News of political

Take me to your leader

30-01-2021 09:26 Argentines tend to be more prone than others to put their faith in individuals rather than in ideologies or “doctrines,” as Radicals like to call them.

by James Neilson

Politics, power & Peronism

Plan Máximo: First the province, then the presidency

16-01-2021 08:03 Máximo Kirchner, 43-year-old son of two former presidents, aims to head the Buenos Aires provincial branch of the PJ movement, before using it as a launching-pad for the 2023 elections. The ultimate goal? The Casa Rosada.

by Carlos Claá & Rodis Recalt, Noticias

THE WEEK

What we learned this week: December 26 to January 2

02-01-2021 08:48 Our pick of the stories that caught our eye over the last seven days in Argentina.

EDITORIAL

Good riddance to 2020… ...and hello to a happier 2021?

02-01-2021 08:34 At a stretch 2020 could almost be summarised by one single C-word – next year is a little more difficult, but the midterm elections will undoubtedly be a defining moment.

ABORTION REFORM

Feminist ‘green tide’ delivers legal abortion in Argentina

02-01-2021 08:15 Argentina’s “marea verde” has helped deliver sweeping abortion reform in one of Latin America’s most Catholic countries.

ALBERTO´S FIRST YEAR

Covid, crisis, coalition tensions: Alberto Fernández's first year in office

12-12-2020 09:45 One year on from his inauguration, the president is pinning his hopes on a mass Covid-19 vaccination campaign to kickstart Argentina’s economic recovery. Infighting in his Frente de Todos coalition is increasingly visible, but nobody wants to create a new rift which would end up favouring the opposition.

by Rosario Ayerdi

POLITICS & THE PANDEMIC

There's only one Maradona - Argentina after the funeral

05-12-2020 10:22 For most of the year, Fernández and Rodríguez Larreta navigated the pandemic together, avoiding confrontation. But that initial congeniality is giving way to confrontation as next year's midterms draw ever closer.

by Martín Gambarotta

BLOOMBERG – ANALYSIS

Peru taps third president in less than a week to fill power vacuum

17-11-2020 08:07 Lawmakers on Monday voted in Francisco Sagasti, an elder-statesman legislator with extensive consulting experience at home and abroad to lead a new government by electing him head of congress and new president.

PERUVIAN POLITICAL CRISIS

Peru's Congress to retry president for impeachment

03-11-2020 10:45 Peru's Congress on Monday voted to try again to impeach President Martín Vizcarra for alleged "moral incapacity" after he survived a first attempt weeks ago.

Political turmoil in Peru

Peru police search homes of officials in impeachment case

13-09-2020 09:26 Police in Peru raid homes of key government officials as part of an investigation into allegations President Martín Vizcarra obstructed a graft probe.

Political turmoil in Peru

Peru in renewed political turmoil as Vizcarra faces impeachment

13-09-2020 09:16 Some of Peru's lawmakers are calling for the dismissal of President Martín Vizcarra based on audios in which he is heard coaching two officials close to him for a congressional investigation into corruption.

GUEST VOICE

Behind the conflict with the police

12-09-2020 09:43 The reasons for the protest? We can divide them into two main categories: institutional and political.

by Andrei Serbin Pont

BOLIVIAN POLITICAL CRISIS

Bolivia judge confirms Evo Morales cannot run for Senate seat

08-09-2020 09:13 Judge rules that former president is not eligible to run for a Senate seat in October's elections, given his current residence in Argentina.

CRISIS IN VENEZUELA

Venezuela's Maduro pardons dozens of political opponents

31-08-2020 23:11 Venezuelan government pardons more than 100 people, including dozens of political opponents who are in prison, have taken refuge in foreign embassies in Caracas or fled the country.

AS I SEE IT

Dreaming of a military alternative

29-08-2020 10:04 Military rule may no longer be an alternative, but chaos most certainly is.

by James Neilson

POLITICS & THE PANDEMIC

Knocking on the Senate's door

29-08-2020 08:46 Military coups are a thing of the past, but presidents struggling to finish their mandates are not.

by Martín Gambarotta

LA GRIETA

Argentina’s burnout syndrome

29-08-2020 08:28 The lack of social contact, confinement, and a current state of alert given protracted panic is causing anxiety and cognitively wearing down our population, making the future recovery even more uncertain.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

SINO-ARGENTINE RELATIONS

Argentina’s ties with China deepen under Fernández

22-08-2020 08:27 Peronist leader leads charge to develop ties with Asian giant, which is now Argentina’s largest trading partner. Trip to Shanghai pencilled in for early November, with business, the pandemic and pork topping the agenda.

by Juan Luis González

GUEST COLUMN

Quo vadis, Argentina?

