L ATIMES.COM TUESDAY, AUGUST 13, 2019A
THE WORLD
BUENOS AIRES — Ar-
gentina stocks sank, the na-
tional currency collapsed
and interest rates increased
Monday after center-right
President Mauricio Macri
was crushed in a primary
vote that was dominated by
a populist ticket that in-
cluded his predecessor.
The result strongly sug-
gested that in the October
general election Cristina
Fernandez de Kirchner
would be returned to power,
this time as vice president to
one of her longtime political
allies, Alberto Fernandez.
Their slate won 48% of
the vote in what experts de-
scribed as a stinging repudi-
ation of the austere econo-
mic programs put in place
by Macri, whose ticket fin-
ished in second place with
32%.
“The size of the loss
speaks to the depth of dis-
gust for Macri’s policies and
the dissatisfaction over the
direction of the country,”
said Carlos Fara, who heads
a political consulting firm in
Buenos Aires. He called the
result a “vote of punish-
ment.” Macri took office in
2015 promising to reignite a
stagnant economy, promote
job growth and end Kirchn-
er’s chummy relations with
like-minded socialist lead-
ers across Latin America.
But Argentina’s financial
situation only worsened
over the last two years as a
recession struck, businesses
closed and about 250,
jobs evaporated. Meanwhile
rampant inflation — averag-
ing 55% in 2019 — outpaced
increases in wages and pen-
sions.
The markets continued
to support Macri. Their
crash Monday reflected in-
vestor fears of a takeover by
populists who would impose
generous but fiscally irre-
sponsible social spending
programs.
The main Argentine
stock index fell 12%, the pe-
so’s value against the dollar
slid by 26% and short-term
interest rates, which had ris-
en recently in anticipation of
a Macri defeat, jumped to a
74% annual rate from 64% on
Friday.
Apart from providing a
preview of the general elec-
tion, Sunday’s primary whit-
tled down the presidential
race to the six tickets that
garnered at least 1.5% of the
vote. If no candidate gets
more than 45% of the vote in
the election scheduled for
Oct. 27, the top two finishers
will face each other in a Nov.
24 runoff.
Macri, whose approval
rating has sunk to below 35%
in recent polls, was not ex-
pected to win the primary.
But the margin of defeatcame as a shock to many. In-
terviews with a dozen voters
leaving polls in and around
Buenos Aires gave hints of
the desperation many peo-
ple feel over the state of the
economy, which entered a
recession earlier this year.
“We voted for Cristina be-
cause we’re much worse off
than we were four years ago,”
said Fabio Croce, 26, a cook
in the lower-class Dock Sud
suburb of the capital. “The
cost of living is going up ev-
ery week and we don’t make
enough to get to the end of
the month. We have friends
who are selling their clothes
to make ends meet.”
In the affluent Almagro
barrio, dissatisfaction with
Macri seemed nearly as
prevalent.
“Who did I vote for? I’m a
retiree. That’s all I should
have to tell you,” said Miguel
Fontenla after voting for the
Fernandez-Kirchner ticketat a high school. “Pensions
have risen a little but the
cost of living has risen by a
lot. We can’t tolerate any
more of this. Everyone we
know is having problems.”
Adrian Foresi, 54, who
owns a plumbing supply
business, explained his vote
this way: “I voted for Cristina
because she will put the
country back on its feet.
There was less unemploy-
ment when she was in power
and she helped people pay
for their studies, to buy
houses. Macri is destroying
industry with all his taxes.
Argentina has lost its pro-
ductive capacity.”
Though Fernandez, a 60-
year-old former Cabinet
chief, is the presidential can-
didate, many voters inter-
viewed identified Kirchner,
66, as the real headliner. She
was president from 2007 to
2015, succeeding her late
husband, Nestor, who heldoffice from 2003 to 2007.
