16:00:00+00:00

“¡QUE SE VAYAN TODOS!”

On December 19, after weeks of simmering tensions, the popular anger that had been building up all throughout the crisis finally came to a head when the streets exploded in furious anger. Food riots and looting first broke out in the central city of Rosario and rapidly spread to Santa Fe, Córdoba, La Plata, and Mendoza, and from there via the suburbs of Buenos Aires to the heart of the capital.34 Within hours, violent clashes between protesters and police had erupted across the country. In a poorly calculated attempt to quell the uprising, De la Rúa went on national television to announce a suspension of constitutional rights and declare a 30-day state of emergency, deploying the federal police, the border guard, and the naval prefecture to restore order. Given the severity of the social unrest and the speed at which the riots spread across the country, the president briefly entertained the idea of shutting down all private radio and TV stations and mobilizing the army to put down the rebellion—but both options were roundly rejected by his cabinet. With the experience of the military junta still fresh in the country’s mind, even the army leadership turned out to be unwilling to leave the barracks without express approval from Congress and so long as there remained a chance, however slim, that conventional political solutions might save the day.

Like Cavallo’s corralito, the president’s televised address backfired in the worst way imaginable. It was widely noted that “De la Rúa looked distant and insensitive to what was taking place. Some of his aides even qualified his speech as ‘autistic.’ ”35 Citizens felt that their legitimate expressions of indignation were not being taken seriously, and so they defied the curfew and descended from their homes in the hundreds of thousands. As protesters marched on the Plaza de Mayo, clashes broke out, and police violently cracked down on the impromptu demonstrations, killing seventeen people nationwide, five of them right in front of the presidential palace.36 That night, De la Rúa, looking for a scapegoat, forced a publicly humiliated Cavallo to resign. Under judicial orders not to leave the country, in fear of being lynched by the multitude outside, and with his wife reportedly on the verge of a nervous breakdown, Cavallo holed himself up inside his apartment on the Avenida Libertador while a private security detail fended off angry protesters down below.37 The curtain, it seemed, had finally fallen on the Wizard.

The rage, however, could no longer be contained so easily. On the morning of the next day, December 20, renewed protests broke out as thousands returned to the Plaza de Mayo to defy the curfew once more. Again, at least a dozen protesters were killed in the resultant clashes—but the demonstrations continued. When it finally dawned on the president that violent repression would not break the people’s resolve, he again went on national television to invite the Peronists to join him in a “government of national salvation” and help restore “peace and order” to the country.

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