Hours after Argentina’s political landscape underwent a tectonic rightward shift, president-elect Mauricio Macri announced a series of radical changes that will realign his country’s place in the world.
Following Sunday night’s narrow election victory that marked the first change of government in 12 years, Macri said he would tear up Argentina’s memorandum of understanding with Iran, seek Venezuela’s exclusion from the regional free trade association Mercosur and ease away from a fixed exchange rate with the dollar.
This is the “change of an era”, he declared at a press conference that was itself a sign of greater openness compared to the largely one-way media approach of his leftist predecessor Cristina Fernández de Kirchner. “We need to be in the world.”
Not seen as a serious contender during the first round of the campaign, Macri ultimately forced a runoff against Fernández’s hand-picked candidate Daniel Scioli and then won Sunday’s decider with 51.4% of the vote – less than three points ahead of his rival.
That small margin of victory could hamper his ability to push through political changes, particularly because Macri does not have a majority in either house of congress.
But the president-elect – who has previously proven his political and managerial nous as Buenos Aires mayor and president of Boca Juniors football club – said he would try to bridge the ideological divide by recruiting talents from all sides into his administration.
“We are going to call on the best,” he said. “We need to search for space for dialogue.”
His fortunes may yet depend on the outgoing president, who remains influential due to her popularity among rank-and-file Peronists, union members and supporters in congress.
Macri said Fernández called to congratulate him on his victory and invited him to the Casa Rosada presidential palace to discuss the transition, which must be completed by 10 December.
But the incoming and outgoing presidents have very different political outlooks. Fernández focused on social programs to address inequality, conducted a centralised economic policy, sought closer trade ties to China and Iran, and aligned herself regionally with like-minded leftist leaders in Venezuela, Ecuador and Bolivia.
Macri, by contrast, has a more global market-orientated stance and looks likely to strengthen links with the United States.
He said his priority would be economic rejuvenation, tackling inflation – currently at around 30% – and encouraging investment.
“For four years, this country has been standing still,” he said. “We have to see where investment will come from.”
He said he would establish an economic cabinet of six ministers and reassess the country’s much-maligned official statistics. Indicating other changes on the cards, he also said the fixed exchange rate with the dollar was an “error” and complained that the central bank lacks independence.
But perhaps the most dramatic shift could be in foreign affairs, where Macri has threatened to shake up regional alliances. Asked if he still planned to seek the exclusion of Venezuela from the Mercusor trade bloc, Macri confirmed that he would raise the issue of that country’s “human rights abuses”.
“The allegations against Venezuela are clear. They are not invented,” he said.
This could put him at odds with other centre-left governments in the region, which have tended to show solidarity with Venezuela despite concerns about its deteriorating economy and political unrest. But Macri appeared ready to lobby for change.
“We must build relations in Latin America,” he said. His first foreign visit, he announced, would be to Brazil – Argentina’s neighbour and most important trade partner. He has also spoken by phone to the leaders of Uruguay, Chile and Colombia.
Foreign policy changes are likely to encompass a wider area. During the campaign, Macri said he would review a deal with China to build a nuclear power plant in Argentina. And he has rejected Fernández’s 2013 memorandum of understanding with Iran.
Under the terms of the agreement, the two countries agreed to establish a truth commission on the 1994 bombing of a Jewish community centre in Buenos Aires.
Earlier this year, prosecutor Alberto Nisman accused Fernández of signing the deal to cover up Iran’s involvement in the bombing in return for commercial deals. Nisman was later found dead in still unexplained circumstances.
Fernández denied the allegation, but Nisman’s mysterious death cast a shadow over the final months of her presidency.
At his press conference on Monday, Macri was categorical: “We propose the repeal of the memorandum with Iran,” he said.
His outlook is less clear on the territorial dispute with the UK over the Falkland Islands, which are known in Argentina as the Malvinas. While he is expected to take a less strident position than his predecessor, residents of the islands are cautious about the prospects for change.
“Congratulations @mauriciomacri – Be smart. Work with us, not against,” said one Falkland Islands Twitter account.
But another resident of the disputed islands said he was not optimistic about a rapprochement.
“Whilst (Macri) may not attempt the ludicrous Kirchner approach to us, we should be aware that his approach – whilst undoubtedly more subtle – would doubtless have the same aim in sight,” wrote Dick Swale in an email. “I seriously doubt that Falkland Islanders would ever trust Argentine politicians, whoever they might be.”
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