During their administra-
tions, the husband-and-wife
team won followers by ex-
panding the country’s social
programs, generously rais-
ing pensions and doubling
the government payroll to 4
million employees between
2003 and 2015, according to
Juan Luis Bour, an econo-
mist with the FIEL think
tank in Buenos Aires.
But many of their social
programs proved unafford-
able. Starting in 2013, a sharp
decline in commodity prices
helped create a tsunami of
budgetary red ink when
Macri took over.
Jorge Giacobbe, a politi-
cal analyst in Buenos Aires,
gave Macri high marks for
building new highways and
an improved rail system, and
for defending a free press
and independent judiciary.
He added that Macri also
supports a more independ-ent judiciary than did Kirch-
ner. But in the end, “people
vote their pocketbooks,” he
said.
Deepening economic
woes over the last two years
are due in part to a drought
that caused grain yields to
fall last year by 30% from 2017
levels. Moreover, changing
global economic conditions
reduced the flow of invest-
ment to emerging econo-
mies such as Argentina.
Worsening conditions
forced Macri to seek a $56-
billion bailout last year from
the International Monetary
Fund, the largest such loan
in IMF history. But condi-
tions of the loan included
drastic spending cuts that
only alienated more voters.Kraul is a special
correspondent. Special
correspondent Andres
D’Alessandro contributed
to this report.Argentina voters rebuke president
Stocks and currency
plunge after Mauricio
Macri is crushed by
populist ticket.
By Chris Kraul
ASUPPORTERin Buenos Aires holds a small banner showing Alberto Fernandez and Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner after the primary.Tomas F. CuestaAssociated PressKABUL, Afghanistan —
The dull, throbbing sound of
the helicopter breaks the si-
lence of the clear starry
night.
As it approaches, the
swishing of each blade
clearly distinguishable, Ha-
jatullah Gul, 30, and his fam-
ily lie under mosquito nets in
their beds outside, their bod-
ies drenched in cold, nervous
sweat.
“Sometimes they strike in
the village,” Gul’s 6-year-old
son Assad whispers, refer-
ring to the Afghan National
Army. “I’m afraid of them.”
Relief sets in almost in-
stantly as the engine passes
over the family’s eastern Af-
ghanistan compound and
disappears in the distance.
What’s left is adrenaline and
the barking of dogs. Heart
still racing, Gul pulls his
sheets in closer, turns over
and goes back to sleep.
Gul and his family — at
least 20 people including his
brothers and their wives and
children — live, like thou-
sands of others across Af-
ghanistan, in harm’s way.
His village, a cluster of
brown mud compounds built
alongside dusty barren hills
outside Khost city, is host to
many Taliban-affiliated fam-
ilies. The family claims no al-
legiance to the Taliban or
any other militant group, al-
though several members in
the past have worked along-
side U.S. forces or with the
Afghan National Army.
“It’s the crossfire we don’t
want to get caught in,” said
Gul.
Nearly two decades of
warfare since the U.S.-led in-
vasion have left people on all
sides of Afghanistan’s con-
flict afflicted with fear.
And even as peace talks
continue between the U.S.
and the Taliban, the fighting
has taken a turn for the
worse. Last year was the
deadliest yet for civilians
since U.N. records have been
kept in the last decade, with
almost 4,000 civilians killed
and more than 7,000 injured.
More than 60% of the
deaths and injuries last year
were attributed to anti-gov-
ernment elements, mainly
the Taliban and an Islamic
State affiliate; nearly 25%
were caused by pro-govern-
ment forces, according to
the U.N. figures.
The toll this year has
been equally grim. Through
June, almost 4,000 civilians
had been killed or injured,
with increased U.S. air-
strikes playing a role in a
surge of deaths attributable
to pro-government forces.
This year, such deaths have
been more than doublethose caused by anti-gov-
ernment forces, according to
the U.N. statistics.
Further leading to fear
have been statements by
President Trump that he
could wipe Afghanistan off
the face of the Earth and
bring the war to an end in 10
days — even as peace talks
continue in Doha, Qatar.
