The Economist has an eye-popping article about the mismanagement of Argentina under the Kirchners: Hundreds of millions of dollars of missing money. Rigged economic statistics. Harassment of some business interests while friends of the Kirchners enjoy laissez-faire. The closing of critical media. In all that, this stands out the most:
The Central Bank, which in theory is independent, has also been brought within the president’s direct control. In December the government floated the idea of creating a “Bicentennial Fund” with the aim of using the bank’s hard-currency reserves to pay off a group of foreign bondholders who rejected a debt restructuring in 2005, thereby restoring the government’s access to international financial markets. Martín Redrado, the bank’s governor, demurred, arguing that in an economy like Argentina’s, where many people think in dollars because of past hyperinflation, the reserves were an important cushion against swings in foreign-exchange markets. He was also advised that the transfer might make funds held by the Central Bank abroad vulnerable to claims by creditors.
Thwarted by Mr Redrado, Ms Fernández decided to sack him. Mr Redrado dug his heels in, insisting that only Congress could remove him. A judge who ruled in Mr Redrado’s favour in the dispute, María José Sarmiento, found the police on her doorstep on January 9th. If that was too subtle, the president’s chief of staff, Aníbal Fernández (who is not related to the president), told reporters that the judge’s every movement was being watched. Eventually the president got her way and Mr Redrado was replaced with a more pliant figure.
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