News of society

Church, Milei government play nice despite tensions, distrust

27-04-2025 20:35 Death of Pope Francis shines a spotlight on the relationship between Argentina’s religious leaders, the clergy and President Javier Milei’s government.

by Juan Pablo Kavanagh

Society

Three in ten Argentines now have tattoo – more women getting inked

20-04-2025 11:37 What was, until not so long ago, considered to be a symbol of marginality has now become a mark of identity. According to an opinion poll carried out by the Voices! consultancy firm, three out of every ten Argentines have some kind of tattoo on their skin – and almost half of youngsters surveyed plan to get one in the next year.

by Enrique Garabetyan

HEALTH & ECONOMY

Milei government eliminates Argentina's national cancer institute

06-03-2025 21:15 In a statement, Argentina's Health Ministry announced the closure of the Instituto Nacional del Cáncer because of a "duplicity of tasks" and to have "greater control of actions."

public health crisis

Doctors resign from Health Ministry scheme over ‘dismantling’ of programmes

05-03-2025 16:59 Healthcare professionals working on Health Ministry programmes to tackle HIV, leprosy and tuberculosis resign en masse, stating: "We will not be part of a Ministry where essential programmes are unable to meet the basic obligations set by law."

POLITICS – ANALYSIS

Milei's Marxist culture wars

18-01-2025 06:33 The rise of characters such as Donald Trump in the US, and Milei here in Argentina, is directly tied to their level of political incorrectness and they’ve become equally savage in pushing culturally as far as they can in the other direction.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

SOCIETY

Pensioners the biggest losers of Milei’s first year in office

09-12-2024 13:20 Some five million retirees in Argentina receive just a minimum pension and bonus payment amounting to some US$320, just a third of the estimated living cost for an older adult.

Football violence

Three sought over murders of Rosario Central football hooligans

11-11-2024 15:55 Police seeking three people in connection with murder of two key members of Rosario Central's 'barra brava' hooligan gang over the weekend.

Hooliganism strikes again

Two Rosario Central fans killed as football violence again rears head

10-11-2024 17:26 Two fans shot dead after football match; Clashes outside Rosario Central’s stadium, with top hooligan gang leader killed.

SOCIETY

Number of inmates jailed at Argentina’s federal prisons on the rise

16-10-2024 12:37 Prisoners held in Argentina’s federal jails increased in the third quarter of 2024, rising 0.9% from previous year.

INTERVIEW

‘Totalitarian potential’ – Yuval Noah Harari warns of the risks of Artificial Intelligence

04-10-2024 06:46 Renowned Israeli intellectual presents his latest book 'Nexus,' warning that the failure to regulate AI and the algorithms controlled by technological corporations could pave the way to dictatorship.

by Cecilia Degl'Innocenti

Politics & Economy

Leftist Uruguay presidential candidate pledges to achieve primary fiscal surplus

25-09-2024 18:12 Uruguay’s leading presidential candidate, Yamandu Orsi of the opposition Frente Amplio coalition, says he will aim for primary fiscal surplus by the end of his term if he wins the October election.

LITERATURE

‘Ageing scares the young’ – Pacho O’Donnell on the ‘new old age’

17-09-2024 15:02 Author, historian and thinker brings his best-selling book ‘La nueva vejez’ onto the stage this Sunday (September 22) in a show featuring singer Magdalena León and guitarist Samy Mielgo. In an interview, the 82-year-old reflects about what he has learnt about being elderly and the “new old age.”

by Juan Manuel Dominguez

CRIME & INSECURITY

Authorities receive a report denouncing sale of child every 17 days

16-09-2024 16:56 Special prosecutorial unit set up to clamp down on human-trafficking in Argentina reveals one complaint denouncing the sale of a newborn or child was made to the authorities every 17 days.

by Leonardo Nieva

Day of the Immigrant

Bhavna Sharma: Diversity makes us stronger

04-09-2024 06:52 I feel there is a thread that unites Argentine and British people: the conviction that diversity makes us stronger.

