The speech of the Senator of the Frente de Todos that went viral

Momentous sessions such as Thursday's, in which the Senate approved the agreement with the International Monetary Fund, are scenarios where legislators often make lengthy speeches and use comparisons, phrases or popular terms to support or criticize the subject of discussion. A particularity that crosses all political forces, no one is exempt. And in times when the immediacy of social networks plays its part, a discursive error can become viral; as happened last night to a female legislator from the Front of All when she committed a furcio when she cited a concept.

The protagonist of this situation was the senator from the province of Tucumán, Sandra Mendoza, who, although with her vote supported the Government's negotiation with the IMF, in her speech she criticized the multilateral credit agency.

“The first thing we have to consider when evaluating the terms of this agreement is that when Alberto Fernández's government took office, the International Monetary Fund was already among us with its Domacle sword (sic), which by definition represents the imminent and near danger, that is... a serious threat that must be inexorably faced (sic)”, said the Senator of the Front of All.

Immediately, “Domacle” became a trend on social media and the video of Mendoza's speech snippet went viral on Twitter, with criticism and questioning for his mistake.

According to the information provided by her firm, Mendoza is a lawyer received at the San Pablo T University, in Tucumán and a public hammerman, with a degree awarded by the National University of Formosa. She was a legislator for the province of Tucumán during the periods 2015 - 2019 and 2019 - 2023, resigning from this position in November of last year to become Senator of the Nation.

The legislator tried to use the concept of the Sword of Damocles as Alberto Fernández and leaders of the ruling party have done on some occasions to explain the relationship with the IMF.

On January 28, when the President announced from Quinta de Olivos the principle of agreement to refinance the credit taken by the administration of Mauricio Macri for USD 44 million, said: “We had a rope around our neck, a sword from Damocles, and now we have a path we can walk. Without agreement, we did not have a future horizon. With this agreement, we can order the present and build a future. Compared to previous ones that Argentina signed - and it is good to remember - this agreement does not contemplate any restrictions that delay our development.”

The phrase was later used by the Chief of Cabinet of Ministers, Juan Manzur: “Happily an agreement was reached with the IMF, this implies what the president said, that Argentina had a rope around its neck, it was a sword of Damocles. The debt Macri took was an unrepayable debt, an irresponsible debt, which mortgaged Argentina for several generations.”

The popular phrase refers to the legend of the Greek historian Timaeus of Tauromenius and, as the senator who committed the furcio indicated, it refers to imminent danger. The story told between the 4th and 3rd centuries BC deals with the conquest of Sicily in 316 by Agatocles. Timaeus was forced into exile in Athens, where he began the writing process that was later completed by Diodorus, Cicero and Horace in the 1st century BC.

The courtier Damocles was a constant flatterer of Dionysus I, even though he envied the power granted to him by being in front of the crown. Faced with this situation, the dictator offered to exchange roles for a day so that he could enjoy the experiences of a king.

Damocles enjoyed the pleasures of his temporary title, until during the banquet he looked up and saw a sharp sword hanging over his head tied by a single horsehair. If it broke, the sword would end up cutting off its head.

Realizing the danger, he not only stopped enjoying drinks, meals and being treated like a king, but asked to end the exchange.

This danger that graphs the history of the Sword of Damocles is what Alberto Fernández conceptualized to explain Argentina's relationship with the IMF before the agreement, and which Sandra Mendoza tried to repeat when she made a mistake this Thursday in the Senate session.

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