Pasaron cosas

Veníamos bien, pero de golpe pasaron cosas (Spanish pronunciation: [paˈsaɾoŋ ˈkosas], English: "Things happened" or "We were doing well, but then things happened all of a sudden") or simply abbreviated as pasaron cosas, is a phrase that was uttered by Mauricio Macri, former president of Argentina on 17 June 2018 during an interview with Jorge Lanata, well-known for being a fervent opponent of kirchnerism as well of the austere policies of Macri, while trying to justify the worsening of the country's economic situation in the last two months,[1] in which an exchange rate run occurred that culminated in the resignation of the president of the Central Bank of Argentina, Federico Sturzenegger on 14 June, while resigning to the post, it was left an erratic accumulated inflation of 95% and a devaluation of the peso of 175%.

During his period as head of government of the city of Buenos Aires during his term (2007-2015), Mauricio Macri, leader of the Republican Proposal centre-right political party (PRO), had pointed out Argentina's inflation on numerous occasions as one of the main shortcomings of the previous two national governments of the Frente para la Victoria (FpV), a centre-left political party led first by Néstor Kirchner's term, and then by his wife, Cristina Kirchner, during 2003 until 2015.

During an interview on Argentine TV program on 30 January 2014, Macri, seen at the time as a potential candidate for the presidency, affirmed that high inflation was a "demonstration of management inability".

"[14][15] After Sturzenegger's resignation, Macri granted an interview with journalist Jorge Lanata on the investigative program Periodismo para todos, which was broadcast on 17 June 2018.

Macri: No, puede haber, por supuesto, mucha gente que quiere que las cosas vuelvan para atrás, pero esto es más profundo, y a la vez... superficial.

The phrase was the subject of numerous criticisms from the entire population, mainly from the peronist opposition and the overwhelmed and impoverished middle class, including a press release from an independent intellectual group "La Fragata",[17] which quickly became an internet meme.

[19] In addition, Macri's phrase served as a title for a book of social criticism by the Argentine announcer, humorist and influencer Pedro Rosenblat, as well as being a subject of study as an example of the "failure of Argentine neoliberalism", adding that it was too early for a centre-right government to wipe out "70 years of Peronist political control", since Macri was the first democratic elected president in almost a century who wasn't either a Radical or a Peronist.

[20][21] Since then, the phrase is usually used in the media or social networks to refer to a negative turn of events for a person or entity that occurs suddenly, after a period prolonged due to prosperity or advantage, as seen in the first half of his term.