News of nations

Four Latin Americans who could become the UN’s next leader

10-04-2025 15:57 Latin American and Caribbean nations will seek to unite behind a single candidate in the contest to lead the United Nations, a move that see the first-ever female secretary-general.

HUMAN RIGHTS

Nicaragua to withdraw from UN Human Rights Council

28-02-2025 16:13 "Co-presidents" Daniel Ortega and wife Rosario Murillo quit UN Human Rights Council after being accused of enacting "persecution, forced exile and economic retaliation" against the Nicaraguan people.

UKRAINE CONFLICT

Zelenskyy left in the cold as Milei takes Trumpian twist

28-02-2025 14:57 Once a close ally, Milei turned his back on Zelenskyy after Argentina’s government failed to condemn Russian aggression in a controversial UN vote last week.

by Zella Milfred

Foreign relations & diplomacy

Argentina shifts stance on Ukraine in United Nations vote

24-02-2025 18:21 Echoing US President Donald Trump's new position on conflict, President Javier Milei's government shifts its stance on Ukraine and Russia, refusing to condemn Moscow’s aggression in UN vote.

Foreign policy & diplomacy

Chronicle of an announced withdrawal

11-02-2025 10:44 Milei government anticipates its departure from the United Nations Human Rights Council, opting not to seek re-election for current mandate — an indirect way of accelerating its retreat. The move would reflect the new policy of alignment with Washington.

by Juan Gasparini

MULTILATERALISM

Milei pulls Argentina out of World Health Organization

05-02-2025 12:01 Argentina will pull out of the World Health Organization, Presidential spokesperson Manuel Adorni confirms, following in the footsteps of the United States.

Foreign policy & diplomacy

Milei calls for ‘alliance of free nations’ as he hosts Meloni

20-11-2024 15:06 Javier Milei voices his intention to create a new multilateral grouping of right-wing nations as he hosts Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni; President uses press conference to criticise the “woke virus” he claims is infecting the West.

Foreign policy & diplomacy

Argentina votes against UN resolution on women and girls

15-11-2024 12:03 Argentina the only country to vote against a UN draft resolution calling for prevention and elimination of digital violence against women and girls.

ENVIRONMENT

Argentina considering Paris climate pact exit, reports NYT

15-11-2024 10:07 Foreign Minister Gerardo Werthein says Argentina is “re-evaluating our strategy on all matters related to climate change."

Foreign policy & diplomacy

Milei pulls Argentina’s delegation from COP29 climate conference

14-11-2024 00:25 Government orders Argentina’s representatives to walk out of ongoing global climate conference, in order not to endorse UN’s Agenda 2030, which has been criticised by President Milei.

Foreign relations & diplomacy

Argentina refuses to back UN draft resolution on indigenous rights

12-11-2024 10:45 Argentina the only country out of 169 to vote against a United Nations draft resolution on rights of indigenous peoples.

EU-MERCOSUR TRADE DEAL

France: EU-Mercosur deal will not be signed at G20 in Brazil

11-11-2024 14:06 France says the EU-Mercosur free-trade deal “will not be signed” at next week’s G20 Leaders Summit in Rio de Janeiro.

FOREIGN POLICY & DIPLOMACY

Argentina to withdraw military officers from UN’s South Lebanon mission

06-11-2024 13:40 Decision, which became known during departure of ex-foreign minister Diana Mondino, underlines President Javier Milei’s alignment with the Israeli government.

FOREIGN POLICY & DIPLOMACY

Milei to 'audit' Argentina's Foreign Ministry after Cuba embargo vote

31-10-2024 14:12 Day after sacking of Foreign Minister Diana Mondino, Presidential Spokesperson Manuel Adorni says "President Milei's position is clear" and that all staff unhappy with Argentina's new direction are free to "withdraw from the government."

GOVERNMENT & POLITICS

Milei sacks foreign minister after Cuba embargo vote

30-10-2024 18:11 President Javier Milei sacks Foreign Minister Diana Mondino for backing a UN vote condemning the United States' six-decade trade embargo of Cuba.

ENVIRONMENT

Big guns descend on Cali for final push in UN biodiversity talks

29-10-2024 15:45 Heads of state, ministers and UN Secretary General António Guterres arrived in Cali Tuesday hoping to add impetus to grinding talks on ways to save nature from human destruction.

