News of 2019

Global pandemic

Bolivian leader Áñez, Venezuela's Cabello test positive for Covid-19

09-07-2020 22:41 Bolivia's interim president Jeanine Áñez announced Thursday that she has tested positive for coronavirus. Venezuela's Constitutional Assembly President Diosdado Cabello, widely considered the second-most powerful person in the country, also contracts virus.

BOLIVIAN POLITICAL CRISIS

Exiled Morales pulling Bolivia's political strings as polls loom

02-07-2020 03:04 Though he remains banned from running in September's election and facing arrest if he returns, Bolivia's first indigenous president is masterminding opposition to right-wing interim leader Jeanine Añez.

ECONOMIC INDICATORS

INDEC: Economy contracted by 5.4% in first quarter of 2020

23-06-2020 20:37 Unemployment rose to 10.4% in the first three months of the year, before the coronavirus lockdown kicked in, national statistics bureau reveals.

BOLIVIAN POLITICAL CRISIS

Bolivian Parliament approves new date for pandemic-delayed election

10-06-2020 19:17 New date of September 6 approved for the country's coronavirus-delayed general election, although the decision must still be ratified by interim President Jeanine Añez.

BOLIVIAN POLITICAL CRISIS

Pandemic-delayed Bolivian election set for September 6

02-06-2020 18:54 The election – called after the annulment of a controversial poll in October – was originally due to take place on May 3 but was postponed indefinitely in March with Bolivia in virus lockdown.

ECONOMIC INDICATORS

Unemployment rate dropped to 8.9% in last quarter of 2019

27-03-2020 00:01 Argentina's unemployment rate fell in the fourth quarter of 2019, the INDEC national statistics bureau revealed Thursday, adding that underemployment rose.

ECONOMIC INDICATORS

Argentina's shrank 2.1% in 2019, reports INDEC

21-02-2020 18:00 Argentina's recession-hit economy shrank by 2.1 percent in 2019, the INDEC national statistics bureau announced Friday.

BOLIVIAN POLITICAL CRISIS

Court disqualifies Evo Morales from running for Bolivia's Senate

21-02-2020 07:58 Bolivia's Supreme Electoral Tribunal on Thursday rejects former president's candidacy for a Senate seat in May's elections because he does not reside in the South American country, a decision the ousted leader called a “blow to democracy.”

BOLIVIAN ELECTION

Bolivian candidate Camacho calls for anti-Morales alliance in election

19-02-2020 08:44 Right-winger Luis Fernando Camacho is one of seven presidential candidates, all but one of whom are centrists or conservatives. Luis Arce, the candidate for Morales's Movement for Socialism (MAS), leads polls with 31.6 percent.

ECONOMIC INDICATORS

53.8%: Argentina posts the highest inflation rate in 28 years

15-01-2020 17:51 INDEC reveals prices last year increased by the highest rate since 1991, with inflation in December coming in at 3.7%.

INTERVIEW WITH PERFIL

Evo Morales discusses MAS, future plans, potential return to Bolivia

09-01-2020 21:28 Former Bolivia president sticks to his guns in an exclusive interview with Perfil journalist Leandro Dario, insisting that his exit last spring was the result of a coup d’état engineered by the opposition and Washington

BLOOMBERG

Bolivia readies election re-run in bid to end political crisis

08-01-2020 09:13 Parties have less than a month to register candidates for an election re-run designed to resolve the political crisis the country finds itself since voting irregularities brought an end to Evo Morales’ 14-year government.

BOLIVIAN POLITICAL CRISIS

Trump sending aid mission to Bolivia ahead of election

08-01-2020 09:06 US government considering possible resumption of foreign aid to the Andean nation following the ouster of leftist leader Evo Morales.

BOLIVIAN POLITICAL CRISIS

Bolivia to hold presidential vote May 3

03-01-2020 21:01 Bolivians will choose a new president on May 3, more than six months after a disputed election sparked a social revolt and the resignation of Evo Morales.

ABORTO LEGAL

Fernández confirms he will send Congress bill in 2020 to legalise abortion

01-01-2020 09:59 Issue will be "addressed in 2020," confirms president in radio interview. A bill to legalise the procedure in Argentina failed to clear in the Senate in 2018, after passing the lower house Chamber of Deputies.

BOLIVIAN ELECTION CRISIS

Evo Morales: MAS will choose candidate for next Bolivian election on January 19

31-12-2019 15:36 Former Bolivia president says that the presidential candidate for his Movement for Socialism (MAS) party in next year's elections will be named January 19.

