Argentina's economic collapse last month prevented a Tufts professor from returning to campus for the beginning of the semester. Spanish professor Claudia Kaiser-Lenoir returned to her native Argentina to visit family with the plan to re-enter US on Jan. 14, but did not make it back until two weeks later.
On Jan. 12, Kaiser-Lenoir received a phone call from the airline that, due to the economic crisis, flights leaving the country were being cut back. She was told her flight plan would be diverted through Chile four days later, on Jan. 18.
When she arrived at the airport in Buenos Aires on the 18th, she was turned away due to insufficient documentation. An Argentine citizen and permanent resident of the US since 1978, Kaiser-Lenoir was told new regulations had been imposed by the new Argentine government.
"It is the kind of bureaucratic problem that happens quite often in Argentina," said Kaiser-Lenoir, who is currently applying for American citizenship. With the documentation problem resolved, she was able to find another flight on Jan. 30, allowing her to finally return to Boston.
Kaiser-Lenior said the time spent in Argentina brought out intense emotions regarding her country's political climate and economy.
Argentina, the country with South America's second largest economy, has been teetering on the brink of economic collapse over the last few months after a four-year recession. The recession has led to 20 percent unemployment and a $132 billion dollar national debt. The International Monetary Fund and World Bank have both worked to develop several austerity plans for the nation, but its economy has continued to falter.
"I had seen this coming for quite a long time, but Argentina has gone through a number of crises in the past," Kaiser-Lenoir said. "There were enough indications, though, that the economic model has come to a dead end...this is not just your regular down of an economic cycle."
During her trip, she saw the effect of this crisis on her friends and family in Argentina. Her sister, a university professor, has not received a paycheck since November. A close family friend who was hospitalized has been forced to rely on family members for supplies ranging from cotton, sheets, and saline solution, to food and blood since national healthcare programs have been cancelled.
In tandem with the economic troubles, which have resulted in the devaluation of the Argentine peso, Argentina has also been experiencing severe political and social turmoil. In a two-week period during December, the country had five different presidents. People continue to protest in the streets.
"I didn't realize [how bad it was] until seeing the displays of discontent and despair on the part of the people and the inept reaction of the government," she said. "For instance, I never though I wouldn't be able to come back when I was supposed to."
The political situation exploded on Dec. 22 when police killed 22 peaceful demonstrators. But Kaiser-Lenoir said that "repression, even in that extreme form, is not new- unfortunately- in the history of my country."
She sees "nothing good" in the future of Argentina. "The real tragedy of the country is that, for the past 20 years, it as been subjected to the demands of an economic model dictated fundamentally by the big international financing organizations catering exclusively to the economic interests from abroad."
She compares the Argentine crisis to economic crises in Russia, Turkey, Mexico, and Brazil. "In Argentina, it is the first time it comes combined with a political crisis and a social crisis...It has forced the political and social fabrics to come completely undone, and no one has any clue what to do."
Since her return to Tufts, Kaiser-Lenoir has spoken about the Argentine situation on several occasions. Students have planned a forum for April 2 to discuss the crisis. "There is a growing awareness of the crisis in Argentina...it is symptomatic of much deeper problems that have to do with globalization that are not circumscribed to one particular country...There is a need to understand better what is going on there."
