Story of an announced campaign: presentation of ‘Sinceramente’ in the FILBA

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On May 9 was the presentation of Sinceramente by Cristina Fernandez de Kirschner on the FILBA and more than 20,000 people attended

It had already been a media boom and now, with what happened during her presentation, she made her memoir put on everyone's lips. This happens not at any time in Argentine history, but when the presidential elections are approaching and Macri's popularity is on the floor.

Leer en español: Relato de una campaña anunciada: presentación de Sinceramente en la FILBA

The book arrived as if it had fallen from the sky for the publishing and booksellers directory. After the first hour of its sale, the first 20,000 copies were finished, as mentioned by the editorial director of Penguin Randomm House Argentina. Only 12 days later, they had already gone through the 300,000 printed books. An unprecedented event in the Argentine publishing world.

Also, with the book came some news: that CFK was not going to receive the profits for copyright because of the embargo that it has, that this confirmed the launch to the presidency, that with the book she showed that it has become more democratic, etc. Beyond whether some of the previous statements are true or not, the truth is that the words spoken during the presentation showed that the former president is everything, except a minor figure in the political landscape of Argentina.

Préambulos and environment of the presentation

Two things have to be highlighted before talking about what CFK has said. First, a book fair does not usually attract politicians, journalists and famous people in a single day and less to the same room. Second, they do not usually transmit a conversation on the premises of the fair, nor on the outskirts of it on a public street. All this happened sincerely.

On the one hand, special invitations were given to important figures from the Argentine cultural and political world, without which they could not access the Jorge Luis Borges room, where the presentation took place. As stated on the page of the foundation of the book, the organizer of the fair, "Access to the event was with a special invitation, which was given directly by the publisher and the organizers. Among the guests there were references of culture, politicians, and journalists ". So, as expected and as the Clarín mentioned, "without the presence of any Peronist governor, the first row was reserved for social, cultural and human rights referents such as Estela de Carlotto, Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, Teresa Parodi, and Cecilia Roth- and the political leader Alberto Fernández "

On the other hand, giant screens were put on the premises where the fair was set up, both inside and outside on the side that borders Av. Sarmiento. It goes without saying that both places were filled with supporters of Kirschner and Peronists. In the official video of the presentation, men, women, and children are shown with flags of Argentina, with blue scarves with the signature of CFK, all singing bars in support of the former president. According to Perfil, police authorities expected 20,000 people

It may interest you: 'Sincerely' by Cristina Fernández de Kirchner: a memoir or a presidential campaign?

Kirschner's speech

With all this audience and expectation, Kirschner's speech began. Yes, speech, no discussion or discussion. Even though at her side was the president of the Book Foundation, Maria Teresa Carbano, and the director of Penguin Random House Argentina, Juan Boida, for more than 30 minutes only Cristina spoke. There were no questions from the interlocutors, nor from the public, nor conversation.

Contrary to what Carbano said at the beginning, "our fair is a space for multiple voices and is an unparalleled stage for debates and we consider that to be welcome", the presentation was practically a monologue.

Now, the words of CFK dealt with how the idea of the book came about, how the writing process was and, above all, the anecdotes that led Kirschner to develop certain political ideas. For example, she said "In the last part of the epilogue, I'm talking about populism (…) it's like we have the little sign, if we put here (pointing to the chest), if we put here 'populist', I would be a populist," What followed was a story about the jobs that were created by the Kirschner, about 2,300 million jobs that were opened after the 2001 crisis.

Neither did the reference to Perón and the collaboration with businessmen during their mandates. In this regard, she mentioned "I remember the social pact of Perón and José Ber Gelbard Barrio, a great business leader", followed by the exhortation "We also need business leaders of this magnitude, we need leaders who think to the company as an instrument of development of the country and not only as an instrument of their personal development". Affirmations like this gave it a greater tone of political discourse.

Moreover, she not only remembered the Peronist era but also launched her judgment on what Argentina needs at that time. After commenting that "of course nobody in times of discourses of unity, of great agreements, between political sectors, diligence, social, union, nobody can disagree with these statements", CFK enunciated what for her is the solution for the moment of current crisis "let me tell you that something more will be necessary: a social contract for all Argentines and all Argentines, with verifiable goals, quantifiable, enforceable", even the title "Social contract of responsible citizenship"

With the above, in case there were doubts, the former president turned the presentation of a book into a political discourse in which she began to launch her judgments and ideas for her expected launch to the presidency, which was believed to be happening that day. As mentioned by some of the guests, she is likely to wait until the last day of registration at 11:45 to announce it.

Finally, we must rescue the call to dialogue that she seeks with her book. "I sincerely want this book to serve Argentines as an instrument for discussion, debate (…) is simply an instrument to discuss, to debate, and from experience, because what we say there we do not say in a congress of edge, "she said about the purpose of his book. Hopefully, the same attitude will continue when the presidential debates take place.

LatinAmerican Post | Juan Gabriel Bocanegra

Translated from "Relato de una campaña anunciada: presentación de Sinceramente en la FILBA"