News of analysis

Who has the mandate of heaven?

14-05-2022 00:01 As well as objecting stridently to Alberto’s willingness to come to terms with the International Monetary Fund, Cristina and her supporters are trying to undermine what authority he has by insidiously questioning his government’s right to exist at all.

by James Neilson

‘I’ve got the power!’

07-05-2022 00:19 There’s a civil war raging between President Alberto Fernández and his second-in-command, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner – and said conflict is tearing the ruling coalition apart at the seams.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

The crystal balls are getting cloudier

30-04-2022 01:21 Not only Argentina but most other countries have to decide if it would be better for them to cultivate their relations with what could soon be the top superpower, or to assume that the US will recover from its self-inflicted internal woes.

by James Neilson

Argentina still hostage to a psychodrama

23-04-2022 00:02 Cristina’s legal difficulties have dominated Argentine politics for many years. No doubt they will continue to do so for some time to come.

by James Neilson

The West receives a wake-up call

15-04-2022 00:07 Attitudes towards the war being fought in Ukraine have excited those who, not that long ago, were on the defensive because they feared that the West really was a busted flush.

by James Neilson

Argentina’s inflation surged to 20-year high in March

13-04-2022 21:07 Consumer prices in Argentina rose 6.7% in March, up 55.1% over past year; Rift between top two political leaders hampers inflation fight.

War of the Roses: an inevitable divorce for Alberto & Cristina?

01-04-2022 21:47 Plenty of scenarios have been circulating over the past several weeks as the ruling Frente de Todos coalition endures an internal civil war between Kirchneristas and Albertistas.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

Lingering outside the cemetery

01-04-2022 19:24 For a politician like Sergio Massa, the government is merely a vehicle he boarded because he thought it would take him towards his chosen destination.

by James Neilson

Vaca Muerta: a failed opportunity that will cost Argentina

16-03-2022 21:13 When trying to explain why we fail as a country, look no further than the Vaca Muerta debacle.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

The new energy crisis could suit Argentina

11-03-2022 11:30 Fossil fuels are back in fashion. Western leaders are now searching frantically for exploitable oil and gas deposits that are beyond Putin’s reach.

by James Neilson

Argentina inks US$45-billion staff-level IMF deal in key step

03-03-2022 21:02 Staff-level accord, which includes commitments to narrow fiscal deficit and money-printing while unwinding energy subsidies, will seek to address “persistent” high inflation and public finances.

'Stand by me'

25-02-2022 18:00 The lyrics of ‘Stand by me,’ the song made famous​​ by Ben E. King in 1961, sum up the message from Alberto Fernández and Martín Guzmán to the IMF.

by Carlos Fara

How China beat out the United States to dominate South America

18-02-2022 22:29 It’s no secret that China has been pouring resources into South America this century, chipping away at the United States' historic dominance. But an important shift has gone largely unnoticed in the country's approach to the region: going local to expand and strengthen its financial grip.

Things are looking bleaker for Cristina

18-02-2022 22:00 Cristina evidently fears that the austerity programme the government will have to press on with no matter what happens in the coming weeks will cost her the support of the millions of men and women who still kid themselves that she is on their side.

by James Neilson

Playing with fire

12-02-2022 09:27 Despite claims of an historical “Peronist third position,” the reality is Argentina has an impossible debt with the International Monetary Fund and it needs all the support it can get to restructure it.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

The carry trade is minting big returns in Latin America again

09-02-2022 15:32 The carry trade is roaring back in Latin America, home to some of the world’s most aggressive inflation-fighting central banks.

Guzmán’s wet dream

28-01-2022 22:14 It isn’t entirely clear whether this is a good or a bad agreement for Argentina, but there should be no doubts that the beleaguered nation needed to reach some sort of deal with the IMF ahead of an impossible debt calendar.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

Make or break for Argentina

28-01-2022 18:24 Most serious economists think that what Cristina and her supporters want is utter folly, that telling the IMF where to get off would have a devastating effect on the country.

by James Neilson

With friends like these…

15-01-2022 00:01 Cristina’s decision, backed dutifully by Alberto, to move Argentina closer to the Latin American dictatorships that are challenging the international status quo has come at an awkward moment.

by James Neilson

Gabriel Boric has the chance to rewire Chile – and Latin America’s left

10-01-2022 10:24 Once the region’s no-frills, free-market poster child, Chile needs more government spending, not less, to sustain its growth trajectory.