Rise of the Argentine Empire

On March 18th, a few days before the start of the semester,

Saint Hesser was invited to Arturo's office by Congressman Luis.

Clearly, the upper echelons of the Radical Civic Union also felt that simply issuing orders was no longer appropriate.

In their view, Saint Hesser was indeed quite capable, even though he was still very young and hadn't even graduated from university.

But that wasn't a problem.

They also wanted to meet the young man who had recently been stirring up trouble and roiling Argentine public opinion.

They sat in another office next door and could see and hear the conversation between the two men through a one-way mirror.

This was Arturo's request, so as not to put too much pressure on the young man.

Arturo, as someone who had deeply studied the oil industry, also had a strong interest in the steel industry.

Therefore, he specifically asked Allende to come and discuss things in detail, and also to tell Saint Hesser about the situation in Congress.

Saint Hesser appeared more composed this time.

In fact, Saint Hesser was about the same age as their children, but they often lacked the same excellence as this young man and still needed experience.

These were basically all Argentine political giants.

Even if some of them didn't hold official positions, a single election could directly elevate them to high office.

This was the strength of the Radical Civic Union, and it was also a characteristic of capitalist countries; one didn't always have to be in a political office.

Saint Hesser saw Arturo again.

He was still in good shape, with piercing eyes, somewhat different from the restrained demeanor he had shown during their last meeting.

As soon as Saint Hesser entered, he said:

"Cohen, you did a great job organizing this steel conference.

The Propaganda Department has also been doing very well recently.

If you weren't so busy with your studies, I would have directly appointed you as the Deputy Director of the Propaganda Department."

Arturo also expressed his approval of some of the work of the Butcheng Propaganda Department.

Luis didn't leave but quietly sat beside them, listening.

"These are all duties within my purview.

It's all thanks to the efforts of the party members below; they executed things very well.

I only started things off," Saint Hesser said quickly.

He showed neither self-aggrandizement nor undue humility and was willing to share the credit with his subordinates, which pleased everyone present.

Saint Hesser also knew that his biggest weakness in Argentine politics was his lack of a deep background.

Therefore, if he could gain the appreciation of some people, it would greatly help him in the future.

Unless necessary, he should also try not to offend anyone, at least until his wings were fully grown.

"This achievement will be noted for now.

You can interact more with some people from the Youth League.

The Youth League is a subordinate organization of our Radical Civic Union, mainly composed of young people."

"I will also have the people from the Butcheng Youth League contact you more.

I heard that you started a New Youth Alliance, which is excellent."

"Okay, Mr. Chairman."

"You can call me Allende.

Getting back to the main topic, Cohen, your understanding of industrialization is quite profound.

Where did you learn all this, especially your understanding of the steel industry?

It's quite profound; it can be said to exceed that of the Radical Civic Union's steel mill owner."

As soon as Arturo finished speaking, he turned the topic to Saint Hesser, his intention very clear.

He wasn't someone who liked to beat around the bush.

"This is mainly due to reading more books, practicing more, and learning more, plus General Thompson's help."

Saint Hesser could only pick and choose from his own experiences.

This was a secret he was guarding carefully, so he shifted the blame to Commander Thompson, which was perfect.

"You're indeed a genius.

To be able to learn and comprehend these things from books and put them into practice diligently already surpasses 99% of Argentine young people.

Thompson, that guy, to be able to rise from the City Defense Force is indeed a remarkable figure.

The Cohen City Military Aircraft Manufacturing Plant is our first high-tech company in Argentina.

It seems to be highly valued by Peron.

Back then, they could even produce cars, motorcycles, and tractors."

Damn, was that factory so amazing?

He hadn't heard of it at all when he was in Cordoba.

If he had known about this, he would have definitely poached their talent to make motorcycles and tractors.

It's not too late now.

Rhein Industrial's Philip will soon return from Japan.

When the time comes, he'll have him go to Cohen City to find more people.

It's better to use people from his own country; after all, foreigners are still people from other countries.

"Many of your views are correct.

Our country has taken many detours in the last ten years or so.

Relying solely on selling resources is not a promising path.