15-08-2020 10:37 A guide to undering Argentina’s incomparable decline and what can we learn from the shortcomings of the Macri administration’s reforms.

by Nicolas Rodriguez-Brizuela

DEBT DEAL

Inside the frenetic days that changed Argentina’s debt talks

08-08-2020 09:15 After many months of tension, talks that dragged on for eight months, half-a-dozen deadline extensions, multiple proposals, and tens of hours of online negotiations, a deal has been reached.

POLITICS & THE PANDEMIC

Don't plan on a plan from Fernández

25-07-2020 08:20 By shunning “plans” Fernández is emulating his former boss, late former president Néstor Kirchner, who preferred to deal with issues as they came along without committing to a plan that could be easily derided.

by Martín Gambarotta

LA GRIETA

‘The Peronists aren’t fighting, they’re copulating’

18-07-2020 10:22 Is it possible to build a unity government with this level of internal aggression, and with Cristina as the major power broker within your leading coalition?

by Agustino Fontevecchia

AS I SEE IT

Strolling towards the exit

18-07-2020 09:55 Extinction is staring many communities in the face, yet few find the thought that all they presumably value could be about to die at all disturbing.

by James Neilson

POLITICS & THE PANDEMIC

Coalitions under stress

18-07-2020 08:37 Political rivals are accusing each other of being “haters” – but of course, one person's hater is another person's hero. The pressure, however, is not just external.

by Martín Gambarotta

POLITICS & THE PANDEMIC

The arguing never stops

11-07-2020 08:13 The arguing will never go away. At times it pauses briefly when the public is hit by unsettling news on the coronavirus front, but then, in no time at all, the bickering begins once more.

by Martín Gambarotta

POLARISATION & POLITICS

So much for unity: La grieta returns with a vengeance

11-07-2020 07:42 Tensions between government and opposition soar in week Argentina celebrated Independence Day.

EDITORIAL

Is isolation the best expression of independence?

04-07-2020 08:32 The pandemic is a curious ally of ultra-nationalism, feeding the notion that Covid-19 will destroy globalisation and the private sector in a world dictating a self-sufficiency of which very few countries can even dream.

ANALYSIS

Sino-American dispute a looming threat for Argentina and Brazil

04-07-2020 07:57 The relationship between Buenos Aires and Brasilia is in intensive care and the lack of coordination between the two governments exposes the region to an external vulnerability – becoming a place where the US and China settle their differences.

by Leandro Dario

POLITICS & THE PANDEMIC

Metropolitan area blues

04-07-2020 07:29 The display of bipartisan civility, even with disagreements behind the scenes between Buenos Aires City and Province, is now routine. Yet the volatility has not gone away.

by Martín Gambarotta

Feature interview

Sérgio Moro: ‘I always acted with a clear conscience and impartially’

20-06-2020 09:15 Former Brazilian federal judge Sérgio Moro – who resigned as Justice and Public Security minister in late April, criticising President Jair Bolsonaro for “political interference” as he quit his post – on Lava Jato, corruption and censorship.

by Jorge Fontevecchia

POLITICS & THE PANDEMIC

Fernández TV

20-06-2020 09:02 Time will tell if the delays with the Vicentin and wealth tax bills are a deliberate strategy by the president to buffer the complaints by the lobbies who have historically clashed with Kirchnerismo.

by Martín Gambarotta

MINISTRY POSITIONS

Non-ministerial positions – yet still key additions

06-06-2020 10:19 The non-ministerial officials named by President Alberto Fernández exactly half a year ago will focus on the trident working directly under him – presidential Chief-of-Staff Julio Vitobello, Legal and Technical Secretary Vilma Ibarra and Strategic Affairs Secretary Gustavo Beliz – plus the new Treasury Attorney Carlos Zannini.

by Michael Soltys

MINISTRY POSITIONS

Interior now rhymes with inferior

30-05-2020 10:49 Congress was Eduardo Enrique “Wado” de Pedro main training-ground, where he developed an image as the least abrasive of the La Cámpora leaders. He has mellowed considerably since his extreme youth when in 1997.

