8 June 2015. European Union 2015 - European Parliament. Flickr. Some rights reserved
The concurrence of the Greek referendum and local and provincial/regional elections in several parts of Argentina, including Buenos Aires, has highlighted how the events of late 2001, which ended up in the Argentine "default "of foreign debt, still strongly influence political debate in the country. And not just at a rhetorical level. To have resisted the prescriptions of the Washington Consensus, defied the IMF and sought an alternative economic course is a mixture of patriotic bravery, political determination and resilience that has given meaning and direction to the national epic throughout these years.
A typical feature which tends to repeat itself regularly in Latin American politics is that none of the candidates concede an inch of defeat on election night. According to each candidate’s interpretation and given the percentages obtained, everybody wins. So, on July 5, the candidates made as much as they could of their own results which sparked lively debates among television analysts, regardless of the ideological colour of the channel broadcasting election specials. After the huge disappointment at the defeat – in this case quite undeniable – of the Argentinian soccer national team in the Copa América final the night before, la veda (the ban, currently in force in Argentina, on selling alcoholic beverages on the eve of elections and right until after the publication of the results) had to be endured while enthusiastically playing the other favourite national sport: political controversy.
