No se necesita de análisis sesudo alguno para explicar la baja de la imagen presidencial. Alcanza con repensar como se construyó oportunamente su popularidad, fundamentalmente de la mano de su difunto esposo, para imaginar, ahora, como se está “deconstruyendo” la misma.
Temas de relações internacionais, de política externa e de diplomacia brasileira, com ênfase em políticas econômicas, em viagens, livros e cultura em geral. Um quilombo de resistência intelectual em defesa da racionalidade, da inteligência e das liberdades democráticas.
O que é este blog?
Este blog trata basicamente de ideias, se possível inteligentes, para pessoas inteligentes. Ele também se ocupa de ideias aplicadas à política, em especial à política econômica. Ele constitui uma tentativa de manter um pensamento crítico e independente sobre livros, sobre questões culturais em geral, focando numa discussão bem informada sobre temas de relações internacionais e de política externa do Brasil. Para meus livros e ensaios ver o website: www.pralmeida.org. Para a maior parte de meus textos, ver minha página na plataforma Academia.edu, link: https://itamaraty.academia.edu/PauloRobertodeAlmeida.
quinta-feira, 16 de agosto de 2012
Argentina: recuo da democracia e do Estado de direito
No se necesita de análisis sesudo alguno para explicar la baja de la imagen presidencial. Alcanza con repensar como se construyó oportunamente su popularidad, fundamentalmente de la mano de su difunto esposo, para imaginar, ahora, como se está “deconstruyendo” la misma.
quinta-feira, 8 de julho de 2010
Casal 20K: sucesso financeiro, em meio à crise...
Um feito extraordinário, que merece ser comemorado:
Argentina: aumenta un 20 por ciento la fortuna del matrimonio Kirchner, según la prensa
El patrimonio del matrimonio Kirchner llegó en 2009 a los 55,5 millones de pesos (14,5 millones de dólares)
Infolatam, Buenos Aires, 7 de julio de 2010
La fortuna de la presidenta argentina, Cristina Kirchner, y su esposo y antecesor, Néstor Kirchner, creció un 20,65 por ciento en 2009, hasta unos 14,5 millones de dólares, según una declaración jurada del matrimonio publicada por el diario bonaerense La Nación.
La declaración jurada, que el matrimonio presentó a la Oficina Anticorrupción, señala que el incremento patrimonial respondió a la cancelación de millonarias deudas y la valorización de las acciones de dos de sus tres empresas, indicó el periódico.
En este sentido, apuntó que las deudas de la pareja se redujeron desde unos 4,87 millones de dólares declarados en 2008 a los 1,57 millones del año pasado, gracias a que tuvo ingresos por 4,18 millones de dólares, la mayor parte por alquileres e intereses de depósitos bancarios a plazo.
El patrimonio neto de los Kirchner mejoró además por un aumento del valor de las empresas Los Sauces y Hotesur, propietarias de sendos hoteles en la villa turística de El Calafate, en la Patagonia argentina, agregó.
La fortuna de la mandataria y su esposo fue motivo de denuncias penales presentadas por fuerzas de la oposición política el año pasado, cuando el matrimonio presentó una declaración jurada según la cual su patrimonio había aumentado en 2008 en un 158 por ciento, hasta unos 12,1 millones de dólares.
La polémica se agudizó al conocerse que Kirchner, quien gobernó entre 2003 y 2007, había comprado en 2008 dos millones de dólares en efectivo justo antes de que se apreciara la moneda estadounidense en el mercado local de cambios, regulado por el Banco Central.
Las demandas penales por el presunto enriquecimiento ilícito del matrimonio Kirchner fueron archivadas a fines del año pasado, cuando la Fiscalía se abstuvo de apelar un fallo judicial que había absuelto a la pareja.
Pero sigue su curso una demanda presentada por la Coalición Cívica, tercera fuerza parlamentaria, que acusa a la mandataria y a su esposo de enriquecerse aprovechando el acceso a información reservada, cargo que alude a la compra de dos millones de dólares antes de la apreciación de la moneda estadounidense en el mercado local.
