POLITICS & ECONOMY Milei to cut 70,000 state jobs, boasting of chainsaw austerity 26-03-2024 22:29 President plans to fire 70,000 government workers in the coming months, he confirms in speech to IEFA Latam Forum in Buenos Aires.
NEW ROUND LAY-OFFS Milei administration sharpens chainsaw against public employees 25-03-2024 15:40 Government ready for a new onslaught against state employees – Cabinet Chief Nicolás Posse is in charge of monitoring the issue. Around 15,000-20,000 expected to lose posts as contracts are not renewed.
STATE NEWS AGENCY SHUTTERED Government extends suspension of workers at Télam state news agency 11-03-2024 20:42 Workers at state news agency given another week off with pay as bosses offer voluntary redundancy to employees.
NEWS AGENCY SHUTTERED Government suspends Télam state news agency, puts workers on leave 04-03-2024 16:57 State news agency’s offices fenced off as workers are sent on leave for seven days; Website shut down for “reconstruction” as Télam’s staff take to streets in protest.
President's address Milei announces he will close Argentina's state news agency Télam 02-03-2024 12:55 President Javier Milei announced Friday that he would move to shutter Argentina’s state news agency Télam.
STATE OF THE NATION – ANALYSIS Milei seeks pact with political leaders in bid to save reforms 02-03-2024 00:26 In his first annual address to lawmakers on Friday, Milei invited leaders from all parties to sign a 10-principle agreement that includes a “non-negotiable fiscal balance” and public spending cuts, as well as labour reform and free trade.
POLITICS Sign up to my reforms or face ‘conflict,’ Milei tells lawmakers 01-03-2024 22:34 President Javier Milei delivers aggressive yet gloomy state-of-the-nation speech, calls on his allies and enemies to sign up to his 10-point ‘Pacto de Mayo’ – or face the consequences.
CONGRESS SPEECH President Milei to lay out plans to lawmakers in state-of-the-nation address 01-03-2024 16:35 President Javier Milei will address Congress at 9pm tonight, inaugurating normal sessions of Congress with a speech that is eagerly awaited.
PONTIFICAL MESSAGE Pope Francis says state must guarantee ‘social justice’ 28-02-2024 22:49 Two weeks after meeting President Milei at Vatican, pontiff contradicts head of state’s views on markets, the state and social justice in a pointed message to a Catholic NGO in Buenos Aires.
POLITICS President goes prime time: Milei set for Friday night state-of-the-nation speech 27-02-2024 15:25 President Javier Milei moves ceremonial congressional address to Friday night at 9pm, seeking larger audience.
FOREIGN POLICY & DIPLOMACY Blinken says Argentina 'can count' on US support to stabilise economy 23-02-2024 16:29 President Javier Milei and Foreign Minister Diana Mondino received the head of US diplomacy, Antony Blinken, at the Casa Rosada, in a new gesture of rapprochement between Joe Biden's administration and Argentina's new government.
LABOUR TENSIONS Strikes pile up amid sting of Milei’s shock therapy 21-02-2024 16:03 Rail service, healthcare and schools all face disruption; Unions pushing back against government austerity measures.
INTERVIEW / PERIODISMO PURO Silvia Labayrú: ‘I was the first, I believe, to give birth at ESMA’ 17-02-2024 06:43 Silvia Labayrú is a survivor of one of Argentina’s darkest places during the 1976-1983 era of state terrorism. Held at the ex-ESMA Navy Mechanics School, which served as a clandestine detention centre during the dictatorship’s rein of terror, she was kidnapped, tortured and raped several times during her captivity. In a feature interview, she recalls her experience and reveals the horrors she suffered during those black days. by Jorge Fontevecchia
OIL & GAS State energy firm YPF out of Milei’s privatisation crosshairs 19-01-2024 19:26 State-owned oil firm will not be privatised by Javier Milei’s government, after his party reached an agreement with opposed lawmakers to smooth overall passage of Omnibus bill.
STATE ENERGY FIRM YPF sells US$800-million bond to fund debt buyback 10-01-2024 21:26 State-owned oil driller YPF SA taps international investors with a new dollar bond to help finance a buyback of existing debt.
ENERGY & GAS Javier Milei seeks free oil markets by law in shale-rich Argentina 29-12-2023 21:23 Milei wants to unshackle crude exports and leave local fuel prices at the whim of market forces.
BLOOMBERG – FEATURE Argentina’s ruined railways will force Milei to confront poverty 21-12-2023 00:29 Those living off state subsidies in ghost towns abandoned by the once-robust train service fear the pain of the new president’s spending cuts will be acute.