SOCIETY

Incarcerated reap benefits of in-prison university education scheme

31-08-2024 06:08 University education programmes in prisons deliver inmates a brighter future and help reduce recidivism. Journalist Jesús Cabral is just one who has reaped the rewards of the innovative CUSAM in-prison education project. “I’ve had many moments of crisis since I got out, but I haven’t reofferend,” he explains.

by Josefina Salomon

SOCIETY

Poll: 35% of Argentines have been discriminated against over past year

05-08-2024 06:32 New study probes prejudice and discrimination in society, with xenophobia leading the way; Rise in discriminatory acts taking place on social media.

by Enrique Garabetyan

MALA MUJER?

Women who decide not to be mothers

03-08-2024 06:20 Increasingly more women are deciding not to be mothers. The trend, extending throughout the Western world, confronts the prejudices of those who believe that being a “good woman” means being a mother.

by Sabrina Chemen

POVERTY

Rising poverty to impact life expectancy, child mortality rates

02-08-2024 17:23 With poverty and extreme poverty on the rise, specialists warn that worsening economic conditions and spending cuts could lead to an increase in child mortality rates and slump in life expectancy.

by Agustina Bordigoni

SOCIETY / Demographic trends

Women in Argentina are giving birth later and less, report shows

02-08-2024 12:13 Demographic report by Universidad Austral highlights accelerated decline of fertility with postponed maternity among women in Argentina. The birth rate has already fallen to around 1.4 children.

by Enrique Garabetyan

Beyond the headlines

All in the family

22-06-2024 05:05 Nepotism is an even more chronic vice of Argentine politics than corruption. And if nepotism requires nephews, these are forthcoming in the Javier Milei administration.

by Michael Soltys

SOCIETY

Report: Online video adding to challenges for news firms

17-06-2024 15:36 Short videos from social media have become the main source of information for young people, Reuters Institute report warns.

COMMUNITY & SOCIETY

British Hospital of Buenos Aires marks its 180th anniversary

12-06-2024 18:39 The Hospital Británico de Buenos Aires (British Hospital of Buenos Aires) can trace its roots all the way back to 1844 and its creation as an institution to care for what was then Argentina's largest foreign community. Since then it has pioneered new medical technology and expanded its patient base, all with an eye on the future.

by Enrique Garabetyan

BLOOMBERG – FEATURE

Rich investors cheer Milei as Argentines bear brunt of austerity

24-05-2024 14:48 Amid Wall Street and investor optimism, critics are questioning how long Javier Milei's spending cuts can be sustained without permanently damaging the economy or fraying the social fabric.

FEATURE

Poverty, marginalisation, cocaine: Gangs find lucrative combo

30-03-2024 06:48 Argentina's economy is in intensive care. Financial stagnation, coupled with record inflation and the slashing of public spending have resulted in rising poverty and marginalisation. But in every crisis some see opportunity, and this time, it is crime groups. With drug-trafficking expanding in the barrios, analysts warn of new complex dynamics in the long run.

by Josefina Salomon*, In.Visibles

POLITICS – ANALYSIS

The calm before the storm?

30-03-2024 06:07 The depth and severity of the recession that the plan put together by Economy Minister Luis ‘Toto’ Caputo will bring is beginning to reveal its impact.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

INTERVIEW / PERIODISMO PURO

Emilce Cuda: ‘It’s a fantasy that we’re individuals, we’re in relationships with others’

27-01-2024 07:00 Theologian Emilce Cuda is the first Argentine laywoman to receive a pontifical PhD in moral theology and the first female to hold an executive position on the Pontifical Commission for Latin America. In an interview, she discusses Pope Francis and explains why “individualism is an egotistical position.”

by Jorge Fontevecchia

FILM & CINEMA

Oscar-tipped 'Society of the Snow' gives voice to Andes plane crash dead

07-01-2024 16:21 Roberto Canessa has spent most of his life recounting the astonishing tale of how he survived a plane crash, two avalanches and a diet of human flesh before trekking across freezing mountains to save himself and his friends. Now the infamous tragedy in the Andes is the subject of a major new Netflix movie: 'La sociedad de la nieve.'

ECONOMY & SOCIETY

Trash is a lifeline for ‘los cartoneros,’ Argentina’s army of recyclers

20-10-2023 10:52 Argentina’s ‘cartoneros’ emerged in 2001, when the country experienced the worst economic, social and political crisis in recent history. Today, more than 150,000 people face the daily struggle of recycling rubbish in a nation stricken by crisis.

