2023-09-28 03:30:00
Rodolfo Gabriel Medrano*
With infinite sadness, I see my country, endowed with the immense wealth that nature gave us and, however, absurdly mired in material and moral failure.
Without any partisan political intention, but concerned regarding some electoral proposals, which aim to solve our problems, I wanted to make a humble contribution of opinion, without more tools than common sense, frequently absent, and the National Constitution, assiduously violated.
It is the functions of the State to carry out works and provide services. There are three essential and free basic services that must be provided: education, health and safety. – with access to Justice -. There is no justification, nor any legal principle, that allows the tariffing of these services, an objective that a proposal seeks.
Education, along with work, are achievements that have dignified the human condition. Because they make people free. They free them from ignorance and economic dependence, and give them the tools for progress. Also making effective, with free, equality before the law and real equality of opportunities (arts. 16 and 75 inc. 23 of the National Constitution). On the other hand, according to art. 75 inc. 19 of the Constitution, which categorically guarantees… “the principles of free and equitable state public education” …, tariffing is not possible. Impediment to which art. 75 inc. 22, which incorporates with constitutional hierarchy, a number of international treaties, which also guarantee free treatment. Among others: the Convention on the Rights of the Child, art. 28, and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, art. 13.
Health, in the broad sense conferred by the World Health Organization (WHO), as physical, mental and social well-being, is also part of the group of free humanitarian achievements, accessible with real equality of opportunity for all inhabitants. Clear mandatory provisions in the provision of this service guarantee the impossibility of hindering, affecting or distorting its access through tariffs. (American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man, art. XI). (Universal Declaration of Human Rights, art. 25, subsections. 1 and 2).
It should be added that free of charge, although fundamental, is only one of the ingredients of services that must aim to provide excellence. Taking into account (I say this with sadness and without any intention of offense), of the indisputable deficiency with which these services are being provided. Therefore, instead of tariffing them, we should be concerned regarding directing them to an optimal level.
Regarding the proposal to eliminate the Central Bank. Also unconstitutional. Art. 75 inc. 6 of the Constitution: “Establish and regulate a Federal Bank with the power to issue currency, as well as other national banks.” Our Central Bank. I am not aware of any country in the world that lacks its Central Bank or similar institution, with the necessary powers to administer the management of its currency. One wonders how that void would be filled. But, also, it seems absurd to me. Assuming that an institution, of constitutional rank in the formation of the State, does not comply with its obligations, The solution is not its elimination, but rather adopting appropriate measures to comply with them, also avoiding structural damage to the system for which it was created. (Common sense).
Proposals for dollarization and bimonetarism. Although it has nothing to do with the law, first of all, I was terrified by the message that we would be sending to all the countries of the world: we Argentines are so disproportionately inept that we are not even capable of managing our own currency. And we adopted the dollar. Now, to the Law: these proposals are also unconstitutional. Powers of Congress: art. 75 inc. 11: “Have currency stamped, fix its value and that of foreign currencies”… That is, issue our own currency. It should be added that sovereignty finds its support as a legal existence in the Constitution, which enshrines the supreme principles and institutions that make up the State. And among these basic elements, there is always the creation of its own currency, essential for its independent development. In summary, one’s own currency is one of the inalienable elements of sovereignty. Tying ourselves to a foreign currency would imply subjecting ourselves to the innumerable vicissitudes of the economy and finances of the issuing country, in a kind of colonialism, without counting the accumulation of inconveniences that its dubious implementation would require.
Finally, beyond the previous specific issues, I reiterate my conviction that the underlying problem of our country is corruption. States, as an institution, are an abstraction, an entelechy, their fate depends on the quality of the people who make up and direct them. They are human beings who organize and modify reality with their behavior. And people’s behavior is conditioned by their scale of values. Therefore, without a radical cultural change, the recovery of lost moral values, which guide our behavior, there is no possible future. In summary, it is a priority, as indispensable, to focus our efforts on combating corruption at its roots, wherever it occurs, and whoever practices it. Strictly. Without exceptions. Amen.
*Lawyer, former member of the Neuquén TSJ.
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#infinite #sadness
