Thousands of Argentines on Friday protested the government's bid to secure a credit line from the International Monetary Fund, which they blame for hardship during a past financial crisis.
Opposition parties, unions, human rights organizations and artists took part in the march near the capital Buenos Aires’ emblematic obelisk, under the banner “the country is in danger.”
President Mauricio Macri announced earlier this month that Argentina would start talks with the IMF and seek a credit line to finance his government, following a sharp drop in the value of Argentina's peso.
The unexpected move surprised investors and stoked Argentines’ fears of a repeat of the nation’s devastating 2001-2002 economic collapse.
Marching on the holiday commemorating the Revolucion de Mayo, which led to Argentina's independence from Spain in 1816, demonstrators draped themselves in the white-and-sky blue national flag. They also held banners protesting high inflation and rises in fuel and transportation costs.
Protesters snarled traffic as they blocked some of the city's busiest streets in a march that was organized by some of the country's largest unions and human rights groups and drew popular musicians, actors and other artists.
A survey by pollsters D'Alessio Irol/Berensztein said 75 percent of Argentines feel that seeking assistance from the IMF is a bad move.
Many Argentines blame IMF-imposed austerity measures for worsening the crisis, which impoverished millions and turned Argentina into a global pariah after the government defaulted on a record $100 billion in debt.
Former President Cristina Fernandez said Friday that it was "a tragedy" to be asking for IMF help, in her first public comment since Macri's May 8 announcement.
Fernandez and her late husband and predecessor as president, Nestor Kirchner, renegotiated or paid off most of Argentina debt after the collapse, kept energy cheap through subsidies and dug deep into the treasury to redirect revenue to the poor through handouts.
For a few years, Argentina enjoyed fast growth fueled by Chinese demand for its agricultural commodities, but then demand waned and economic growth fell. Macri inherited myriad economic problems from Fernandez, including an inflation rate estimated at about 30 percent.
Since taking office in 2015, he has focused on cutting government spending and ending economic distortions blamed for years of spiraling consumer prices. Macri has also been credited with resolving a long dispute with creditors to return Argentina to global credit markets.
But he has faced labor protests after ordering thousands of layoffs of public workers and raising utility rates while Argentines continue to lose purchasing power amid one of the world's highest inflation rates.
