Opposition: CFK autistic, authoritarian

Gov’t vows to steer the course, not to fall into ‘rightwing’ provocation

Opposition leaders renewed their criticism of Peronist President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner accusing her of being autistic, unlimitedly authoritarian and of disregarding the people after a giant anti-government pot-banging protest on Thursday, while the administration vowed to steer the course and not to fall into “rightwing” provocation.

Teamster Hugo Moyano, the head of the opposition faction of the CGT, said the President “lives in a kind of bubble that doesn’t allow her to see reality. The men who should advise her don’t make her see reality. Things are not the way they say they are, or the way they make her believe they are.

“We are protesting against the government’s despiteful way to address demands,” Moyano, a former ally of Fernández de Kirchner, said in remarks to radio Mitre.

Moyano confirmed that on Tuesday he and other union sectors would decide to call a national strike for November 20 “so that the government listens to workers’ demands.”

The strike is being coordinated with Pablo Micheli, the head of the opposition faction of the smaller CTA.

For his part, Buenos Aires City Cabinet Chief Horacio Rodríguez Larreta said: “People are protesting against crime, inflation and the President not only does not listen to them but she even shows disrespect for them by making ironic statements.”

In her first public appearance after the protest, the President said: “Yesterday (meaning Thursday) there was a very significant event: a new Chinese President was elected.”

Rodríguez Larreta, who belongs to the centre-right PRO party of Buenos Aires City Mayor Mauricio Macri, said: “I consider those remarks to be a lack of respect for millions of people throughout the country.”

Fernández de Kirchner was elected President in 2007 and last year was reelected with 54 percent of the votes.

Many demonstrators protested against alleged plans to reform the Constitution to allow Fernández de Kirchner to be reelected again in 2015.

The centre-left opposition Radical party also lashed out against the President. Julio Cobos, a Radical who served as vice-president for Fernández de Kirchner during her first term (2007-2011), said: “It is most likely that the government will choose to ignore reality once again. They will blame the opposition for failing to offer alternative proposals.”

Hipólito Solari Yrigoyen, the chairman of the Radical National Convention — the party’s leading ruling body — said: “The authoritarianism of the President has no limits. The government’s official policy is to believe that they are the nation and that the rest of the people do no exist.” He also said that the government “lies” when it says that the Radical party lacks proposals.

The administration, meanwhile, said that it will not bow to “rightwing pressures.” Gustavo López, the Presidency’s deputy secretary general, said: “We don’t have to fall into provocation. We must be smart. The only thing we cannot do is to bow to right-wing pressures.