News of opinion

CAMPAIGN WATCH

Do Argentina’s candidates care about the wider world around them?

19-10-2019 12:27 A navel-gazing campaign and the overwhelmingly local political discussion has prevented the main candidates and their teams from following the larger world picture around them.

by Marcelo J. Garcia

ELECTION 2019

Alberto is the Enigma

19-10-2019 10:38 Nothing much appears to have changed in the political landscape since the August 11 PASO primaries slapped President Mauricio Macri in the face.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

GUEST COLUMN

Anger and environmental idealism

19-10-2019 08:30 The thrust of our political, economic and environmental systems must be urgently changed because their divergence is catastrophic.

by Ricardo Lorenzetti

AS I SEE IT

The phoney war on poverty

12-10-2019 12:19 If rich, welladministered, highlyproductive countries have failed to eliminate poverty, what chance does Argentina have of making a dent in it?

by James Neilson

FROM A GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE

More spinal than umbilical cord: the ILO and Argentina

12-10-2019 11:52 Argentina’s current relationship with the ILO needs to be viewed through the prism of over seven decades of Peronist trade unionism.

by Michael Soltys

OPINION AND ANALYSIS

Brazilian football is on the road to self-destruction

11-10-2019 08:00 A conspiracy of blunders and malfeasance by professional football’s elite handlers has squandered talent and left Brazil's cherished national institution in shambles.

by Mac Margolis

FROM A GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE

Knocking at a closed door: the WTO and Argentina

05-10-2019 11:27 Before 2017 very little has been written about Argentina in the WTO. A prime reason why Argentina’s footprint there has been so small is, quite simply, that this country is not much of a trader as one of the most closed economies in the world.

by Michael Soltys

AS I SEE IT

Alberto’s likely to turn into Mauricio

05-10-2019 11:18 With elections just a few weeks away, the differences between Macri’s approach to Argentina’s many economic woes and that favoured by Alberto Fernández are getting smaller by the day.

by James Neilson

CAMPAIGN WATCH

Yes, we can. But can we?

05-10-2019 10:59 The political world upside down: an incumbent promises the impossible, the challenger urges caution.

by Marcelo J. Garcia

ELECTION 2019

It ain’t over ’til it’s over

05-10-2019 09:56 Sergio Massa, a prominent member of the Peronist front, quipped that the president has embarked on a “farewell tour.”

by Martín Gambarotta

ELECTIONS 2019

Alberto is not the hero we deserved, but is he what we need?

05-10-2019 09:11 It’s obvious that the president’s economic philosophy is as far possible from currency controls and interventionism of financial markets as possible.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

ELECTION 2019

Checkmate Macri?

21-09-2019 11:19 Everyone and their mother have agreed that Argentina needs a socio-politicaleconomic pact

by Agustino Fontevecchia

FROM A GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE

United begins with ‘You’: the UN and Argentina

21-09-2019 11:01 For Carlos Menem in the last decade of the century the UN was central to integrating Argentina into the world. The Kirchners regularly attended the General Assembly but coverage was dominated by their mixed messages on Iran.

by Michael Soltys

AS I SEE IT

Politicians are part of the problem

21-09-2019 10:52 For what presumably are tribal reasons, plenty of people regularly vote for individuals they know to be incompetents, demagogues or outright scoundrels.

by James Neilson

CAMPAIGN WATCH

A campaign without much to promise

21-09-2019 09:51 Although Macri is anticipating some of the tough calls in order to save his own government (such as the capital and exchange control rules), the incumbent is also laying some ticking time-bombs along the way, like tax deductions and the freeze on fuels and utility rates.

by Marcelo J. Garcia

ELECTION 2019

Argentina: running out of metaphors

21-09-2019 09:25 rgentina is the Titanic, to some. To others, Argentina is a cow with not enough milk to feed its calves. Metaphors abound when solutions are scarce.

by Martín Gambarotta

ELECTION 2019

The hunger debate

13-09-2019 23:41 Alberto Fernández’s words fill a vacuum. At times Macri is absent and seems to have delegated power almost entirely to his lieutenants.

by Martín Gambarotta

AS I SEE IT

When turkeys keep voting for Christmas

24-08-2019 12:18 Democracy works well enough in countries in which most people understand that they share responsibility for the consequences of the choices they make.

