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The Argentine Great Depression began in 1998 and lasted four years. The final year was marred by massive social unrest, the resignation of two presidents, and the biggest debt default in world history.
--On This Day in History, Shit Went Down: December 19, 2001--
Argentinian politics have a long history of corruption and mismanagement, and this was not helped by U.S. inability to mind its own fucking business (google “Dirty War”). Late in 1998 the economy went to shit, but it wasn’t all the government’s fault. The Argentinian peso was pegged to the U.S. dollar at one to one, which was on the rise. At the same time, the Brazilian currency was tanking. Coupled with the Russian financial crisis, International Monetary Fund fuckery, and low prices for Argentinian agricultural products on the international market, it was a financial shitnado for the nation.
Unemployment was pervasive, and half the country lived in poverty, with a quarter not having even their most basic needs met. People were fucking pissed, and that only got worse in December of 2001 when the government imposed limits on how much cash people could withdraw to prevent a bank run. On December 19, 2001, the people of Buenos Aires rioted. Continues below …
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There was massive looting, and President De la Rúa wanted to send in the military, but the military was all fuck no we’re not taking the blame for when shit goes sideways. Fine, De la Rúa said, I’ll declare a state of emergency and send in the Federal Police and the border guards and even the fucking coast guard. And that’s what he did. Dozens of people died, including nine children.
The economic minister resigned, and the people were all not fucking good enough. The riots continued into the next day, and the president tried to shut down the media coverage, but his own media secretary said fuck your censorship. The violence spread to other areas of the country. By the end of the day, De la Rúa resigned, but that didn’t magically solve the nation’s problems.
De la Rúa didn’t have a veep because he’d resigned the previous year, so congress got together and selected Adolfo Rodríguez Saá as president. He lasted eight days. During his short reign the government defaulted on $132 Billion USD in public debt.
In the aftermath, the fixed exchange rate of the peso was punted, and its further depreciation led to more inflation. People suddenly discovered their accounts that were valued in U.S. dollars were now valued (much less) in Argentinian pesos, and that didn’t make them happy. During 2002 the peso came to be worth 25 American cents, and inflation was at 80%.
In 2003 things began to turn around under a Peronist president (a political movement named for former Argentinian president Juan Perón). By 2004 the Argentinian economy was back to pre-depression levels. However, the gap between the richest 10% and the poorest 10% in the nation continued to grow. Those living in extreme poverty in the nation did not fall below 10% of the population until late 2006. It’s alleged that Peronists helped foment the crisis and uprising as a strategy to return to power.
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