INTERVIEW / PERIODISMO PURO

Luis Ignacio Brusco: Understanding why we vote differently

30-09-2023 05:36 Psychiatrist, neurologist and researcher, dean of the UBA Medical Faculty and Argentine Neuropsychiatric Association, MD and PhD, discusses why we vote differently and the cerebral functions which enter into decision-making.

by Jorge Fontevecchia

SOCIETY

Report calls for measures to tackle sexual exploitation of children

08-09-2023 10:52 Fundación Red por la Infancia report details concerns over sexual abuse and exploitation of minors; Argentina 49th out of 60 countries in international ranking assessing prevention and response to problem.

ECONOMIC INDICATORS

UCA report: Poverty rate would be 50% without welfare support

03-09-2023 10:24 New report from the Catholic University of Argentina’s Social Debt Observatory concludes poverty affects 38.9% of the population; Those under 17 most affected; Without child benefit and welfare support payments from the government, half of Argentina would be poor.

EDUCATION

School dropouts: the pandemic which does not end

04-08-2023 06:12 According to estimates, between 350,000 and 700,000 students left school in 2021. Whether through lack of funds, the pressures of child labour or other challenges, only 10% of Argentina’s pupils end their secondary schooling on time. To tackle the problem, football stars are joining a campaign to challenge the school dropout problem, an issue aggravated by the Covid-19 pandemic.

by Sabrina Chemen

EDUCATION

Lack of classroom days behind drive to private schooling, says polling

03-08-2023 06:15 New survey provides X-ray of Argentina’s education system and reveals teacher strikes are among, main motives for those choosing private education. Women, especially those with lower purchasing-power and living in Greater Buenos Aires, are the most concerned about lost days of classes, with the school syllabus one of the biggest worries.

by Sabrina Chemen

CLIMATE & ENERGY

At Argentina’s biggest gas field, residents lack heat and power

28-07-2023 13:59 A decade after production began at the vast reserves of Vaca Muerta, a town still waits on promises of a better future.

HEALTHCARE & SOCIETY

Briana: six-year-old’s tragic death highlights inequality in Argentina

22-07-2023 06:59 Child mortality is an ongoing tragedy in Argentina’s indigenous communities. The recent death of six-year-old Briana, a member of Salta’s Wichi community, in a hospital waiting-room last March highlights the precarious conditions facing residents in the north of the country and the failure of successive governments to protect the rights of all citizens.

by Sabrina Chemen

ANA LLOBET INTERVIEW

‘We need the public’ – NGO on search for Argentina’s 100 missing children

22-07-2023 06:23 More than 100 kids are being sought across the country, reveals Ana Llobet, president of the Missing Children Argentina NGO. “Many more are lost than those denounced," she assures, expressing particular concern about individuals that disappeared years ago and whose cases remain unsolved.

by Anabella Gonzalez

HEALTHCARE

In vaccination champ Brazil, many have stopped getting shots

11-07-2023 15:25 Two years after Brazil began emerging from its pandemic horror show thanks to a massive immunisation campaign, officials face a paradoxical predicament: vaccination rates have plunged, and not just for Covid-19, leaving millions exposed to once-eradicated diseases.

SOCIETY & EDUCATION

Argentina's university student numbers rose 40% in decade, says report

05-07-2023 21:57 Over 2.5 million students nationwide were engaged in undergraduate and postgraduate level studies in 2021, according to new Education Ministry report.

by Enrique Garabetyan

Ben Goertzel interview

Expert: AI could replace 80% of jobs 'in next few years'

08-05-2023 22:26 Artificial intelligence could replace 80 percent of human jobs in the coming year, predicts US-Brazilian researcher and AI guru Ben Goertzel.

TRAINS & RAILWAY

Argentina and its trains – the difficulty of getting back on track

02-05-2023 15:31 They conquered the immensity of the country, built it as a nation, carried its golden age: the trains of Argentina, many of which have disappeared, are making a timid but popular comeback, station after station, without convincing that this nostalgia has a viable future.