I heard that Europe is recovering and developing very quickly.

Argentina, relying on selling resources during World War II, has fallen behind again."

In fact, this is a kind of "resource curse."

This profound theory wouldn't be discovered by the Americans until 40 years later.

Of course, Saint Hesser couldn't release this theory in advance; no one would believe him if he did.

"Mr. Allende, in the world, there is also a non-European country that is developing very quickly, and that is Japan.

Their economic recovery and development have been very rapid."

Saint Hesser added that Japan would surpass the Soviet Union economically in just over thirty years, becoming the world's second-largest economy.

And sixty percent of the Soviet Union's economy was related to the military industry.

In a few years, after Stalin's death, it could be said that the Corn Emperor was largely to blame, or so he thought.

"Is that so? Japan is too distant and unfamiliar to us.

If I have the opportunity, I want to learn more about it.

Can you tell me your reasons?"

Arturo admired the American system the most, because it was the world's largest economy, followed by Western Europe.

As for Japan, it was too far away, and he wasn't very interested.

"Yes, Europe itself has many traditional powers, and Japan has managed to transform from a feudal country into one of the world's top ten industrial powers in just over a hundred years, which is indeed worth our learning."

"An industrial system is an admission ticket, an industrial system is a bargaining chip, and an industrial system is even more the foundation of national welfare.

The opportunities for any country and nation to establish this system are actually few and far between, because without this ticket, Argentina will repeatedly miss historical opportunities in the future."

The middle-income trap: without its own industrial system, it is basically impossible to cross over.

Latin American countries have basically been wiped out; they have been fooled into de-industrializing.

Production-oriented countries are much better at resisting risks than consumption-oriented countries.

"Japan is developing very quickly now.

They are rebuilding a completely new steel industry.

I heard that a new Japanese steel company, with a capital of only 1.4 million US dollars, is planning to invest 45 million US dollars to build a new integrated steel plant with blast furnaces."

Saint Hesser couldn't do such a big thing, and Argentina's financial environment wasn't very good.

His investment in the La Plata Steel Plant exceeded 12 million US dollars, and his assets far exceeded those of Kawasaki Steel, this Japanese company.

"This Japanese factory is called Kawasaki Steel, a very young steel company, which in my opinion, is itself a miracle.

The reason why this matter has attracted high social attention in Japan is because it has broken the economic control dominated by Japanese bureaucrats, which can be called another miracle."

This matter basically only spread in Japan; even the Americans disdained it, let alone the Argentines.

He told the story in detail, embellishing it.

This matter was basically told to him by Philip in a telegram, and Saint Hesser directly told him to learn from this Japanese person.

What he did was very great for Japan, almost reshaping the spirit of Japan, which had lost its soul after the war.

"As for our Argentina, the social cohesion is also showing a continuous weakening trend.

Some people are even planning to leave Argentina and immigrate to other countries.

In fact, when I heard about this, I was very shocked.

The rise of a country is bound to be the reshaping of the people's spirit.

I am cheering for the steel industry for this reason, to learn from this Japanese company."

Argentines are already showing signs of "if I'm not welcome here, I'll be welcome elsewhere."

For example, the son of the director of the Cidec Cement Plant in Meitan Town has already immigrated to the United States.

If Cidec wasn't already in his 50s, he might have immigrated as well.

This is actually a drawback of immigration countries.

Saint Hesser must stop this situation.

There are already few Argentines, and reshaping the national spirit is the right solution.

"Nishiyama Yataro, who has continuously created miracles this year, is also a person with a rebellious spirit who does not bow to powerful forces."

Saint Hesser added that some of the people present were also silent.

In fact, the Radical Civic Union opposed the dictatorial government, but they were in a weak position, and their resistance was not fierce.

"Our Argentina has been suppressed by strong forces for a long time, and in this environment of submission, it is difficult to produce leaders with a pioneering spirit.

Leaders like Mr. Arturo, who are tough, are actually very scarce.

Although these people in Japan are also facing the harsh reality of 'the nail that sticks out gets hammered,' they never give in and always insist on the indomitable fighting spirit of being hammered but still sticking out, which is what I want to learn."

