News of opinion

A DIPLOMATIC APPROACH

Walking the walk and talking the talk in Latin America

Today 07:00 A closer look at the US and Chinese diplomatic presence in the Americas, with the region gripped by social and political turmoil.

by Tomás Brockenshire

BLOOMBERG - OPINION

John Authers: Trump doesn’t understand currency wars, either

02-12-2019 22:47 Any implication that Argentina is deliberately weakening its currency for competitive advantage is beyond absurdity.

AS I SEE IT

The long war against capital is coming to a triumphant end

30-11-2019 11:39 These days most Peronists, including Alberto Fernández, would very much like to see “capital” return to the country from which they banished it, but such is the state of the economy that getting it to do so will be anything but easy.

by James Neilson

TRANSITION 2019

To December 10 – and beyond

30-11-2019 11:17 Fernández de Kirchner, before she won the presidency in 2007, cut her teeth for years as a parliamentarian. Now she is back in the house she knows best.

by Martín Gambarotta

TRANSITION 2019

Alberto’s dilemma: Is this 2001 or 2003?

30-11-2019 09:37 The line is classic 2003. Néstor would tell anybody who would listen back then that “dead debtors don’t pay,” in what was a neat strategy to negotiate better terms for the country’s defaulted situation.

by Marcelo J. Garcia

POVERTY AND INEQUALITY

Latin America’s poverty trap

30-11-2019 08:44 The real problem is that poverty is on the rise once again, and it’s not just the fault of President Mauricio Macri’s disastrous management of the economy.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

AS I SEE IT

Make way for the Cristina and Alberto show

23-11-2019 13:26 From the moment the election results made it clear that her handpicked candidate had won, Cristina has been reminding Alberto he is simply an employee.

by James Neilson

TRANSITION 2019

Alberto: between Cristina and Kristalina

23-11-2019 11:23 The general suspicion is that Fernández de Kirchner might want to exert greater influence and the symbol of the president-elect calling on the vice-president-elect – instead of vice versa– only fuels that notion.

TRANSITION 2019

In Néstor’s footsteps

23-11-2019 11:01 Argentina has a history of presidents who campaigned doing one thing and then ended up doing another. Some observers say the same thing may happen with Fernández.

by Martín Gambarotta

FERNÁNDEZ’S ILLUSION

The myth of Latin American prosperity

23-11-2019 09:50 Today, our continent faces the impossible task of becoming competitive on a global scale with an absolute lack of infrastructure, limited credit, cramped capital investment for decades, and galloping inequality.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

AS I SEE IT

A very unusual coup d’état

16-11-2019 13:16 A few weeks ago, Fernández insisted that he would do his best to get on with other countries without discriminating between those which shared his views and those which did not, but that was then.

by James Neilson

TRANSITION 2019

Bolivia boils over

16-11-2019 12:50 Argentina’s economic situation is extremely difficult. But the national conversation is now about the wider region. Out on the streets, everybody is an expert on Bolivia’s Constitution.

by Martín Gambarotta

FROM A GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE

Putting Bolivia’s power vacuum in context

16-11-2019 12:32 It is this column’s contention that Evo Morales was the greatest president in Bolivian history, but yet he crossed the line long before the forces toppling him.

by Michael Soltys

TRANSITION 2019

The risks of fragmented polarisation

16-11-2019 09:33 Depending on how the economy features in the coming months and how the coalitions manage to sustain complex internal balances, polarisation could soon crack into fragmentation, with unpredictable political consequences.

by Marcelo J. Garcia

LATAM WATCH

Messages in a bottle (from Washington)

16-11-2019 09:04 The statements emanating from the White House generally tend not to be very specific. But that was not the case here. Argentina was sent a series of precise signals and messages, calculated to fit within the timing of the transition.

by Carolina Barros

Bolivian Election Crisis

Why Macri should condemn the military intervention in Bolivia

12-11-2019 23:00 A critique of Foreign Minister Jorge Faurie's statement about the intervention of Armed Forces in Bolivia – and a call for President Macri to rectify a grave error.

by Gustavo González

TRANSITION 2019

Wishful thinking

09-11-2019 11:18 At some point, the cepo will need to be relaxed if Alberto’s pan-Peronist coalition dreams of attracting foreign investment. At some point, the situation will turn explosive.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

ELECTION 2019

Welcome back, ‘la grieta.’ We didn’t miss you.

09-11-2019 10:49 The blame game will only deepen the crack that divides the political aisles.

by Marcelo J. Garcia

ELECTION 2019

Transition tensions

09-11-2019 10:36 Is the Cabinet chief already dreaming of a Macri comeback? Judging by the looks on the faces of Rodríguez Larreta and Vidal, the Cabinet chief is delusional.

by Martín Gambarotta

ELECTION 2019

The people fire Macri (with a pat on the back)

02-11-2019 11:44 Depending on how you choose to see it, Macri is either the first president to lose a reelection bid or the first non-Peronist president to fulfill his mandate since 1930.

by Martín Gambarotta

CAMPAIGN WATCH

Can Alberto’s tightrope act work?

02-11-2019 11:27 The president-elect will be walking a tightrope between convincing suspicious markets and making good on at least some of his promises to voters.

by Marcelo J. Garcia

OPINION – BLOOMBERG EDITORIAL

The financial view: Argentina doesn’t need more false promises

02-11-2019 11:20 Sunday’s win by Alberto Fernández has sparked talk of a return to the country’s storied left-wing populism. Yet it’s hard to move left — or right, or anywhere — when you’re boxed in by the legacy of chronic economic mismanagement.

ELECTION 2019: A PROVINCIAL MINDSET

How ‘the other half’ voted in Election 2019

02-11-2019 10:54 Last Sunday saw a much closer and more complex result with Greater Buenos Aires playing a far more decisive role than in August, supplying almost 80 percent of the winning margin of two million votes.

by Michael Soltys

AS I SEE IT

Let battle commence

02-11-2019 10:04 In the celebrations Cristina staged in Chacarita, the president-elect found himself getting treated as a bit player obliged to play second fiddle.

by James Neilson

TRANSITION

It’s quiet, too quiet

02-11-2019 09:19 Alberto must tread carefully but steadily in order to gain the trust and support of the opposition, achieving a good negotiation with sovereign creditors and then finding a way to lift capital controls while reforming the economy to jumpstart growth.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

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.

AS I SEE IT

Development is no longer what it used to be

26-10-2019 13:01 To avoid getting left behind, countries whether big or small have no choice but to do whatever they can to encourage not only the outlandishly talented but also the many who can help them achieve their goals.

by James Neilson

CAMPAIGN WATCH

The day after tomorrow

26-10-2019 11:42 A storm is brewing again in Argentina and the leadership are not getting the public ready for it.

by Marcelo J. Garcia

ELECTION 2019

Argentina votes as Latin America burns

26-10-2019 09:57 Argentina will hold its presidential election tomorrow. Time ticks slowly when there’s a crisis, but still it ticks. The day will arrive.

by Martín Gambarotta

BLOOMBERG - OPINION

Chris Bryant: Norwegian Air is flying again

24-10-2019 12:44 As with WeWork, Norwegian’s once giddy valuation imploded last year when investors started to doubt that the balance sheet was robust enough to support Kjos’s huge ambitions.

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