CDs. Javier Garbarini
Director of Cooperative Ties and Mutualist Ties
BUENOS AIRES
News reports in recent days warn that the National Institute of Associativism and Social Economy could be targeted as part of the state restructuring undertaken by the Government.
Over the last 40 years, we have had a Secretariat for Cooperative Action (SAC) back in the 80s, a National Institute for Cooperative Action (INAC) in the early 90s, a merger in terms of the promotion and supervision of cooperatives and mutuals in the mid-90s, the National Institute for Cooperative and Mutual Action (INACyM). Then the idea of being more comprehensive led to the National Institute for Associativism and Social Economy (INAES) from the 2000s until now.
Beyond the resources that provoke the categorization assigned by each past Government or this one that is administering, the truth is that we are witnessing a degradation of the values that the cooperative and mutual system holds, where the denomination does not matter but the manifest lack of interest in oneself and others.
We are all responsible, with varying degrees of participation. By action or omission, we have allowed a noble movement, with a history, dignity and non-negotiable principles and values, to be discredited. Some interested parties and others complacent have caused a debacle in the recognition of cooperatives and mutuals.
Successive administrations have not protected or promoted the sector, but rather have prioritised partisan interests. Higher-level entities have dispersed, to the extent that many federations and confederations have been created which, instead of being strengthened, have been weakened and have little representativeness. In order not to escape the issue, we, who write in the few media outlets in the sector, could not and cannot move a needle so that officials and society listen and know what values we are talking about.
We all have to take responsibility for why we have reached this point. We still have time to avoid further degradation, to stop being victims and become protagonists again.
2024-07-31 03:08:00