EDITORIAL

2019 in retrospect...and looking ahead to 2020

28-12-2019 10:17 The professional optical term for normal or perfect eyesight is “20/20 vision” – but the year lying ahead of us is anything but normal, perfect, visionary or clear.

2020: THE YEAR AHEAD

Alberto’s New Year’s resolutions

28-12-2019 09:56 What exactly is on Alberto Fernández’s New Year’s resolution list for 2020?

by Marcelo J. Garcia

2019: YEAR IN REVIEW

Those we lost in 2019

28-12-2019 09:27 From Argentine striker Emiliano Sala, to Nobel-winning novelist Toni Morrison, to iconic fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld and Zimbabwe strongman Robert Mugabe, there were a number of notable passings in 2019.

2019: YEAR IN REVIEW

2019: a look back at a year of turmoil

28-12-2019 09:17 Moments from across the rest of the world that defined the past 12 months.

YEAR IN REVIEW

2019 proves to be a recordbreaking year...

28-12-2019 09:06 Five choice stats that made 2019 unique.

YEAR IN REVIEW

2019: The year that was

28-12-2019 08:10 Economic turmoil, poverty soars, the peso plunges. The IMF, inflation, post-PASO meltdown. A presidential campaign decided by its trial run. Protests, Peronism unites and Massa returns to the fold. Alberto wins, but does Cristina call the shots? And what about Mauricio? Here's a round-up of the biggest stories in Argentina over the last 12 months.

by Michael Soltys

BOLIVIAN POLITICAL CRISIS

Evo Morales: Washington orchestrated 'coup' to tap Bolivia's lithium

26-12-2019 11:08 Ex-Bolivian leader said Washington had not "forgiven" his country for choosing to seek lithium extraction partnerships with Russia and China, rather than the United States.

BOLIVIAN POLITICAL CRISIS

Bolivia moves toward replacing ousted leader Evo Morales

19-12-2019 12:36 Legislature approves new tribunal to oversee vote after talks between opposition and Morales' Movement Toward Socialism party, but date for election still not set.

ELECTION IN THE UK

UK PM Boris Johnson hails 'powerful new mandate' for Brexit after election

13-12-2019 01:26 Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn says he would not lead Britain's main opposition Labour party at the next general election, after predictions of a crushing defeat at nationwide polls.

CABINET

Felipe Solá will be foreign minister, confirms Alberto Fernández

05-12-2019 16:17 President-elect also confirms that former presidential candidate and ex-Buenos Aires Province governor Daniel Scioli will serve as his ambassador to Brazil.

TRANSITION 2019

Sandleris confirms resignation as Central Bank chief

05-12-2019 06:58 Central Bank chief confirms he will resign post ahead of December 10 handover. Argentina's monetary institution has had 61 presidents in the 84 years since its founding.

URUGUAYAN ELECTIONS

Macri, Fernández seek 'excellent' relationship with Uruguay's next leader

29-11-2019 08:54 Alberto Fernández says relationship with conservative leader Luis Lacalle-Pou will be as good as if opponent Daniel Martínez had won election.

Uruguayan Elections

Lacalle Pou officially declared Uruguay's next president

28-11-2019 13:54 After an extremely close vote obliged the Electoral Court to execute an official recount, the conservative candidate emerges victorious by a narrow margin. His election marks a change in power and a shift to the right in Argentina's neighbouring country.

PRESIDENTIAL RUN-OFF

Uruguay awaits final vote count, with Lacalle Pou holding a thin lead

25-11-2019 12:47 Authorities will start an official count Tuesday that may not yield final results until November 29.

BOLIVIAN POLITICAL CRISIS

Evo Morales' children arrive in Buenos Aires

24-11-2019 22:04 Evaliz and Álvaro Morales arrived on a commercial flight to Ezeiza International Airport on the outskirts of Buenos Aires.

PUBLIC HEALTH

Government pulls new protocol for non-punishable abortions amid controversy

21-11-2019 15:21 Macri administration revokes protocol updating guidelines for non-punishable abortions, only a few hours after its publication in the Official Gazette on Wednesday.

TRANSITION 2019

Fernández tells IMF chief Argentina will 'comply with debt obligations'

20-11-2019 09:49 President-elect tells IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva that he has a plan to grow the economy and tackle the nation’s debt without "more fiscal adjustments."

