Argentine’s new strong man

Press, 28 January 1982, Page 15

Argentine’s new strong man

By

HUGH O’SHAUGHNESSY

Like some. latter-day Napoleon, General Leopoldo Fortunato Galtieri has strode into the Argentine presidency, determined to make his mark on his country and determined his country will make its mark on the world. The next few months will show whether his great ambitions have any hope of realisation or whether, like many other Argentine military leaders this century, he will be tripped up in intricacies of Argentina’s economic crisis.

Ambition is the hallmark of Galtieri. This ambition has led him to acts of outright military and political indiscipline whereby he has swept away his ailing predecessor. General Roberto Viola, trampled over the niceties of presidential succession, and

seized the headship of State.

Unlike Viola and the previous President, General Jorge Videla, he has determined that he will be President in his own right as commander of all the Argentine forces, and not, as each of the others was, a delegate of the commanders of the three armed forces.

He regarded his predecessor as something df a ditherer, perhaps not without reason. Just over a year ago General Viola made his first appearance on Argentine television since his nomination as future President. It was a revealing programme. Eschewing the almost spiritual ruthlessness of gen-

eral Videla, the soldier who had cut down the civilian government of President Maria Estela Martniez de Peron in 1976, General Viola apperared with a glass of whisky at his side and a cigarette in his hand, talking to the interviewer with every show of amiability on a set made up to look like the sitting room of Mr and Mrs Argentine Everyman' The image of Viola as an amiable bumbler was strengthened after he took over in March and appointed Dr Lorenzo Sigaut as his economic overlord. Dr Sigaut predicted one thing while the economy did another; he announced one set of measures

only to rescind them shortly after. The effect on the economy was disastrous. Already plunged into crisis by the rapid demolition of import duties during the Videla Administration, Argentina’s industry was further hit by the uncertainty generated by General Viola and Dr Sigaut. Production slumped, businesses went bankrupt, and banks faltered as unemployment rose to record heights. There was immense speculation against the peso which plummeted from 2000 to the dollar at the beginning of the year to more than 11,000 by the end of the last month. Inflation last year reached 150 per cent—a world record for 1981. The new President is thus faced with an economic mess

of major proportions. He has named as his economic overlord Dr Roberto Alemann,,a conservative economist and businessman who has announced he is in favour of rigidly orthodox economic policies, reductions in government spending, and an austerity programme aimed at reducing inflation. The questions now must be how far Dr Alemann will get his way and be able to balance Argetina’s books, and how far will he have to bow to General Galtieri's ambitions for continued spending on the armed forces and all the other prestige projects by which he hoped to demonstrate to the world the greatness of Argentina. COPYRIGHT—LONDON OBSERVER SERVICE.