It’s the Taliban that
Naveed Nazari, a 19-year-old
Afghan police officer, is
afraid of. Two months ago,
his checkpoint on the out-
skirts of Kunduz city in
northern Afghanistan was
attacked, leaving three of his
colleagues dead. With a bul-
let through his left arm, he
was relatively lucky, but he
said both trauma and de-
pression continue to hold
him captive.
“I barely leave the house
these days and I dread the
day I have to go back towork,” he said. “At night, it’s
always the same dream: the
shooting, the attack, the
deaths.” Back in Archi dis-
trict, where his family lives,
most of his friends have
joined the Taliban.
“I could have done the
same, but I wanted to stay
on the government’s side,”
he explained. “Either way,
this war is a dangerous,
scary business, but I hope I
can move on fearlessly again
in the future.”
Fear has had Qary
Khalid, a Taliban command-
er, pack up the white flags
the group often puts out in
its territory. He was afraid
that surveillance drones
might see them and an
airstrike could ensue.
Speaking from his house
in rural Nangarhar province
in the east of the country,
Khalid, covering his face
with a bandanna, said helives in the midst of the fight-
ing. “We’re afraid of U.S. sur-
veillance. If they find any-
thing, they might attack.”
Khalid said his main con-
cern is his two toddlers.
“Last year, our house was
raided by the Afghan army
during a meeting of village
elders. Seven people were
killed. I don’t want my chil-
dren to get caught in the
crossfire.”
Fears aside, the 25-year-
old believes in the Taliban’s
cause and is eager to oust
foreign troops. This, to
Khalid, includes the foreign
fighters who swear alle-
giance to Islamic State.
Bilal Ahmat, a 28-year-
old Pakistani, is one of them.
He arrived in Afghanistan
eight years ago to join the
Taliban, but moved over to
Islamic State two years ago,
having decided that the Tali-
ban had lost its vision.The five things he’s most
afraid of? “The Americans,
the Taliban, the govern-
ment, surveillance drones
and airstrikes.
“I’m not afraid of death,”
he said, belying his jittery de-
meanor.
It’s the sound of helicop-
ters and drones that kept 8-
year-old Hadia Mustaghn
awake at night in rural
Khost province before her
family resettled in the city.
“I woke up to the sound of
an explosion and soldiers
running into our house,” the
young girl explained as she
sat on a metal bed on the
rooftop of her family’s home.
“In the morning, we found
three of my uncles killed.
The soldiers had been using
a gun that doesn’t make a
sound, that’s why we didn’t
know earlier.” Hadia said
that, since the raid seven
months ago, she hasn’t been
sleeping well. It was a CIA-
trained unit of Afghan sol-
diers that targeted her fam-
ily. “I get scared when it
gets dark,” she said. “I still
cry a lot and I have night-
mares.”
Badshah Dullah, 40, who
lives in Gurboz Sarah village
in Khost province, said it
was his father’s fear that led
to the destruction of the
family’s home.
“Fifteen years ago, he was
keeping watch at night, try-
ing to defend and protect us.
He got nervous when Ameri-
can foot soldiers passed by,
so he shot at them.
“They called for an
airstrike, and the house was
destroyed that same night,”
Dullah remembers.
His father has since
passed away. Standing in
the rubble — the family has
been unable to afford to re-
build — he says little has
changed over 15 years.
“No matter what side of
the war you’re on,” he said,
“we all have one thing in
common: fear. And it sits
deep.”Glinski is a special
correspondent.After almost two
decades of fighting,
all sides are united in
dread of what’s next.
By Stefanie Glinski
BADSHAH DULLAH,40, says his family’s home in Gurboz Sarah village in Afghanistan’s Khost province was
destroyed in a U.S. airstrike 15 years ago. The family has been unable to afford to rebuild the home.Stefanie GlinskiFor The TimesWar leaves Afghanistan steeped in fear