OBITUARY Kissinger: controversial giant of statecraft who moulded post-war US history 30-11-2023 17:37 Relentlessly ambitious US diplomat whose unapologetic promotion of raw American power helped shape the post-World War II world, dies at 100.
IN FOCUS: VICE-PRESIDENT-ELECT Victoria Villarruel: First vice-president to play down dictatorship’s crimes 22-11-2023 11:37 By presenting herself as a militant of "complete memory," the La Libertad Avanza vice-president-elect has constructed her political figure around the controversial “theory of two demons,” equating left-wing killings with state terrorism.
Election 2023 Massa's gradual approach versus Milei's radical plans 24-10-2023 13:58 Presidential candidates, set to face off in a run-off election on November 19, have diametrically opposing views on everything from economic to foreign policies, and most notably on the size and role of the state..
YPF COURT CASE Argentina appeals US$16-billion payout order for YPF expropriation 11-10-2023 22:31 State appeals US$16-billion judgement in US lawsuit over firm’s controversial 2012 expropriation.
GUEST VOICE Victoria Villarruel, human rights, and truth 22-09-2023 05:19 Many victims and relatives of victims of armed organisations neither feel represented by, nor do they endorse, Victoria Villarruel’s claims and views on human rights. by Gustavo Llarull**
Human rights Ex-Trial of the Juntas judge: ‘Argentina should punish denialism by law’ 20-09-2023 16:32 One of the judges who sat on the court that convicted Argentina’s military junta of crimes against humanity declares that “denialism tends to undermine the validity of the democratic rule of law.”
US COURT RULING Argentina ordered to pay US$16 billion in YPF lawsuit 08-09-2023 13:14 Argentina ordered to pay at least US$8.4 billion in damages and US$7.6 billion in interest in a US lawsuit over its 2012 re-nationalisation of state oil company YPF
Human rights Outcry at event puts Villarruel's dictatorship beliefs in spotlight 05-09-2023 16:23 Demonstrators protest against Victoria Villarruel's event paying tribute to "the victims of terrorism" held at the City Legislature.
HUMAN RIGHTS Victoria Villarruel on the military dictatorship and era of state terrorism 05-09-2023 11:58 Javier Milei’s running-mate leapt into politics from her militancy in organisations for "a complete memory" of the 1976-1983 era of state terrorism. Her statements on the military dictatorship, response to those who accuse her of denialism and the national deputy’s links with dictators.
HUMAN RIGHTS Ex-Molinos executive arrested for role in dictatorship crimes 06-07-2023 00:52 Emilio Parodi, 82, arrested at home in Vicente López for alleged crimes against humanity; Former manager of Molinos Río de La Plata food company being investigated for role in kidnapping and disappearance of 23 workers during the era of state terrorism.
IN FOCUS At 100, Henry Kissinger basks in US praise with no accountability 26-05-2023 09:13 Henry Kissinger, who turns 100 on Saturday, shaped US foreign policy like few others, with a long – and highly controversial – record.
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.
BLOOMBERG Chile, one of the world’s lithium leaders, looks like a shakier source 28-04-2023 12:28 The state plans to take control in Chile, which boasts unmatched reserves of the battery metal.
FORO LLAO LLAO Election 2023 hopefuls outline economic plans to business leaders 20-04-2023 14:29 Milei, Rodríguez Larreta, Bullrich and Vidal outline their economic plans to the nation’s top business leaders at the Llao Llao Forum in Bariloche – here’s what the leading candidates told the ‘círculo rojo.’
FOREIGN POLICY & DIPLOMACY Surprise as Ibero-American Summit opens with Maduro in tow 25-03-2023 09:26 XXVIII Ibero-American Summit of Heads of State and Government gets underway in Santo Domingo; President Alberto Fernández among those in attendance, while officials announce Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro will also be making a surprise visit to the Dominican Republic.
HUMAN RIGHTS US report criticises Argentina’s ‘ineffective’ judicial system 21-03-2023 12:59 New US State Department report on rights situation in Argentina last year highlights “numerous cases of corruption,” and says that President Alberto Fernández’s government took only “limited steps” to fully investigate abuses.
