News of opinion

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.

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

FERNÁNDEZ-FERNÁNDEZ

Alberto Fernández the Virtuous?

25-05-2019 09:05 Alberto can be useful for Cristina in several ways. He is a skilled politician and an expert in the Machiavellian arts of always landing on his feet.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

FERNÁNDEZ-FERNÁNDEZ’ TICKET

The sum is less than the parts

25-05-2019 08:19 A unique achievement – the first time that a vice-presidential candidate has announced who would be “their” candidate for the presidency on this continent.

by Jaime Duran Barba

AS I SEE IT

France warming up once again

08-12-2018 10:22 His wavering could harm him greatly in the coming weeks and months. By showing weakness, Macron let it be known that he is not as tough as he had made out.

by James Neilson

LEADERS SUMMIT

G20 challenges: The soft power of an honest broker

17-11-2018 12:15 The challenge facing the Argentine chair was to reach consensus in a tense and complex world context, continued the young diplomat.

by Michael Soltys

G20 LEADERS IN BUENOS AIRES

Macri’s got a lot to lose from the G20 summitG20 LEADERS IN BUENOS AIRES

17-11-2018 09:34 On the face of it, Argentina’s president has a lot more to lose as he hosts the likes of Donald Trump and Xi Jinping, with the domestic economy in the midst of a painful economic crisis and the global agenda more focused on how to deal with protectionism.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

AS I SEE IT

Trump survives the midterms

10-11-2018 12:01 Seeing the Republican Party lose ground in the House did nothing to stop Trump from proclaiming himself the winner. He has a point.

by James Neilson

ECONOMIC QUESTIONS

Midterms and the medium term

10-11-2018 11:55 Perspectives seem to be broadening from beyond a fiscal and monetary focus, realising that the problem is not just the budget deficit but also the balance of trade and payments.

by Michael Soltys

US MIDTERMS

A blue House ain’t strong enough to see off Trump’s foreign policy

10-11-2018 09:26 With the Democrats reflecting a diverse electorate, the Republican Party has instead reshaped itself into a Trumpian version of the traditionally conservative GOP.

by Carolina Barros

ECONOMIC QUESTIONS

The boys from Brazil

03-11-2018 10:00 Bolsanaro’s approach to Mercosur certainly proposes to shake things up regionally but falls short of being a ‘Braxit’ from the bloc.

by Michael Soltys

ON electoral risks

Can Macri lose in 2019?

03-11-2018 09:30 Monzó confirmed he will not run for office next year and some speculate he will join the ranks of his former party. This is another self-inflicted wound for Macri, as all he wanted was greater influence, yet the president and Peña pushed him aside.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

AS I SEE IT

A real cultural revolution

03-11-2018 09:24 Evangelical pastors are leading a bloodless revolution that, unlike so many violent ones, really could turn out well.

by James Neilson

HOME AGAIN

Welcome to Buenos Aires

03-11-2018 09:18 Personally, I feel the failings of Argentina as a potentially organised society are to be seen everywhere.

by Andrew Graham-Yooll

AS I SEE IT

The wretched of the earth know the West is best

27-10-2018 08:48 The political climate has changed in Europe and, to a lesser extent, in North America, making it permissible to talk more honestly about the likely impact of mass immigration.

by James Neilson

ECONOMIC QUESTIONS

Cause I’m the taxman

27-10-2018 08:41 Last month’s trade surplus was certainly welcome news after 20 months in the red – the result of recession and devaluation rather than the protectionism espoused by Donald Trump.

by Michael Soltys

ON THE SIP GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SIP cedes control in Salta

27-10-2018 07:47 It saddens me that the Salta Declaration ended up being a document that benefits the large companies that dominate today’s digital world, namely Google and Facebook.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

ECONOMIC QUESTIONS

Home, home on the range

20-10-2018 10:45 The government’s rent bill is a tricky issue ... it is not the demagogic wishful thinking of populism but rationally drafted legislation seeking to balance the various interests.

by Michael Soltys

AS I SEE IT

The Saudis let the mask slip

20-10-2018 08:51 The murder of a journalist, Jamal Khashoggi, in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, is forcing Westerners to take a closer look at their alleged ally.

by James Neilson

FROM WHERE I STAND

We’re all in the same boat

20-10-2018 08:02 I idly wondered if I could compare Argentina today to an orchestra, one in which all the sections and most of the members are playing a different tune, with nobody taking any notice of the conductor.

by Robert Cox

POLITICS AND TIME

Argentine déjà vu

20-10-2018 07:53 Recession is beginning to generate political instability as different actors are now standing up to Macri, from union leaders to the Catholic Church.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

AS I SEE IT

Ultras on the march

13-10-2018 10:35 It has all been great fun for leftists, but their moment in the sun may soon be over.

by James Neilson

ON BREXIT

The Brexit clock is ticking, but nothing seems to be happening – yet

13-10-2018 09:49 People avoid talking about Brexit in the knowledge that there is nothing much to talk about. There is no certainty in any of the government announcements and even less in the political commitments.