INTERVIEW

Bahamas AG leads Global South's push for UN tax cooperation deal

11-10-2024 09:00 Bahamas Attorney General Ryan Pinder on global tax cooperation, pushing back against OECD policies and how Argentina can help the Global South.

by Mattis Nurit

Another Plagiarism row

Report: Milei's UN speech was nicked from 'The West Wing'

04-10-2024 11:43 President Javier Milei gave his first speech to the UN General Assembly last week – and according to a local journalist, it was in part plagiarised from one of the most famous political TV shows ever to have been made.

HUMAN RIGHTS

UN committee ‘deeply concerned’ for children amid cutbacks

28-09-2024 07:44 The United Nations’ Committee on the Rights of the Child expresses alarm over Milei administration cutbacks as it publishes a new report on children’s rights; Experts warn of programme closures, replacement of officials and budget reductions.

by Mattis Nurit

POLITICS – ANALYSIS

Is Milei's star beginning to fade?

28-09-2024 06:55 The first economist to become president in Argentina, he is banking on a rebound that has remained elusive thus far. The risks will only increase until people begin to feel the improvement

by Agustino Fontevecchia

ANALYSING ARGENTINA

No future for Milei

28-09-2024 06:33 President Milei’s first speech at the UN General Assembly was the latest example of the many fruitless symbolic battles that Argentina’s 21st-century Don Quixote chooses to fight to feed his foundational ego trip.

by Marcelo J. García

EDITORIAL

The Wall Street shuffle

28-09-2024 06:27 Milei doubtless imagined that he was ringing his own Liberty Bell but it was also a self-excommunication from the international community which might well send alarm-bells ringing, not least among Wall Street investors.

As I see it

The UN gets the Milei treatment

28-09-2024 06:22 Hypocrisy is the glue that holds the UN together. It would fall apart if the democratic members began demanding the immediate expulsion of countries whose regimes refuse to observe the rules they pledged themselves to respect.

by James Neilson

FOREIGN POLICY & DIPLOMACY

‘Totalitarian’: Argentina votes against UN ‘Pact for the Future’

23-09-2024 19:26 Milei administration officials voice rejection of non-binding UN masterplan to address 21st-century challenges; Only seven out of 193 states vote against, including Argentina, Russia, North Korea and Venezuela.

MILEI IN AMERICA

Milei in New York: Ringing the Wall Street bell, Elon Musk meet

23-09-2024 13:20 President Javier Milei delivers a speech to traders and invited guests at Wall Street ahead of eagerly awaited address to the United Nations General Assembly later today.

UNREST IN VENEZUELA

Argentina, six other nations ask UN to probe ‘serious rights violations’ in Venezuela

21-09-2024 07:28 United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres voiced concern to President Nicolás Maduro about alleged human rights violations in Venezuela on Friday in a telephone conversation.

UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY

The world this weekend

20-09-2024 10:04 Any action plans will hinge on the big players at the UN agreeing to make any consensus from a weekend like this work. And who are those players? Why, the United States, China, and Russia…

by David Smith

FOREIGN POLICY & DIPLOMACY

Argentina rejects UN vote on 'unlawful' Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories

18-09-2024 14:43 Prior to President Javier Milei's speech to the UN General Assembly this weekend, Argentina votes against non-binding resolution

ECONOMIC OUTLOOK

ECLAC downgrades growth projections for Latin America, Caribbean

13-08-2024 15:04 Lower forecast issued for Latin America's economy by UN body, which places blame on "uncertain international context."

MALVINAS SOVEREIGNTY DISPUTE

Mondino reaffirms Malvinas claim, calls for ‘mature’ relationship with UK

18-06-2024 16:56 Foreign Minister Diana Mondino speaks before UN decolonisation committee, which issues fresh call for talks between Buenos Aires and London; President Javier Milei takes to social media to reiterate his support for nation’s top diplomat as rumours over her potential exit continue.

MIGRATION & HUMAN RIGHTS

UN: Number of children fleeing Latin America is soaring

15-05-2024 13:20 More than 30,000 children have crossed the perilous Darien Gap jungle in four months on the path to a better life in the United States, a number up 40% from the same period last year.

Foreign relations & diplomacy

Argentina shifts historic position on Palestine as UN member state

10-05-2024 17:12 President Javier Milei's government votes against recognition of Palestinian state at United Nations, breaking with its normal diplomatic position.

ECONOMIC OUTLOOK

ECLAC forecasts 3.1% decline for Argentina’s economy this year

09-05-2024 17:56 Argentina growth forecast revised downwards by United Nations body, while regional outlook is improved.