by Michael Soltys

AS I SEE IT

Under cover of darkness

30-05-2020 10:43 Alberto has shown no signs of wanting to be his own man, whoever he may be. Far from rebelling against Cristina’s tutelage, he seems afraid to do anything that might displease her.

by James Neilson

SPIES AND LIES

Once again, time is going backwards

30-05-2020 09:09 Alberto’s Frente de Todos coalition is walking in his predecessor’s footsteps, perpetuating the never-ending cycle of institutional reform of the Judiciary and the intelligence agencies.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

PANDEMIC POLITICS

Buenos Aires versus Buenos Aires

23-05-2020 09:21 Horacio Rodríguez Larreta is under pressure because he needs to control the epidemic in the metropolis. Otherwise his reputation could be tarnished – possibly even ruined.

by Martín Gambarotta

PANDEMIC PONDERINGS

Still quarantined after all these days

16-05-2020 08:00 If the funds are playing the instability game to trigger a political crisis, it’s not happening right here and now. Most of the centre-right opposition leaders holding office have had no choice but to close ranks behind Fernández, who is extremely popular according to polls.

by Martín Gambarotta

PATRICIA BULLRICH INTERVIEW

Patricia Bullrich: ‘We can’t remain silent over abuses of power’

16-05-2020 07:21 Ex-security minister and PRO party leader, Patricia Bullrich, discusses the role of the opposition, her relationship with Macri and Peña and why she thinks Alberto Fernández is mishandling the coronavirus pandemic.

by Julian D'Imperio

Long read

'No remedy, no rights' – China blocks foreigners from leaving

05-05-2020 13:20 As citizens are trying to desperately regain their home, they didn't realise they couldn't leave China until they were blocked at the airport. As a attempt to exert influence, not just over Chinese citizens in China, but also against permanent residents and citizens of other countries.

BRAZIL UNDER BOLSONARO

Brazil plunges further into crisis as Moro quits government

25-04-2020 10:47 Lava Jato folk hero Sergio Moro quits as justice minister, accusing President Jair Bolsonaro of “political interference”; Coronavirus death toll rises above 3,000.

Coronavirus pandemic

Brazil's Bolsonaro makes life-or-death coronavirus gamble

30-03-2020 15:58 Even as coronavirus cases mount in Latin America’s largest nation, Bolsonaro is calling the pandemic a momentary, minor problem and saying strong measures to contain it are unnecessary.

As I see it

Political unprisoners

23-02-2020 16:53 The notion that some people are entitled to remain above the law is shared, or regarded as unimportant, by such a large proportion of the electorate that disabusing it seems well-nigh impossible.

by James Neilson

'POLITICAL PRISONERS'

Fernández denounces a Judiciary defined by ‘political winds’

18-02-2020 16:19 Via Twitter, president stated that "may there never again be a justice that pursues according to the political winds" and added that "in recent years lawfare has been established in Argentina.”

FORMER BOLIVIAN PRESIDENT

A day in BA with Evo Morales

11-01-2020 09:49 Journalist Leandro Dario spends a day with the former Bolivian president, who is now living in exile in Buenos Aires, plotting his party’s return to power.

by Leandro Dario

EVO IN ARGENTINA

Bolivian interim government asks UN to help it silence Evo Morales

21-12-2019 13:32 Bolivia’s interim government on Thursday appealed to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in an attempt to stop former president Evo Morales from influencing next year’s general election.

Corruption & The Courts

De Vido and Baratta released from prison to house arrest

15-12-2019 11:53 Two ex-Kirchnerite officials were released from detention late Friday night, after a ruling ordered they be committed to house arrest and wear ankle-monitoring bracelets.

EX-BOLIVIA PRESIDENT

Evo Morales takes refuge in Argentina

14-12-2019 10:53 Former Bolivia president granted him refugee status by new Fernández government after landing at Ezeiza.

CORRUPTION & THE COURTS

From prison, jailed Kirchnerites call for ‘Christmas without political prisoners’

26-11-2019 19:00 De Vido, Boudou, D'Elia, Milagro Sala among group of Kirchnerites facing legal woes. Group calls on followers to march to Comodoro Py courthouse on Thursday, November 28.

Protests in Chile

Chile's Piñera acknowledges excess police force used in protests

19-11-2019 09:58 President admits excessive force used in clamping down on demonstrators, and promises “no impunity” for anyone who commits acts of violence.