Training
The standard of education in Argentina is good according
to Latin American conditions. To this has been contributed
the tradition of "Teaching President" Domingo Faustino
Sarmiento (President of Argentina 1868-74). When Perón took
office in 1946, the quality of teaching declined, mainly
because of political freedom. However, more citizens than
before came to enjoy education by building new schools. Tax
exemption was also introduced for many of them. Less than 3%
of the population is illiterate, which is a lower proportion
than most other Latin American countries. Check topschoolsintheusa for test centers of ACT, SAT, and GRE as well high schools in the country of Argentina.
The education is divided into preschool, compulsory
school, high school, university, other higher education and
alternative education. The preschool covers children from 3
to 6 years and is not compulsory. There are both state-free
and private fee-paying schools. The compulsory school covers
all children in the country from 6 to 13 years of age and is
compulsory, free and confessional. The right to education
derives from the 1853 Constitution; its fifth article
stipulated that each province should be guaranteed free
primary education.
The non-compulsory secondary school has a three-year
lower stage followed by a two-year higher. Higher education
is available at some eighty universities, state and private;
the most sought after programs are medicine and technology.
In addition, "other higher education", such as the training
of nurses and primary school teachers. Since 1958, all
levels of education exist within both the state and the
private school system. All teaching is controlled by the
State Department of Education. The University of Córdoba is
the oldest, founded in 1613. Other well-known universities
are those in Buenos Aires, La Plata, Santa Fe and San Miguel
de Tucumán.
1995 Menem's 2nd term
1995 began with the threat that the Mexican crisis could
spread to the Argentine economy. Finance Minister Domingo
Cavallo therefore implemented state budget reductions and
implemented financial emergency measures. The political
climate in March was clouded by the mysterious circumstances
surrounding the death of Menem's son. He died when the
helicopter he was flying crashed en route north to the city
of Rosario. Menem's former wife and mother of the perished,
Zuleima Yoma, confirmed that the murder was a matter of
fact, despite federal police characterized it as an
accident. In the subsequent presidential election on May 14,
Menem was re-elected with 50% of the vote, while the
ex-Peronist and Frepaso candidate, José Bordón, gained 29%
and the radical Horacio Massaccesi 17%. In August, Economist
Cavallo accused the director of the postal service,
In mid-1996, the number of unemployed exceeded 2 million
and the number of underemployed 1½ million according to
official statistics. Unemployment reached a national average
of 17.1% and in some provinces was over 20%. Foreign debt
had grown by 57% compared to 1991 when the government's
anti-inflation program was launched. In the first months of
96, Menem replaced Finance Minister Cavallo. The new
minister, Roque Fernández, with a doctorate from Chicago,
declared that he would continue his predecessor's policy of
resolving the government deficit, unemployment and crisis.
The murder of photographer José Luis Cabezas from a
government-critical magazine in late January 1997 created
some tension. The Governor of the Province of Buenos Aires,
Eduardo Duhalde, pledged a large bounty of information about
him or his murderers, and managed to involve North American
FBI detectives in the investigation. The investigation led
to a hypothesis that Cabezas had been subject to reprisals
for his investigations into Yabran's activities.
In April and May, the teachers' unions conducted a series
of important protests in Buenos Aires and four provinces in
the interior of the country. At one of these protest
demonstrations in the province of Neuquén, police fatally
wounded a woman. In July, ex-minister Cavallo was sentenced
to a suspended sentence of 4 months for libel, which did
not, however, prevent him from continuing his political
duties. The charge had been brought by lawyer Jorge Kolon -
a former official in the National Customs Administration.
Cavallo had stated in a TV program that Colon was "an
obstacle to the fight against corruption in the customs
system". Cavallo stood accused in 20 similar cases, arguing
that the judges had been deployed by Menem and Attorney
General Carlos Corach, whom Cavallo characterized as "other
of his personal enemies".
The election to the Chamber of Deputies in October was
won by Alianza Electoral, consisting of UCR and Frepaso.
They got 46% of the votes against the 36% of the Peronists.
It was the first time in 51 years the Peronists lost an
election while sitting in government, but they retained
control of the Senate that was not up for election.
In early 1998, the political climate was further clouded
when frigate Captain Alfredo Astiz publicly made statements
about illegal activities during the military dictatorship of
1976-83. Since 1977, Aztiz has been wanted by the French
judiciary for the murder of 2 French nuns, and by Interpol
for refusing to explain to the Spanish courts about the
disappearance of Spanish nationals during the dictatorship.
He had thus become a symbol of the suppression of the
military dictatorship. Following his statements, Aztiz was
removed from his post by President Menem and sentenced by a
military tribunal to 60 days of civilian remand. This
created divisions within the opposition alliance Alianza
Electoral, since Aztiz was subject to the amnesty laws that
had been adopted during the radical term of Raúl Alfonsín.
In March, Swiss State Prosecutor Carla del Ponte revealed
that he ifbm. his investigations into the funds that some
Argentine military people had stolen from the "disappeared"
in the 70's that both Aztiz and other former officers who
had participated in the repression during the military
dictatorship had Swiss bank accounts. A month later, a new
federal Argentine police investigation found that Carlos
Menem's (Jr.) death could be due to an assault. The
gendarmerie confirmed the existence of fragments of a
rough-caliber weapon among the remains of the helicopter, as
well as the remains of lead and antimony used in
projectiles.
The October 1999 presidential election was won by the
opposition's Alianza Electoral. Its candidate, the
radical Fernando de la Rúa, was close to getting 50% of the
vote in the first round. In second place was the peronist
Eduardo Duhalde and in third place with approx. 10% former
Finance Minister Domingo Cavallo. In contrast, control of
the capital was won by a slim majority by former Vice
President and Peronist Carlos Ruckauf.
|
