Argentina Profile (1)
Country name: Argentine Republic.
Capital: Buenos Aires
Administrative divisions: 23 provinces (provincias, singular - provincia), and 1 autonomous city* (distrito federal); Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires Capital Federal*, Catamarca, Chaco, Chubut, Cordoba, Corrientes, Entre Rios, Formosa, Jujuy, La Pampa, La Rioja, Mendoza, Misiones, Neuquen, Rio Negro, Salta, San Juan, San Luis, Santa Cruz, Santa Fe, Santiago del Estero, Tierra del Fuego - Antartida e Islas del Atlantico Sur, Tucuman.
Independence: 9 July 1816 (from Spain)
Legal system: mixture of US and West European legal systems; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Executive branch: chief of state: President Eduardo Alberto Duhalde (since 2 January 2002); note - selected by National Congress in aftermath of resignation of former President DE LA RUA on 20 December 2001 and resignations of others who briefly held the office following DE LA RUA's departure; Vice President Carlos "Chacho" Alvarez resigned 6 October 2000 and the post remains vacant; note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government.
head of government: President Eduardo Alberto Duhalde (since 2 January 2002); note - selected by National Congress in aftermath of resignation of former President DE LA RUA on 20 December 2001 and resignations of others who briefly held the office following DE LA RUA's departure; Vice President Carlos "Chacho" Alvarez resigned 6 October 2000 and the post remains vacant; note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government
cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president
election results: Fernando DE LA RUA elected president; percent of vote - 48.5% ; Vice President Carlos "Chacho" ALVAREZ resigned 6 October 2000 and a replacement was not named; DE LA RUA resigned 20 December 2001; following a series of interim presidents, Eduardo Alberto DUHALDE was selected president by the National Congress on 1 January 2002
elections: president and vice president elected on the same ticket by popular vote for four-year terms; election last held 24 October 1999 (next to be held NA October 2003)
Legislative branch: bicameral National Congress or Congreso Nacional consists of the Senate (72 seats; formerly, three members appointed by each of the provincial legislatures; presently transitioning to one-third of the members being elected every two years to six-year terms) and the Chamber of Deputies (257 seats; one-half of the members elected every two years to four-year terms)
election results: Senate - percent of vote by bloc or party - NA%; seats by bloc or party - Justicialist (Peronist) 40, UCR 24, provincial parties 6, Frepaso 1, ARI 1; Chamber of Deputies - percent of vote by bloc or party - NA%; seats by bloc or party - Justicialist (Peronist) 113, UCR 74, provincial parties 27, Frepaso 17, ARI 17, AR 9
elections: Senate - last held 14 October 2001 (next to be held NA October 2003); Chamber of Deputies - last held 14 October 2001 (next to be held NA October 2003).
Judicial branch : Supreme Court or Corte Suprema (the nine Supreme Court judges are appointed by the president with approval by the Senate).
Political parties and leaders: Action for the Republic or AR [Domingo CAVALLO]; Alternative for a Republic of Equals or ARI [Elisa CARRIO]; Front for a Country in Solidarity or Frepaso (a four-party coalition) [Dario Pedro ALESSANDRO]; Justicialist Party or PJ [Carlos Saul MENEM] (Peronist umbrella political organization); Radical Civic Union or UCR [Angel ROZAS]; several provincial parties.
Political pressure groups and leaders: Argentine Association of Pharmaceutical Labs (CILFA); Argentine Industrial Union (manufacturers' association); Argentine Rural Society (large landowners' association); business organizations; General Confederation of Labor or CGT (Peronist-leaning umbrella labor organization); Peronist-dominated labor movement; Roman Catholic Church; students.
Diplomatic representation in the US : chief of mission: Ambassador Diego Ramiro GUELAR
chancery: 1600 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20009
consulate(s) general: Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York
FAX: [1] (202) 332-3171 telephone: [1] (202) 238-6400.
Diplomatic representation from the US: chief of mission: Ambassador James D. WALSH
embassy: Avenida Colombia 4300, C1425GMN Buenos Aires
mailing address: international mail: use street address; APO address: Unit 4334, APO AA 34034
telephone: [54] (11) 5777-4533 FAX: [54] (11) 5511-4240
Background: Following independence from Spain in 1816, Argentina experienced periods of internal political conflict between conservatives and liberals and between civilian and military factions. After World War II, a long period of Peronist authoritarian rule and interference in subsequent governments was followed by a military junta that took power in 1976. Democracy returned in 1983, and numerous elections since then have underscored Argentina's progress in democratic consolidation.
Location : Southern South America, bordering the South Atlantic Ocean, between Chile and Uruguay.
Area: total: 2,766,890 sq km, land: 2,736,690 sq km, water: 30,200 sq km
Land boundaries: total: 9,665 km, border countries: Bolivia 832 km, Brazil 1,224 km, Chile 5,150 km, Paraguay 1,880 km, Uruguay 579 km.
Natural resources: fertile plains of the Pampas, lead, zinc, tin, copper, iron ore, manganese, petroleum, uranium
Environment - international agreements: party to: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Seals, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands, Whaling signed, but not ratified: Marine Life Conservation.
