Please find attached a number of recent articles which provide
details on the privatisation program of the Menem government,
including names of companies, difficulties and criticisms faced by
the program. These documents state that public companies of a wide
range of fields including military, transport and energy, are
undergoing or have undergone privatisation. Some of the attachments
report cases of corruption within public companies slated for
privatisation, such as the state phone and airline companies
(Associated Press 24 Jan. 1991) and the Greater Buenos Aires power
company "Segba" (
Latin American Weekly Report 17 May 1990,
10) and . Also reported is the eavesdropping of presidential
advisors, possibly by intelligence services in complicity with
private interests, in a case related to the privatisation of the
state telephone company "Entel" (
Ibid. 21 June 1990, 11 and
Buenos Aires Herald 7 June 1990, 11).
Various sources have reported protests and strikes by employees of
the state railway company, apparently related to the proposed
privatisation of the company. Various reports also indicate the
government passed a decree curtailing the right to strike among
workers of essential public services.
More information on the railroad service strikes, corruption and
other related issues can be found among the Argentina news
summaries available at your Regional Documentation Centre. Those
news items include an article mentioning that while the proceeds of
most public companies would go to the government, the money
generated by the sale of military industries will go to the Armed
Forces (
The Economist 14 June 1991). This article also
mentions a possible reduction of military service, from one year to
six months, and the recent doubling of the number of conscripts,
information which is pertinent to one of your information requests.
Bibliography
Latin American Weekly Report [London]. 17 May 1990. Menem Hits Out
at `Knot of Corruption'."
FBIS-LAT-90-111. 8 June 1990. "Maria Alsogaray Blames SIDE for
Phone Taps" in
Buenos Aires Herald [Buenos Aires, in
English], 7 June 1990.
Associated Press. 24 January 1991."Argentine President Launches
Anti-Corruption Drive" (NEXIS).
The Economist. 14 June 1991. "The Condor is Grounded."
Attachments
Southern Cone Report [London, U.K.]. 4 July 1991. "Drastic Defence
Cuts Cause Unrest."
_____ . August 1990. "All-embracing Privatisation in
Argentina."
Latin American Weekly Report [London]. 25 April 1991.
"Corruption Row Won't Go Away."
_____ . 4 April 1991. "After the `Big Four', Another 67 Sales."
_____ . 28 March 1991. "Aerolíneas and Oil Deals in
Trouble."
_____ . 21 March 1991. "YPF Oilfields Attract Foreign
Companies."
_____ . 16 August 1990. "Menem wants firing squad back."
_____ . 5 July 1990. "New Big Push for Carlos Menem."
_____ . 21 June 1990. "Bugs, Squabbles and More Delays."
_____ . 17 May 1990. "Menem Hits Out at `Knot of Corruption'."
_____. 8 February 1990. "Menem Engages in Tricky Juggling."
Current History [Philadelphia]. February 1991. "Argentina's
Economic Reform." pp. 57-60.
FBIS-LAT-90-111. 8 June 1990. "Maria Alsogaray Blames SIDE for
Phone Taps" in
Buenos Aires Herald [Buenos Aires, in
English], 7 June 1990.