by James Neilson

ELECTIONS 2019: CAMPAIGN WATCH

Transition in recession: it’s all about cash

24-08-2019 09:55 After the PASO results, Macri has been left with virtually no power at all, to the extent that there are now doubts he can even steer a fragile economy beyond the October elections and into a civilised transition of command on December 10.

by Marcelo J. Garcia

ELECTION 2019

Déjà vu with Dujovne: so many ministers, so little joy

24-08-2019 09:47 Argentina has packed in so many officials with wonder recipes into three decades that the broth appears to have been spoilt for good.

by Martín Gambarotta

AS I SEE IT

Cometh the hour, cometh Alberto

17-08-2019 11:56 Nobody saw it coming. Before people started casting their votes last Sunday morning, just about all the professional pollsters assured us that Mauricio Macri and Alberto Fernández were running neck-and-neck, some even suggested that the president was edging ahead.

by James Neilson

ELECTION 2019: PROVINCIAL BREAKDOWN (EPILOGUE)

Under the volcano

17-08-2019 11:45 Far from deciding the election, Buenos Aires Province was just one of the 14 provinces giving Fernández an absolute majority, even if obviously the most important.

by Michael Soltys

ELECTIONS 2019: CAMPAIGN WATCH

Argentina – and Alberto – need Macri to survive

17-08-2019 10:22 Macri’s shift of tone in the days after the PASO primary was a sign of a survival political instinct kicking in.

by Marcelo J. Garcia

ELECTION 2019

Macri fumbles PASO

17-08-2019 09:59 How did that happen? Well, unemployment is higher than in 2015. Poverty is higher than 2015. Inflation is higher than in 2015. Voters are having a hard time making ends meet. Top all that with the massive utility rate hikes and what do you get? Electoral defeat, that’s what.

by Martín Gambarotta

ELECTION 2019

Post PASO depression

17-08-2019 09:09 The country finds itself in a conundrum. An election that is not an election has prompted a potential ‘puppet candidate’ into a virtual status of power.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

ANALYSIS: PASOs 2019

Three lessons from the PASOs

12-08-2019 13:06 The breakdown of the vote in the PASOs was surprisingly steady when compared to the past – it’s the electoral offer that made the difference.

by Marcelo J. Garcia

AS I SEE IT

Racism comes roaring back

10-08-2019 13:12 There can be no doubt that “identity politics” has taken over much of academia in the US and the UK, argues James Neilson.

by James Neilson

PASO 2019

What if a bomb flies in Hormuz?

10-08-2019 11:53 At the end of the day, pretty much any exogenous shock could throw everything in Argentina into disarray.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

ELECTION 2019: CAMPAIGN WATCH

The yelling stops as voters provide an X-ray of Argentina

10-08-2019 10:01 The last week of the campaign, marked by China’s devaluation of the yuan, was yet another indication that Argentina is as fragile as it can get and that anything that happens abroad will hit the country head on.

by Marcelo J. Garcia

ELECTION 2019

All things must PASO

10-08-2019 09:49 The president’s camp is painting tomorrow’s vote as a crucial polarising showdown — even when the turn-out in the primaries is usually about two million voters less than in October.

by Martín Gambarotta

PASO ELECTIONS

Mauricio and Cristina will continue to feed the digital monsters

03-08-2019 11:52 According to Perfil, they have identified 32 segments this time around and are currently impacting 25 million Argentines online.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

AS I SEE IT

Things are looking up for Macri

03-08-2019 10:53 The Kirchnerite ‘project,’ insofar as one exists, is almost entirely negative. Macri’s may be unappealing, but at least it is positive.

by James Neilson

ELECTIONS 2019: CAMPAIGN WATCH

Is it (still) the economy, stupid?