Presidential Transition

Government: No transition talks ongoing with Alberto Fernández and team

19-11-2019 16:53 After today's Cabinet meeting, Macri administration officials said that transition talks between the incumbent and incoming governments have are not ongoing.

2019 Latin Grammys

Argentine artists showcase talents as emerging artists take over Latin Grammys

15-11-2019 16:29 Small but mighty presence of Argentines at 2019 Latin Grammys showcase the country’s musical diversity, including pop, trap, and rock.

BOLIVIAN POLITICAL CRISIS

Uncertainty in Bolivia as senator declares herself interim president

13-11-2019 09:56 Opposition Senator Jeanine Añez declares herself interim president of the crisis-torn country despite lacking quorum in Senate, just hours after Evo Morales flew off to self-exile in Mexico.

BLOOMBERG

Argentina running dangerously low on dollars to pay back debt

12-11-2019 17:18 Argentina must repay US$5 billion by the end of 2019. It doesn’t have much to work with.

BOLIVIAN POLITICAL CRISIS

Bolivia's Evo Morales arrives in Mexico under political asylum

12-11-2019 14:24 Mexican Air Force plane carrying former Bolivian president touches down at the Mexico City international airport, where Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard who says Morales was the victim of a "coup" – was waiting to greet him.

Bolivia Election Crisis

Evo Morales granted asylum in Mexico

11-11-2019 18:33 President formerly requested asylum Monday afternoon, with the Mexican government granting it on the basis of "humanitarian reasons."

TRANSITION 2019

Fernández struggles to counter narrative that Cristina will be in charge

11-11-2019 16:43 Alberto Fernández is Argentina's next president. But before even taking charge he is battling claims that he is just a puppet for ex-president Cristina Kirchner.

EVO MORALES

Latin America's longest-serving leader leaves the stage in Bolivia

11-11-2019 07:20 Under Evo Morales' leadership, Bolivia made landmark gains against hunger and poverty. Sitting on the region's second-largest gas reserves, after Venezuela, and the world's largest reserves of lithium, Bolivia's economy has more than tripled in size during his 13 years in office.

BOLIVIAN ELECTION CRISIS

Power void in Bolivia after Evo Morales and his allies resign

11-11-2019 06:58 Mexico's government reported Sunday night that 20 members of Bolivia's executive and legislative branches were at the official Mexican residence in the capital seeking asylum.

BREAKING NEWS

Bolivian President Evo Morales announces resignation

10-11-2019 18:04 Underfire president announces resignation in a televised statement, barely an hour after the commander of the country's Armed Forces asked him to resign "for the good of our Bolivia."

BOLIVIAN ELECTION CRISIS

Bolivia's military chief asks Evo Morales to resign as president

10-11-2019 17:37 Commander of Bolivia's Armed Forces calls for embattled president to resign so that stability can be restored after protests over disputed election results.

BOLIVIAN ELECTION

Bolivian President Evo Morales says he will call new elections

10-11-2019 10:43 Decision comes one day after opposition demonstrators overran two state-run media outlets and forced them off the air, as tensions remained high after disputed election.

RELATIONS WITH WASHINGTON

Alberto Fernández planning US trip to visit Trump, oil majors

04-11-2019 15:20 Spokespeople for the Frente de Todos leader confirm president-elect intends to visit the US after his assumption on December 10, for a trip that would include a meeting with Donald Trump and a stop in Houston, Texas.

Carrió exits

Carrió’s exit helps Cambiemos moderates as Argentina heads into new era

04-11-2019 13:00 Outspoken lawmaker's departure is a triumph for the moderate faction of Juntos para el Cambio. It may also open the door to a productive dialogue between the soon-to-be opposition and incoming Peronist government.

by Ezequiel Spillman

IN MEXICO CITY

Alberto Fernández meets with Mexican President López Obrador

04-11-2019 11:31 Argentina's president-elect makes first visit overseas since winning election, visits Mexico's president to discuss bilateral relations, investment and the situation in Venezuela.

BLOOMBERG - OPINION

Eduardo Levy-Yeyati: Argentina's narrow path to common ground

01-11-2019 07:30 Economist and author Eduardo Levy-Yeyati says Alberto Fernández has a chance to fix Argentina's deep-seated economic problems — if he acts quickly.

TRANSITION

Macri tells Cabinet to offer 'maximum collaboration" to Alberto Fernández

31-10-2019 16:33 President uses Cabinet meeting to instruct officials to prepare "all elements and materials" for incoming government, with Peronist government set to take power on December 10.