Small business used by Argentina's Macri in a propaganda spot reports having laid off all employees.

[forest444]

The administration of Argentine President Mauricio Macri has launched a series of propaganda spots in recent weeks featuring Argentine workers in a number of different sectors and the interrelationship between each.

The cheerful, 60 second spots were designed to counter a growing perception in Argentina that the right-wing Macri administration has been insensitive - even disdainful - toward the concerns of working-class Argentines and small businesses.

One of these ads, entitled Empezás el lunes ("You start on Monday&quot features Maccari Furniture, a small, family-run furniture maker in the city of Mendoza, and first aired on Tuesday. The owner, Eduardo Maccari, reported however that since the spot was filmed his business has had to lay off all 14 employees - leaving only himself and his family.

"Demand has stopped," he lamented, "and much higher utility rates affect us all."

"We agreed to be part of the spot because we were promised it would serve to encourage young people to find work," Maccari said. "It's a small family business, and now we (the Maccaris) are the only ones left working here. We do sublease space to a few independent carpenters; but we no longer have any employees," he said.

"I am not in favor of anyone, and was promised that the footage would not be used for anything political," Maccari said, adding that he attempted to contact federal government officials about the matter but has not had any of his calls returned.

This is not the first time Macri's use of working-class citizens as props has created controversy since he took office five months ago. His visit to a General Motors plant in Santa Fe Province on May 11 was followed by revelations that a number of "workers" who posed, all smiles, with the president during his visit were in fact hired extras.

An estimated 155,000 Argentines have lost their jobs since Macri enacted a sharp devaluation in December and other austerity policies since then.

At: https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=es&u=http://www.politicargentina.com/notas/201605/14264-el-protagonista-del-spot-del-gobierno-empezas-el-lunes-dijo-esta-todo-parado-y-las-tarifas-nos-afectan-a-todos.html&prev=search

And: https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=es&u=http://www.diarioregistrado.com/politica/denuncian-que-macri-contrato-extras-para-hacerlos-pasar-por-trabajadores_a573c96d87dc32a080ab88dd1&prev=search

[Judi Lynn]

1. Remarkable response to their ad. If only they had known.

It really makes you wonder how a whole country could forget so quickly, doesn't it? They will have all the time they want to regret his "election."

Doesn't look good for the Maccaris for the moment, does it? Don't imagine they'll forget this lesson any time soon.

You've done us a favor by sharing this information we're not going to get from our corporate "news." They'll be denying this kind of stuff ever happened right up until well into the next President's term, if then! Their right-wing masters have too much riding on Macri.