After Perón came to power in 1946, he vigorously promoted Peronism, which advocated dictatorial rule. Peronism became a national political symbol of Argentina. This history of dictatorial rule has actually accompanied Argentina for more than a hundred years after its independence. The resistance of the Argentine people has never stopped, but it has always been suppressed.

"What you said is very good, except that some of the words are not quite in place, but I think the rest is very reasonable."

Most of the people present nodded seriously, obviously Saint-Hesse's views were also relatively profound. Even if he was still a bit naive in politics, ignoring the flattery, these words were already quite remarkable.

"With the expansion of agricultural exports, land ownership is becoming more and more concentrated, while a large number of farmers have no land to cultivate. In the city, industries related to agricultural exports have spawned a wealthy class.

The start of manufacturing has also created a group of nouveau riche, while countless urban residents cannot escape poverty due to unemployment. Perón's high welfare policy is actually beneficial to urban residents, but it is not sustainable because the wealth pie cannot be made bigger, and may even shrink and eventually disappear."

In fact, although Argentina's industrial scale is not large, it was still somewhat promising in the previous ten years. Now, however, it is all because of the customs taxes that harm its teammates, plus the fact that the first five-year plan is almost entirely related to light industry and export agricultural product processing. Heavy industry and the steel industry have made no progress and are half-dead. Saint-Hesse looked at Argentina's industrial data over the years with a look of emotion.

Resource-rich countries are never short of luck. In the 1940s, Argentina took advantage of the loopholes in World War II and once again abandoned the primary food processing and other primary industries that it had managed to establish. It sold various resources in large quantities, and its GDP was able to maintain a growth rate of over 6%.

However, this rapid advance and scorched-earth export led to the breeding of corruption, triggering social injustice and greater turmoil, coupled with the prevalence of conservative ideology.

This is why Saint-Hesse's theory of a strong steel country has a market. Argentines have solved the doubts in their hearts. Why is it that the more they develop, the less money they have? The heavy industry in Argentina in later generations started in the 1960s, which was already a bit late. The world situation has changed drastically.

At least the cost will be several times higher than it is now, and the difficulty will also increase a lot, making national original accumulation even more difficult.

In order to satisfy the needs of nationalists and workers, Perón nationalized a large number of energy, telecommunications, railway, and electricity companies. Since workers' strikes were legal rights, they often demanded a 30% salary increase, high vacations, and high wages. In the end, the heavy industry and chemical industry that had just been pulled up existed in name only.

Argentina used a policy of gradually replacing primary product exports with light industrial product exports to drive economic development and achieve industrialization, which belongs to the first stage of import substitution industrialization.

Saint-Hesse didn't say these words later, and the topic turned to other aspects. Public opinion warfare is also a key point.

"For this public opinion war, I only have one request: do nothing that harms national interests and do not organize strikes."

Arturo's request coincided with Saint-Hesse's. He didn't want to be in the limelight and be targeted for the time being.

"Okay, this is also my own opinion."

Saint-Hesse nodded in agreement, and then said,

"Everyone makes mistakes, and the government's decisions cannot always be right, so this is not the main point of our attack. Our common goal is to make the country's future development better."

"Well, it's good that you understand. Even the Radical Party won't help too much or too deeply. This cannot become a confrontation between the two sides, and the Radical Party cannot mobilize all its strength."

Saint-Hesse also discussed some things with Arturo Lao. He didn't leave until three full hours later.

"Allende, Luis, Nick, Mick, Ron, what do you think of this kid Cohen?"

The person on the other side of the office opened the door and came out from inside. Arturo raised his head, smoothed his hair, adjusted his glasses, and said slowly:

"I think he's doing a great job. He's very young, very motivated, and has his own organization and methods."

Luis said.

"It's great. When I was in college, I couldn't do such a big thing."

"A very interesting young man."

"We can help him in the future."

"Indeed, he's pretty good."

"He is indeed a good seedling and can be cultivated."

Arturo and his important teammate Allende exchanged glances.

There is no doubt that the Radical Party may have a major reshuffle in the future.