by Andrew Graham-Yooll

ECONOMIC QUESTIONS

Leliq-land, the Oscar that never was

13-10-2018 08:42 The unforced error with the gas surcharge is but the latest episode in a continuing process of trying to come to grips with this problem, unsuccessfully until now.

by Michael Soltys

COALITION TENSIONS

The importance of being Carrió

13-10-2018 08:06 Lilita’s core followers are concentrated in middle-class sectors of the big cities, which is where Macri’s image has suffered the most on the back of a worsening economic situation.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

AS I SEE IT

Macri tries talking tough

06-10-2018 10:39 Macri’s tentative recovery can be attributed to his willingness to tell people that the next few years will be full of difficulties.

by James Neilson

AS I SEE IT

Between the IMF and the markets

29-09-2018 12:15 Having stumped up what by most standards is a sizeable amount of money, the IMF assumes it should have a say in what Macri’s government does with it.

by James Neilson

ECONOMIC QUESTIONS

A wilder shade of pale

29-09-2018 12:09 Perceiving Caputo’s removal as an IMF imposition would not be completely far-fetched – he and the IMF were at loggerheads over Central Bank intervention.

by Michael Soltys

ON CAUSALITY

Argentina and the point of no return

29-09-2018 11:45 Macri and his team need to reach difficult political agreements with society’s primary actors: the political opposition, businessmen, and the electorate.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

GUEST VOICE

Making the United Nations relevant to all

29-09-2018 11:15 We have to recognise the growing inequality and joblessness that is helping to fuel a real sense of frustration in rich and poor countries alike.

by María Fernanda Espinosa

AS I SEE IT

Dreaming of a quick fix

15-09-2018 12:48 If Cristina’s cronies really did bury containers stuffed with paper money in remote Patagonian farmsteads, they will have been full of dollars, euros, Swiss francs, pounds sterling, yuans and yens, not pesos.

ECONOMIC QUESTIONS

Heralding the budget

15-09-2018 10:58 Nor are the provinces being asked for too much sacrifice from this comfortable position – only a quarter of the 400 billion pesos is being required from their side and almost half of that will fall on Buenos Aires province in the form of subsidy transfers.

by Michael Soltys

THE CLARENS FILES

On journalism and corruption

15-09-2018 10:12 Our belief is in watchdog journalism, hoping that we can do our part to make sure the truth sees the light of day.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

ON MIGRATIONS

Incoming Venezuelans: returning an old favour

15-09-2018 09:11 After the military coup in 1976, dozens of Argentines fled to Caracas, found jobs, became teachers, completed their studies and even started a newspaper.

by Andrew Graham-Yooll

LATAM WATCH

Without Lula, a politically barren Brazil goes ablaze and bloody

08-09-2018 10:55 Can Bolsonaro continue on his campaign with voting day barely four weeks away? And if he does return to the presidential race, how will this attack influence his voting intentions?

by Carolina Barros

ECONOMIC QUESTIONS

Not seeing the forest for the trees

08-09-2018 10:47 The run on the currency will not be stopped by the daily trickle of selling off a few hundred million dollars of reserves – hence the negotiations with the IMF to give free rein to a ‘shock and awe’ display of firepower.

by Michael Soltys

AS I SEE IT

Politics 0, the markets 10

08-09-2018 10:35 The experts’ inability to come up with something really convincing was understandable. The markets are mysterious beasts.

by James Neilson

ON POLITICAL COMMUNICATION

Shamanistic Macri

08-09-2018 08:25 What is evident is that the President has lost his oratory power, meaning his message does not appear genuine and therefore fails to have an impact on markets and people.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

FROM WHERE I STAND

No more half measures

01-09-2018 10:44 Looking back over my almost 60 years of involvement in Argentine journalism, I can’t help but be optimistic about the future.

by Robert Cox

AS I SEE IT

Media battered by a technological tsunami

01-09-2018 10:28 Change is coming so fast that all attempts to adapt to whatever happens to be the current circumstances are provisional at best.

by James Neilson

ENGLISH LANGUAGE PRESS IN LATIN AMERICA

Latin America’s amazing history of publishing in English

01-09-2018 08:36 Argentina still leads the way with its history of English-language newspapers.

by Andrew Graham-Yooll

GUEST VOICE

The Bulletin: true community service

01-09-2018 08:27 Seventy-eight years ago, on June 15, 1940, the very first edition of The Bulletin, a monthly publication by “the British Community Council in the Argentine Republic,” was produced.

9,124 AND COUNTING

The art of editorials

01-09-2018 08:23 I was asked to write a test editorial, which passed muster and was published on September 25, 1985.

by Michael Soltys

PRESIDENTS REMEMBERED

Can we build a real memory of recent times?

25-08-2018 12:53 Néstor, the son of a loan shark and himself a mortgage swindler, once said you could not grow in politics without money. And he loved seeing it pile up.

by Andrew Graham-Yooll