WAR IN MIDDLE EAST

UN Security Council demands 'immediate' ceasefire in Gaza

25-03-2024 11:54 UN Security Council demands 'immediate' Gaza ceasefire for first time; Only United States abstains, 14 other members vote in favour.

Human rights

UN rights chief warns Gaza 'powder keg' could spark wider war

04-03-2024 13:17 Speaking before the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Volker Türk characterises the Gaza war as a "powder keg" and condemns "great replacement" theories

HUMAN RIGHTS

Venezuela suspends UN rights office, expels staff

15-02-2024 16:27 Two days after the United Nations agency expressed "deep concern" over the detention of a prominent rights activist, Venezuela's Foreign Minister ordered staff at the rights office to leave within 72 hours.

Gaza

UN court tells Israel to protect Gazans, avoids ceasefire call

26-01-2024 11:54 United Nations’ top court tells Israel it must act to immediately prevent the killing and harm to innocent Palestinians in an interim ruling that stopped short of demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

Davos forum

Argentina's 'anarcho-capitalist' president descends on Davos

17-01-2024 09:58 President Javier Milei will address the global elite in Davos on Wednesday

CLIMATE CHANGE

New WMO head Saulo says top priority is helping climate-vulnerable countries

04-01-2024 16:58 Argentina’s Celeste Saulo, the first woman to head the World Meteorological Organisation, says her top priority is to help the most vulnerable countries cope with climate change and extreme weather.

FOREIGN POLICY & DIPLOMACY

Argentina debuts diplomatic shift under Milei at United Nations

19-12-2023 10:17 Diplomatic shift begins as Milei government takes stronger stance on authoritarian regime at United Nations; Argentina urges "Nicaraguan authorities to immediately release all persons arbitrarily arrested while re-establishing the rights of those deprived of their nationality," in line with European Union countries and the United Kingdom and other nations.

by Juan Gasparini, from Geneva

Foreign Policy & Diplomacy

Biden and Lula to launch workers' rights pact in meeting Wednesday

20-09-2023 07:00 The two presidents are taking further steps to tighten relations based on their mutual support for worker's rights and organized labor

UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY

President Fernández uses final UNGA address to reiterate IMF, Malvinas demands

19-09-2023 20:44 President Alberto Fernández demands United States end "inadmissible" economic blockade of Cuba and sanctions applied to Venezuela in final address to United Nations General Assembly as head of state.

HUMAN RIGHTS

Hell becomes heritage: UNESCO honours ex-ESMA detention centre

19-09-2023 15:51 An exercise in memory without hatred has turned the former ESMA Navy Mechanics School, the largest torture and extermination centre during the last military dictatorship’s rein of terror, into a cultural space that hurts but aspires to heal.

HUMAN RIGHTS

UNESCO strives to ensure memory remains part of global heritage

19-09-2023 13:11 While UNESCO has universalist aspirations, memorials are ripe for appropriation for political causes – especially where they touch on bloody events of the past.

Human Rights

Ex-ESMA recognised as UNESCO World Heritage Site

19-09-2023 13:10 Former clandestine detention, torture and extermination camp during era of state terrorism recognised as a World Heritage site by UNESCO.

Human Rights

Ex-ESMA in running to join UNESCO World Heritage list

15-09-2023 14:10 Ex-ESMA Navy Mechanics School, former clandestine detention centre under 1976-1983 military dictatorship and today a museum of memory, among a host of sites in running for United Nations recognition

Human rights

Argentina backs UN rights council condemnation of Quran burnings

12-07-2023 09:38 The UN Human Rights Council voted Wednesday to condemn recent burning incidents of Muslim holy book, but many countries declined to back the resolution, fearing it encroached on free speech. Argentina, China, Cuba, India, South Africa, Ukraine and Vietnam support call.

MIGRATION & HUMAN RIGHTS

Migration 'only option' for many in Latin America, says food aid chief

05-07-2023 12:19 Many people in Latin America see migration as "the only option they have" after enduring successive crises of climate change, Covid and spiking food prices, says World Food Programme's head for the region Lola Castro.

Celeste Saulo interview

Incoming UN climate agency chief forecasts wind of change

03-06-2023 08:34 Celeste Saulo, the head of Argentina's Servicio Meteorológico Nacional since 2014 and the new incoming head of the UN's weather and climate agency, insists it's not too late to change how the climate crisis story ends.