Argentina through the Coronavirus: the captain is exposed

Written by Mr. Currywurst.

Argentina is going through the Coronavirus crisis relatively well. In this country we say that we have "the Monday newspaper" because what happens in Europe will happen later here. The government-aligned media constantly talk of president Alberto Ferandez as "the captain during these stormy days" (Germany, does that ring a bell?).

Picture above: Retirees waiting for more than 12 hours outside banks in Buenos Aires.

What a benefit to know beforehand what will happen later. That has allowed Argentina to copy the measures taken in Europe, before the situation worsens in the South American region.

Thus, Argentina closed its borders before Italy or Spain did. We quarantined more quickly, and for the time being at least, the contagion curve appears to be contained. Well, the reality is that Argentina is one of the countries that makes the least amount of tests per day. In any case, we might not have the chance to perceive the real figures of infected people, but an uncontrolled increase does not seem to take place. For now.

We were doing fine because the measures the government took, were measures already created abroad, but things could easily change due to our domestic characteristics.

Alberto Fernández is seen as a moderate, reliable leader, a well-measured politician, only because he is surrounded by countries overwhelmed by the virus. It would be only that, but feminists and left-wing supporters in general see him as a true leader, we informally call him Alberto, for some he's like an uncle, someone familiar.wearing a criticism-proof vest these days. After all, he always claimed to be in favor of our health, not money.

"Between banks and small business, we stay with small business.
Between banks and retirees, we stay we're retirees.
Between banks and public education, we stay with public education.
Between banks and the people, we stay with the people."


Many passed out while standing for hours and without food.

However, the government did not take into account factors that are absent in Europe, and that are typical of Argentina: almost 40% of the population lives in poverty, a significant percentage of people do not respect the rules (it's our culture), retirees earn a pittance (the minimum retirement is 212 euros or 232 dollars a month), more than 33% of workers are not registered and millions of Argentines are outside the banking system. And we have corruption. A lot of corruption.

During the quarantine, Argentina closed the banks. The first big mistake. Retirees who did not have a debit bank and needed to withdraw their monthly money were unable to do so and claims to eat increased. It was a time bomb.

The government had the great idea to open the banks after 14 days of quarantine on 3 Friday and it was a catastrophe. Almost 3 million retirees lined up in front of the banks. In some cities people formed queues up to 1 kilometer long, waiting, in some cases from 3 in the morning until 8 at night or even later later. ATMs did not work, ATM fingerprint sensors required many people to go out and expose themselves to cold temperatures and contagion.

A basic mistake by the government resulted in breaking with a mandatory quarantine, exposing the health of the most vulnerable group.

Some of the people interviewed gave a dramatic picture of their lives. "I am here because last night I ate a bread and an onion", a woman said. "I'm hungry and with my pension I help my three grandchildren", another woman said with tears.

There were fights, fainting and probably new infections. Nobody knows what could be result of this. However, the genius of the Argentine government was thus exposed: they are good at copying what others do, but they are useless and quasi-murderers when acting alone to solve local problems.

Just a glimpse of the myth that is Alberto Fernández.