The Financial Times reports the latest squirrelly behavior of the Argentine government vis-a-vis the financial crisis and U.S. court-mandated sovereign bond default. It is the opinion of FT that things there are headed for more trouble.
Paradoxically, confrontation with foreign lenders and international firms suits Fernandez's political aims perfectly. She is a populist who is committed to protecting the descamisados (literally "shirtless ones") aka the Argentine poor and laboring class against the depredations of the domestic wealthy as well as multinational firms and organizations.
In practice, this means giving the poor things they have not earned by working for them. Peronist shtick causes this richly endowed country to be eternally on the economic ragged edge of disaster. Politics matter.