POLITICS – ANALYSIS Alberto and Cristina on different pages when it comes to justice system 04-03-2023 15:09 The president's rhetoric against the Supreme Court did not satisfy the vice-president, who will voice her own views in a speech against the Judiciary on March 10. In the ruling coalition, there is little agreement over and all sectors have doubts about presidential candidacies. by Rosario Ayerdi
AND THAT REMINDS ME… State of the nation 04-03-2023 05:59 The state-of-the nation speech to open Congress tradition long predates that experience, going all the way back to 1864 and then-president Bartolomé Mitre. by Michael Soltys
EDITORIAL It takes two to tango even when dancing alone 04-03-2023 03:02 Most of the reactions to the two-hour state-of-the-nation address of President Alberto Fernández to open Congress on Wednesday fall into its trap of placing their main focus on its explosive climax, thus limiting the debate to the judicial arena rather than tackling the deeper and more complex problems facing Argentina.
CONGRESS SPEECH: LONG READ President raises stakes, reignites feud with Judiciary 03-03-2023 10:30 Alberto Fernández delivered the traditional state-of-the-nation speech to the legislative assembly on Wednesday, marking the beginning of the congressional year. Defending his administration and pretending all is well with his vice-president, the president trained his ire on the Supreme Court and the justice system, ramping up tensions in a crunch election year. by Michael Soltys
STATE OF THE NATION Fernández takes aim at Judiciary, defends veep in Congress speech 01-03-2023 16:03 Argentina’s president delivers traditional state-of-the-nation speech to legislative assembly, marking the beginning of the congressional year; in his first public appearance with Cristina Fernández de Kirchner for nine months, Alberto Fernández defends his vice-president and condemns failed shooting attack.
POLITICS Social movements stay off streets for president’s speech to Congress 28-02-2023 15:42 When he delivers his flagship state-of-the-nation speech to Congress on Wednesday, President Alberto Fernández will not be able to count on the support of government-aligned social movements on the streets.
POLITICS & CONGRESS Alberto and Cristina set for forced reunion at Congress 27-02-2023 13:18 Nine months after they last shared the stage at a public event, Argentina’s president and vice-president will be sat side-by-side on Wednesday at Congress as the legislative year gets underway. by Rosario Ayerdi
Alberto in the Antarctic From Antarctica, President Fernández calls for ‘peace and prosperity’ 22-02-2023 23:12 Peronist leader delivers national broadcast from Base Marambio to mark Argentine Antarctic Sovereignty Day, calling on nation and world to embrace “a tomorrow of peace and prosperity.”
Corruption Scandal Ecuador president asks heads of all state firms to resign 18-01-2023 14:04 Director of state body overseeing public enterprises calls for "the availability of the positions of general managers" in all state institutions "by order of the president of the republic."
UNITED STATES Terror trial over 2017 New York truck attack begins 09-01-2023 22:01 Uzbek attacker Sayfullo Saipov stands trial on terrorism and murder charges for killing of eight people in 2017 truck rampage. Five of those killed were friends from Rosario celebrating 30 years since their high school graduation. At least 12 other people were wounded.
WORLD CUP FEVER HITS NATION Fans snap up flights to Doha as World Cup final fever grips Argentina 14-12-2022 13:42 Argentina's flag carrier announces new flights to cater to football-crazed World Cup supporters — and no price is too high for die-hard fans.
Markets Argentina AySA deal said to have critical mass to deter holdouts 03-12-2022 08:14 Any creditors considering holding out for a better deal in a debt restructuring offer from Argentina’s state-owned water utility AySA should probably think again.
BLOOMBERG YPF is poised to rein in capex ambitions amid fuel controls 30-11-2022 22:29 State-run oil company YPF probably will set next year’s spending plan at the lower end of a range that executives are discussing internally.
PRECIOS JUSTOS Massa confirms price controls for 1,400 products on way 11-11-2022 10:40 Economy Minister Sergio Massa reveals that more than 100 companies have signed up to ‘Precios Justos’ price controls scheme, as he admits “the situation is critical.”
DEATH OF QUEEN ELIZABETH II Britain and the world bid adieu to Queen Elizabeth II 19-09-2022 09:55 Huge crowds line streets as Britain says farewell to Queen Elizabeth II on Monday at a state funeral attended by world leaders.
Natural Disaster Brazil rescuers end search after storms that killed 128 03-06-2022 15:20 Emergency workers in Brazil ended their search Friday for victims of deadly floods and landslides that hit the country's northeast, after finding the body of the last person reported missing, bringing the death toll to 128.
Natural Disaster Brazil storm death toll rises to 106 01-06-2022 15:11 Flooding and landslides triggered by torrential rain have now killed at least 106 people in northeastern Brazil, officials said Tuesday as emergency workers continued a desperate search.