De la última declaración jurada de bienes, surge que el patrimonio del matrimonio Kirchner llegó en 2009 a los 55,5 millones de pesos (14,5 millones de dólares) frente a deudas por 6,22 millones (1,53 millones de dólares).
sexta-feira, 18 de junho de 2010
Chavez: montando um pre-exilio na Argentina?
Argentina: New roads for Chávez
Carolina Barros
Buenos Aires Herald (Argentina), June 14, 2010
All roads ultimately lead to the Venezuela of Chávez. But the uproar over the 15 percent commissions, the dollar-laden suitcases and an elastic Argentine-Venezuelan trust holding (which from the original 231 million dollars agreed in 2004 has mushroomed to over two billion with the welter of deals and agreements, leading Government House to now deny its existence) has obliged the latest projects between Caracas and Buenos Aires to seek new short cuts by other financial routes.
Like the Bolivarian plan for the commercial control of the Hidrovía (the waterway connection via the Paraná and Paraguay Rivers between the River Plate estuary, the Argentine Northwest, Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia and southern Brazil). How? By creating a huge Argentine-Venezuelan fleet which was originally christened Fluvialba, a combination of the Argentine-Paraguayan Fluviomar and the Venezuelan Albanave, one of the countless divisions or sub-holdings of the Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA. Its funding was initially designed to fall under the vast umbrella of the bilateral trust holding established in 2004 but the uproar over irregularities has prompted the contractual parties to go looking for less shady means since last December.
The original plans for a Bolivarian fleet date from early 2009 but only took on life last December after Hugo Chávez visited the Tandanor shipyards and signed with his local colleague Cristina Fernández de Kirchner a letter of intent for the construction of 50 barges, 10 tugs and six unloading vessels with Tandanor (which depends on the Defence Ministry) acting as the “co-ordinator” of the construction contracts with various shipyards. These vessels serve only one purpose: to monopolize the upstream transport of fossil fuels (Venezuelan, obviously), returning with a freight which could include iron ore and lithium, as well as grain.
Tender. During the last trip of President Kirchner to Caracas on April 20, the two governments signed 25 agreements. Of these, the 14th and the 25th refer to “receipt of the tender to build barges and freighters for river transport between Tandanor and Fluvialba” and the “creation of a mixed capital company between PDVSA Argentina and Fluviomar with the legal denomination of Fluvialba,” respectively.
At the end of April, the Herald was assured by both Tandanor and Caracas sources that the “meeting point” (Chávez jargon for having the strongman’s signature and the corresponding funding already arranged) already existed but the contract (with an estimated value of 100 million dollars) could only be signed at the end of May because a legal framework similar to the 2004 trust holding was being sought.
Nobody talks about that today, as Tandanor director Omar Riveiro confirmed when consulted by the Herald: “We rule out a trust holding and we’re ready to sign but the problem is that we have no shipper or consignee since Fluvialba has yet to be established.”
He might well say so since in shipping circles they say that Fluviomar is virtually broke but was chosen by Chávez because of its CEO Andrés Guzmán’s excellent relationship with both Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo and Chávez himself.
Banco Nación. As for financing the Bolivarian fleet (yet to be designated), this will probably proceed via letters of credit from Banco Nación “always provided that it is legally domiciled in Caracas or Buenos Aires,” according to Tandanor, not without pointing out that first they ruled out tax havens such as the Virgin Islands, Panama and even Uruguay in order to set up the firm.
In the market they assure that the Bolivarian fleet will sail under three flags (Argentina, Paraguay and Venezuela) and that it will flood Mercosur with Venezuelan fuel. They also say that Petropar, the Paraguayan oil company, is trapped by its debts to PDVSA (over 500 million dollars)and that the Argentine-Paraguayan-Venezuelan venture seeks to displace Horamar, the navigation company of the López brothers, which currently dominates fuel oil transport in the Hidrovía.
