Ambassador Timerman Defends INDEC

Héctor Timerman, Argentina’s ambassador to the U.S., removed his diplomatic hat this week and stepped into the political fray surrounding INDEC, the controversial national statistics institute.

INDEC data are considered unreliable by virtually all independent economists, business leaders, academics, foreign diplomats and statisticians. Nobody trusts the data, even employees of the institute say the data is cooked.

Even members of Cristina Fernández’s own cabinet and officials within the Economy Ministry say off the record that the data are unreliable. A federal court in Argentina even issued a ruling demanding that the government be more transparent about the way it calculates data and arrives at its statistical conclusions.

So why would an otherwise respected diplomat step into the fray and tarnish his reputation and credibility by defending the data? It’s hard to know for sure. But Timerman didn’t merely defend the data, he questioned the motives of those who question it, further muddying the political ground in Argentina. Earlier this week Timerman said it was “irresponsible” to criticize INDEC. 

Timerman said INDEC data are a “matter of science” and shouldn’t be subject to political bickering. That’s ironic coming from someone whose boss has approved of the firing of actual scientists at INDEC and replaced them with political appointees.

UPDATE: I went to INDEC today (Thursday) for the second time this week as part of an effort to better understand changes at the agency. Earlier in the week I met with INDEC staff who are vociferously opposed to changes that have taken place there in recent years. Among others, I meet with Cynthia Pok, who until July 2007 was director of the Permanent Survey of Homes (or EPA as it is known locally). The survey helps measure, among other things, poverty and unemployment. Pok was fired after she said methodological changes at the agency made it impossible to accurately measure poverty. Pok told me that INDEC’s data are “not at all reliable” now. 

Today, however, I met with Nelly Turlione, an INDEC veteran who defended INDEC’s new practices. She said changes at the agency were necessary to end years of corruption at INDEC. She said former INDEC employees are an example of such corruption. Many of these employees, she said, abused their power by selling INDEC data to private consulting firms before it was officially released to the public. (I asked for proof that this happened, but she wouldn’t be able to prove it in court and so couldn’t provide any.) “These people are have one objective, and that is to overthrow the government,” she said, adding that journalists and economists who question INDEC data do so because they represent vested interests. She said Clarín, La Nación, and the television channel TN fall into this category.

You be the judge.

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