Lots of political activity happening here in Buenos Aires with the arrival of Luiz Inácio da Silva, better known as simply Lula. He and Argentine President, Nestor Kirchner want to tighten relationships between their two countries: a move both Presidents see in their own interests as they confront ALCA, the acronym Latin Americans use for what North Americans know as the FTAA (Free Trade Area of the Americas). Bush wants the trade deal in place by 2005. Both of these Latin American Presidents have their doubts about it. If one of them says no to it: there is no deal.

Debt crippled both countries in the past and threatens them now as they try to come up with a united front in their battle with the IMF. The powerful financial institution doesn’t have a good reputation with Argentines, for it hurled the country into catastrophic debt. Brazilians see it as a thorn in their side. They took on more debt months before Lula became President, a measure that lead to belt-tightening measures.

Another point of agreement: they both sent intermediaries to Bolivia where the popular movement has shut the country down. Bolivian President, Sanchez, has the support of the United States; even with that backing, his days are numbered: he can’t contain a nation-wide protest over exporting gas to the United States, and it’s a source of energy controlled by transnational corporations. And as I write news just came in that Gonzalez, the Bolivian President stepped down and he’s on a plane to Miami.

Debt, the FTAA and unrest in Bolivia lead to a story of transnational domination of Latin American economies, something particularly felt by Argentina and Brazil. Lula and Kirchner want to deal with that domination. The Argentine President talks about “cambio radical”. This posture needs to take place in a context of the “Argentinazo”, that explosive moment on December 19, 2001 that hurled the country into bankruptcy when it defaulted on an IMF payment and brought hundreds of thousands of ordinary citizens out into the streets demanding change. Nearly sixty percent of the country ended up in poverty. One woman who works in literacy programs in poor areas declared, “Argentina has given up everything.”

The opinion has a powder keg behind it. The per capita income of the average Argentine fell some 24% between 1998 and 2002. The Peronist wants to prioritize the domestic economy with money going into social projects like roads and railways; a deal he worked out with the IMF in negotiating a payment of $2.6 billion that the country defaulted on in 2002, which threw it into a financial crisis, the worst in its history.

Lula and Kirchner hope to come up with a Buenos Aires Consensus, the opposite of the failed Washington Consensus backed by the US, Japan and European Union. This consensus now in the works jitters agribusiness and financial markets dominated by the US, Japan and Europe.

Two progressive governments proximate to one another politically and geographically frightens Washington and, at the same time, gives energy to Bolivia’s popular movement that has shut down the country north west from here and brought in a new government forced to pay attention to the needs of the people, which Gonzalez refused to do. He was known as Washington’s man in the country. Carlos Mesa, the new President, promises a referendum on whether gas should be exported to the United States or not, particularly to California.

Argentines moved into the streets in solidarity with the Bolivian people. The Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo lead a demonstration of ten thousand Argentines in downtown Buenos Aires. As they marched, those who lined the streets applauded: the mothers have a history of struggle behind them; and it’s appreciated.

In the first couple of days here I’ve gotten a chance to move into some of the poor areas that surround the largest city in the country. I witnessed people working communal gardens and coming up with soup kitchens where the community served one another, the poor helping the poor, bringing people together in communal meals.

Assemblies:

Hundreds of small Assemblies, groups of people living in different urban areas throughout the country that have stayed together since the economy collapsed, comprise a big part of civil society here. In a park in down town Buenos Aires members of one Assembly organized a two hour talk-conversation on the FTAA: some seventy people came to a park to hear different perspectives on the proposed treaty in the context of debt and militarization in Latin America; themes Argentines are more than familiar with.