03-08-2019 10:06 It is no surprise that President Mauricio Macri wants to talk about anything but the economy on the campaign trail.

by Marcelo J. Garcia

ELECTIONS 2019: CAMPAIGN WATCH

Argentina’s election campaign runs into an economic vacuum

27-07-2019 10:22 The terms of exchange between the two rivalling factions in the presidential race will have to improve if the country is to tackle the economic difficulties it will be facing in the future.

by Marcelo J. Garcia

AS I SEE IT

BoJo makes it to the top

27-07-2019 09:41 For the “golden age” Boris sees ahead to come closer, he will have to finish a maddeningly difficult job – one his predecessor Theresa May was unable to complete.

by James Neilson

THE DEATH OF DE LA RUA

Statesman do not die; they become history

13-07-2019 08:26 Statesman do not die; they become history. And history will not leave de la Rúa in good standing. An economic slump, the suspicion of the rule of law, social collapse, a state of siege, repression, deaths. Many deaths.

by Edi Zunino

AS I SEE IT

A moderate in a land of extremes

13-07-2019 08:21 Macri’s government has much in common with the one headed almost twenty years ago by de la Rúa. It too is strong on civic virtues such as respect for freedom of expression, a willingness to play by the constitutional rules and a dislike of corruption which, naturally enough, makes it vulnerable to accusations others would find laughable.

by James Neilson

GUEST VOICE

The Commander in CEO

06-07-2019 09:33 While it’s true that some political processes still play out over months and years, today we increasingly see politics move to the beat set by social media, whether via viral content, expediting key global geopolitical events, or via a late night presidential tweet.

by Andrei Serbin Pont

EU-MERCOSUR DEAL

Macri scores brownie points overseas

29-06-2019 10:16 It is important the Mercosur team make sure that the final conditions of the agreement generate opportunities rather than dependencies. It seems to be the case: falling tariffs for the industrial and agricultural sectors are what Latin America needs in order to take advantage of its competitive advantage.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

AS I SEE IT

The Trump solution

29-06-2019 09:10 It is entirely possible that, after mulling it over, Kim will feel tempted to take the bait being offered by Trump.

by James Neilson

2019 ELECTIONS

When everything changes so that nothing changes

22-06-2019 10:14 That Cristina still has a chance to make a comeback is as much a consequence of Macri’s disastrous economic policy as it is a conscious decision by his electoral team, led by Cabinet Chief Marcos Peña and Ecuadorian political analyst Jaime Durán Barba.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

ELECTORAL RACE

Macri-Pichetto: the real story behind the scenes

22-06-2019 08:03 There was a previous bond uniting the destinies of Macri and Pichetto. In that Pink House meeting in which I heard about this issue for the first time, I asked what might be Durán Barba’s opinion when he returned from a trip abroad.

by Gustavo González

AS I SEE IT

Peronism rules, OK?

15-06-2019 09:14 To justify his decision to join forces with Macri, Pichetto insists that on this occasion the electorate faces a stark choice between democracy and authoritarianism.

by James Neilson

ELECTIONS 2019: CAMPAIGN WATCH

Can Pichetto deliver what the establishment believes he can?

15-06-2019 09:08 “Emotions are not an aspect of my personality,” the Senator said in his first press round as vice-presidential candidate.

by Marcelo J. Garcia

ON FOREIGN RELATIONS

Brexit Britain, Jair, Mauricio and the Trump effect

08-06-2019 09:40 Maybe, instead of dismissing the Trump era as a phase that will surely pass, we have to acknowledge that we have seen the Trump effect down our way, in Latin America, too.

by David Smith

ALBERTO, CFK AND FERNÁNDEZ-FERNÁNDEZ

Cristina’s silence

08-06-2019 09:09 We would be naïve to believe Cristina will actually relinquish power if indeed they make it to the Casa Rosada.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

MASSA’S TURN

Speculation

01-06-2019 09:50 Macri has also become a listener, calling for a pact to take the nation forward while inviting his allies to question his authority. He appears willing to even consider a vice-president from the Radical Civic Union (UCR).

by Agustino Fontevecchia

ELECTIONS 2019: CAMPAIGN WATCH

Never underestimate a ruling party

01-06-2019 09:02 This principle applies especially to this ruling party too, which has not been capable of sorting out the country’s severe and chronic economic problems but has proved to be a committed group of professionals whose electoral marketing is well above the local political median.

by Marcelo J. Garcia

SEMANA DE MAYO

25 de Mayo: a celebration we should know more about

25-05-2019 11:53 The business of patriotic dates is mostly a thing of the past, except where governments set the days of their choice to their importance.

by Andrew Graham-Yooll

‘FERNÁNDEZ-FERNÁNDEZ’ TICKET

Two less polarised poles

25-05-2019 10:29 Until last Saturday, Argentina’s polarisation was a force of pressure: as if one were inside a scrap cruncher.

by By ANDRÉS MALAMUD