Geography -: second-largest country in South America (after Brazil); strategic location relative to sea lanes between the South Atlantic and the South Pacific Oceans (Strait of Magellan, Beagle Channel, Drake Passage); Cerro Aconcagua is South America's tallest mountain, while the Valdes Peninsula is the lowest point on the continent.
Population : 37,812,817 (July 2002 est.)
Economy - overview: Argentina benefits from rich natural resources, a highly literate population, an export-oriented agricultural sector, and a diversified industrial base. However, when President Carlos MENEM took office in 1989, the country had piled up huge external debts, inflation had reached 200% per month, and output was plummeting. To combat the economic crisis, the government embarked on a path of trade liberalization, deregulation, and privatization. In 1991, it implemented radical monetary reforms which pegged the peso to the US dollar and limited the growth in the monetary base by law to the growth in reserves. Inflation fell sharply in subsequent years. In 1995, the Mexican peso crisis produced capital flight, the loss of banking system deposits, and a severe, but short-lived, recession; a series of reforms to bolster the domestic banking system followed. Real GDP growth recovered strongly, reaching 8% in 1997. In 1998, international financial turmoil caused by Russia's problems and increasing investor anxiety over Brazil produced the highest domestic interest rates in more than three years, halving the growth rate of the economy. Conditions worsened in 1999 with GDP falling by 3%. President Fernando DE LA RUA, who took office in December 1999, sponsored tax increases and spending cuts to reduce the deficit, which had ballooned to 2.5% of GDP in 1999. Growth in 2000 was a negative 0.5%, as both domestic and foreign investors remained skeptical of the government's ability to pay debts and maintain the peso's fixed exchange rate with the US dollar. The economic situation worsened still further in 2001 with the widening of spreads on Argentine bonds, massive withdrawals from the banks, and a further decline in consumer and investor confidence. Government efforts to achieve a "zero deficit", to stabilize the banking system, and to restore economic growth proved inadequate in the face of the mounting economic problems. At the start of 2002, newly elected president Eduardo DUHALDE met with IMF officials to secure an additional $20 billion loan, but immediate action seemed unlikely. The peso's peg to the dollar was abandoned in January 2002, and the peso was floated from the dollar in February; inflation picked up rapidly.
GDP: purchasing power parity - $453 billion (2001 est.).
GDP - real growth rate: -4.6% (2001 est.).
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $12,000 (2001 est.).
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 6% industry: 28%, services: 66% (2001 est.)
Population below poverty line: 37% (2001 est.) (at present 50% is under poverty.}
Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: NA% highest 10%: NA%
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 4% (2001 est.)
Labor force: 15 million (1999).
Unemployment rate: 25% (yearend 2001) (at present around 50% or more)
Budget: revenues: $44 billion expenditures: $48 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2000 est.).
Industries: food processing, motor vehicles, consumer durables, textiles, chemicals and petrochemicals, printing, metallurgy, steel.
Agriculture - products: sunflower seeds, lemons, soybeans, grapes, corn, tobacco, peanuts, tea, wheat; livestock.
Exports: $26.5 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.).
Exports - commodities: edible oils, fuels and energy, cereals, feed, motor vehicles.
Exports - partners: Brazil 26.5%, US 11.8%, Chile 10.6%, Spain 3.5% (2000).
Imports: $23.8 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.).
Imports - commodities: machinery and equipment, motor vehicles, chemicals, metal manufactures, plastics.
Imports - partners : Brazil 25.1%, US 18.7%, Germany 5%, China 4.6% (2000).
Debt - external: $155 billion (2001 est.).
Economic aid - recipient: $10 billion (2001 est.)
Currency: Argentine peso (ARS)
Exchange rates: Argentine pesos per US dollar - 1.33325 (January 2002), 1.000 (1997 2001); note - fixed rate pegged to the US dollar was abandoned in January 2002; peso now floats
Disputes - international : claims UK-administered Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas); claims UK-administered South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands; territorial claim in Antarctica partially overlaps British and Chilean claims.
Current Crisis: Suffering from Severe Economic Crisis Ever.
Economic Crisis
On December 19, 2001, legions of people, desperate and hungry, break into supermarkets and stores in broad daylight. Their country was among the worlds richest. Until recently, its large middle class rivaled European counterparts in comfort and opportunity. Argentina was one of America's wealthiest nations, with high living standards, a skilled labor force, 99% literacy rate, and impressive scientific and technological infrastructure. Social mobility was similar to that of many European nations. Unionized factory workers could afford a house, a car and hope to put their children through college. Today, after obeying IMF dictated policies, 51.4% of its population is classified as poor, Since January of this year, poverty has increased at the rate of 762,000 a month, or 25,000 per day. In the first five months of this year, the cost of the basic monthly market basket increased by 35.7%. For the first quarter of this year, GDP dropped 16.3%, the biggest quarterly drop in the country's history. In the land of wheat and cows," it is now commonplace to see, as Agence France Press reported on June 7, "armies of people in rags, of all ages go through the streets of the capital each night, overturning the garbage in search of leftover bits of food." The percentile of country's unemployment rate is now around 50's. Tens of thousands of public sector workers have not been paid for three months. The number of women in the red-light district of Buenos Aires, capital of Argentina, has increased. The ordinary citizens have been unable to withdraw their own savings from their bank accounts. There is daily rioting and demonstrations. People have begun committing suicide.
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