The Radical Party is indeed splitting internally now. The ideologies of the conservatives and the hardliners are incompatible. They are also examining some young seed players. Saint-Hesse is very suitable for their hardliners, but he is a bit too young. He has practical ability, but he still needs to be trained.

"Luis, you can take care of Cohen more. This person is very suitable for our hardliners and cannot be pulled away by those old guys and softies of the conservatives."

Arturo set the tone.

"Okay, Chairman."

Luis was noncommittal. Whether this young man is a tiger cub or a flea, we may know soon.

… …

To the west are the majestic Andes Mountains, and to the east is the endless Atlantic Ocean. Apart from Brazil, there are no strong countries around, and the national defense environment is extremely safe. Successive presidential palaces and companies have neither attached importance to nor been eager to develop the foundations of industrial systems such as chemical industry and steel.

Now, all parties in Argentina are attacking the presidential palace by attacking customs taxes. This public opinion war initiated by Saint-Hesse has begun to be supported by the whole country. To be honest,

the impact of customs taxes on Argentina's fragile industry is indeed devastating, but at least there is still a breath left to rescue it. From the fact that Saint-Hesse's establishment of the Import and Export Association can attract 400 members and the popularity of the steel conference fundraising activities, it proves that Argentina's foundation is still good, but the direction is wrong.

The characteristic of this public opinion is that it is relatively mild. Everyone is not causing trouble. Although the headlines of the newspapers are exaggerated, every sentence in the article expresses regret for the fact that the country cannot be strong, the nation cannot be revitalized, and the factory continues to decline. Patriotic theories are overflowing, and therefore it has won the sympathy of the people across the country, calling for national policies to reach a time when they must be changed.

The Radical Party is even lobbying through Congress, rather than relatively extreme methods such as strikes, so the presidential palace is still very decent. It is impossible for a government to make all the right decisions.

This is the first and most important tone of Saint-Hesse's public opinion campaign this time. It can be criticized but never tries to confront. Arturo and the others also feel that there is no need to engage in internal friction on this kind of thing, because it takes a lot of effort and there is not much benefit. Saint-Hesse's relationship with them is not so deep, so limited help is provided, and support is shown.

The same is true for the people in the Import and Export Association. The military also agrees with the non-confrontational approach, after all, this is not a political struggle or a power struggle, but just a modification of wrong decisions.

The labor union movement has lost its original purpose in the past few years, and they have become tools for new rent-seekers.

… …

March 22, two days after the start of the new semester.

The presidential palace, under pressure from all sides of the country, supported the modification and reduction of tariffs, and the Congress also successfully passed the new customs bill.

Argentina will implement a brand-new tariff policy, a trade protection policy, which has caused some sensation in Latin America.

Among them, two core policies have also caused a sensation in the country. When Argentina was the strongest, it implemented a free trade policy, which led to the country being controlled by British and American capital.

Then Perón came to power and implemented a failed trade protection policy, which was actually a malformation, but the new policy is indeed very suitable for Argentina at present.

The new policy is as follows,

First, take various measures to restrict imports to protect its domestic market from competition from foreign goods, and provide preferences and subsidies to its domestic export goods to encourage their exports and reduce export tariffs.

Second, for industrial production equipment, machine tools, especially equipment useful for heavy industrialization such as steel and chemical industry, the most-favored-nation tariff is adopted, and private investment and bank support are encouraged.

In the next few days, supporting policies for equipment imports in industries including electrical, electronic, automobile, and shipbuilding will also be introduced.

When Saint-Hesse heard about the tariff policy changes, he waved his fist vigorously. Argentina's future has completely turned around, and his goal is to preserve this achievement.

At least the equipment of the steel plant does not need to pay high tariffs, and exports do not need to go through too many smuggling channels. With just this one change, Argentina will definitely be able to stop the downward trend in the next few years, cultivate a new batch of companies, and even if it is implemented well, the national treasury will receive a lot of new taxes from customs.

A gust of early autumn wind blew by. Saint-Hesse stood on the balcony of the consulting company, holding the railing, holding a newspaper in his hand, and threw it on the ground.

"Argentina seems to be changing, it's getting more and more chaotic, I hope it's in time."

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