YPF's reopening has the support of the population.

247 – Spain is asking the European Union for help in punishing Argentina for the nationalization of YPF, a subsidiary of the Spanish company Repsol. Domestically, the decision by Cristina Kirchner's government has the support of 62% of Argentinians, according to a survey conducted by Poliarquia, an independent public opinion consultancy.

Read the article by Ariel Palacios, from Estado de S. Paulo:

BUENOS AIRES - The expropriation of the YPF oil company, carried out last week by President Cristina Kirchner, has the approval of 62% of Argentinians, according to a survey conducted by Poliarquia, an independent public opinion consultancy. The nationalization of the company is rejected by 31%, while undecided voters make up 7%. The company, which was the Argentine subsidiary of the Spanish Repsol, was expropriated without prior negotiations – and without even compensation – on the orders of President Cristina, who celebrated the "recovery of energy sovereignty".

However, YPF's control has a "critical" backing among Argentinians, since 44% of those surveyed believe that Cristina's government and former president Nestor Kirchner (2003-2007) are responsible for the decline in the country's gas and oil production. A smaller proportion, 36%, believe that the blame lies with the private sector.

A survey by Poliarquia suggests that 49% of respondents believe the expropriation will have a positive impact on the Argentine economy, while 31% believe the effect will be negative. However, 47% of those surveyed admit that the nationalization of the company, taken from Repsol, creates a negative image of Argentina abroad. Only 22% believe that the operation ordered by President Cristina will improve the country's image.

This weekend, Vice President Amado Boudou made it clear that the Kirchner government is emboldened by the support of its own ruling party, the Justicialist (Peronist), part of the opposition, and broad sectors of public opinion.

The vice president, during the inauguration of the Casa Rosada stand at the Buenos Aires Book Fair, stated that the government "is not afraid" of the negative reactions abroad generated by the expropriation of YPF.

"The government will not allow us to be hunted," the vice president stated, referring to the trade retaliations that the Spanish Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy, began applying against Argentina this Saturday. Boudou maintained that "the decisions of the Republic are made in the Casa Rosada (the presidential palace) and are for all Argentinians."

Critics

While Boudou and the rest of the presidential cabinet defended the controversial measure implemented by President Cristina, various sectors of society criticized the expropriation of YPF. In a harsh editorial, the newspaper "La Nación" emphasized that "the right to property has once again come close to disappearing in our country." The traditional Buenos Aires newspaper cites Article 17 of the National Constitution to affirm that the expropriation, as applied by the president, is "illegal": "Property is inviolable and no citizen of the Nation may be deprived of it except by virtue of a sentence based on law. Expropriation for reasons of public utility must be defined by law and previously compensated."

In the case of the expropriation of YPF, the Kirchner government assumed control (51% of the shares, jointly with the governments of the oil-producing provinces) without prior payment. Furthermore, the government made it clear that it will not pay the US$10 billion demanded by Repsol. The amount to be disbursed will be determined by a body of the Argentine state itself, the Court of Auditors, together with the Ministry of Energy.

The art of transgression.

Joaquín Morales Sola, one of the country's leading political columnists, indicated in "La Nación" that President Cristina Kirchner orchestrated the most significant Argentine transgression since the celebratory default on public debt by former President Adolfo Rodríguez Saá in December 2001. According to Morales Sola, "Kirchnerism has made transgression an art and has rendered legal certainty almost nonexistent."