There is also some hard data: between December and now, the fleet plans have been scaled down to the construction of only 50 barges, to be delivered in three stages over five years. The 30 smaller vessels (2,500 tons, for grain and minerals) will be outsourced among Argentine shipyards (Torresint of Puerto Deseado and Astilleros Corrientes). As for the 20 larger vessels (6,500 tons and double-decker for fuel transport), Tandanor itself could take charge.
“That is, if everything goes according to plan and in 10 days we sign the contract,” says Riveiro.
sexta-feira, 12 de março de 2010
1783) Argentina: a arte de bem gerir o seu patrimonio
Argentina: Welcome to the Hotel Kirchner
The Economist, March 2, 2010
Set amid natural grandeur, where the southernmost Patagonian steppe meets the Andes and turquoise icebergs bob in Argentina’s biggest lake, the small town of El Calafate has become a magnet for well-heeled foreign tourists. It is also the adopted hometown of Cristina Fernández, Argentina’s president, and her husband and predecessor, Néstor Kirchner. They own a 45% stake in Los Sauces, one of the town’s most expensive hotels, where golf buggies are parked outside and Céline Dion songs are piped through the dining room. The Kirchners also own 98% of Hotesur, a company whose main asset is Alto Calafate, another luxury hotel in the town.
The first family’s business dealings have come under scrutiny since the release of the president’s official declaration of assets for 2008. This showed an increase in the first family’s wealth from $2.3m in 2003 to over $12m. During that time neither of the Kirchners had jobs outside politics. According to the declaration, most of their money comes from property deals in Santa Cruz province, where Mr Kirchner was governor before he became president.
In 2008 alone the Kirchners sold 14 properties in Santa Cruz. The most valuable was a plot of land bought from the municipality in El Calafate and sold on for 6.3m pesos ($2m at the time). Even after these sales, the Kirchners recorded a further 26 properties or plots of land on their books. The document also shows that they owe $2m to Banco Santa Cruz, the bank privatised by Mr Kirchner and now owned by Enrique Eskenazi (see article). In addition, the Kirchners are directors of a consultancy called El Chapel. It has been looked at and declared legitimate by the federal anti-corruption agency, but nobody knows very much about what it does.
The increase in the Kirchners’ wealth has been investigated by a judge, who declared that nothing was amiss. Manuel Garrido, a former chief anti-corruption prosecutor, thinks the investigation was incomplete and perfunctory. Mr Garrido resigned in March last year after he found his own investigation blocked by the procurador, an office equivalent to America’s solicitor-general that is currently occupied by Mr Kirchner’s former personal lawyer.
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Argentina: A cuánto ascendería la fortuna K si gobiernan hasta el 2020
El Bolson Web, March 11, 2010
Al reasumir el cargo de presidente del Partido Justicialista en Chaco el diputado y ex presidente Néstor Kirchner dijo que el matrimonio pensaba gobernar hasta el año 2020. Teniendo en cuenta que, como lo señaló el Jefe de Gabinete, el patrimonio de los Kirchner “está vivo” y signos de vitalidad por cierto tiene, podríamos hacer una simple proyección de la suerte experimentada por sus haberes entre el 2003 y el 2008 para imaginar con cuánto dinero dejarían el poder de cumplirse la promesa de don Néstor.
Los Kirchner llegaron al gobierno en el 2003 con unos respetables 2 millones de pesos, según la declaración que hicieron ese año. En el 2008 el número se extendió hasta los 46 millones de pesos, es decir que en cinco años se multiplicó por 23 o lo que es lo mismo el 2300%. Proyectado esta vitalidad hasta el 2020, tomando como base los 46 millones del 2008, la familia Kirchner sería poseedora feliz de la muy tranquilizadora cifra de 219 mil millones de pesos.
Esto sería el equivalente a:
1. 8 veces y media el Fondo del Bicentenario o,
2. 1,2 veces las reservas del BCRA o,
3. El 40% de la deuda interna y externa
Una cantidad que conforme a las explicaciones de Diana Conti sobre el dinero presidencial, les permitirá seguir siendo revolucionarios por varias generaciones.