News of times

ASEAN, as in the zone

22-08-2026 08:21 The creation of ASEAN in 1967 saw the region create unity out of division and harmony out of discord.

by Michael Soltys

March of the trolls

22-08-2026 05:54 Perhaps the most significant development is the government’s implied admission of economic stagnation for the first time when almost two-thirds of the year is over, accompanying a cautious relaxation of monetary policy.

Editorial

Economic conundrums

15-08-2026 07:00 The Milei administration has yet to square the circle of taming inflation without recession.

EDITORIAL

Blame it on Sao Paulo

01-08-2026 12:17 It might well also be asked whether meddling in the domestic politics of other countries belongs in any presidential work list.

Editorial

The days after

18-07-2026 07:30 Parliamentary democracy is far from being a synonym for productivity. Yet all that and more lies after the challenge of tomorrow’s World Cup final.

AS I SEE IT

Consumer prices trump geopolitics

18-07-2026 07:26 Like its counterparts in most other countries, the US electorate is more interested in consumer goods than in geopolitical questions that, sooner or later, could have devastating consequences.

by James Neilson

Editorial

A tale of two footballs

11-07-2026 00:27 The epic World Cup comeback against Egypt only stands to widen the gap between the squad of the two Lionels and all other institutions in Argentina.

EDITORIAL

Cabinets and wardrobes

04-07-2026 00:56 Appointment of Diego Santilli places the relations of the ruling La Libertad Avanza party with its chief ally on a new footing.

Editorial

Messi in Dallas, messy down here

27-06-2026 00:37 The separation of powers is alive and well in Argentina when it comes to corruption – regardless of whether the issue is Cabinet Chief Manuel Adorni’s assets or the up to US$20 million stacked in the San Vicente mansion, the knee-jerk response of the political world is: “The matter belongs to the courts.”

AS I SEE IT

The unsurprising fall of Keir Starmer

25-06-2026 16:22 From the word go, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer behaved as though he enjoyed the support of most of his country’s population, an illusion that was encouraged by the worshipful treatment he received from “progressives” in the media.

by James Neilson

BEYOND THE HEADLINES

Host with the most

20-06-2026 05:45 Nothing unimportant is more important than football with its victories and defeats metaphors for life and death with nobody actually dying.

by Michael Soltys

Editorial

From the sublime to the ridiculous

20-06-2026 05:40 In the past, countless ministers have been sacrificed to protect a President but now presidential popularity is being laid on the line to save a minister.

Editorial

Artificial Intelligence and natural stupidity

13-06-2026 05:30 Capitulation to robots is always going to be a hard sell.

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Milei defends unregulated AI push after warning from historian Yuval Noah Harari

09-06-2026 14:32 Israeli historian Yuval Noah Harari takes issue with President Milei's proposal to grant legal personhood to corporations operated by AI, writing it could be dangerous.

ANALYSIS – POLITICS & TECHNOLOGY

A robot oasis and billionaire’s playground in Argentina?

06-06-2026 07:02 Milei’s self-proclaimed anarcho-capitalist libertarianism seems totally aligned with the idea of generating a robot oasis and a billionaire’s playground in Argentina.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Milei promises tech firms new laws and ‘unregulated’ AI in Argentina

04-06-2026 13:18 President makes bold pitch in 'Financial Times' op-ed, promising to keep AI free from regulation in Argentina; Op-ed is latest in series of moves promoting Argentina as nation friendly to Artificial Intelligence.

AS I SEE IT

Human capital getting sidelined

23-05-2026 05:53 As has happened time and time again, the discrepancy between what seemed to be quite reasonable hopes and a dispiriting reality has bred discontent among the “overeducated and underemployed.”

by James Neilson

Editorial

Reiterated Infrastructural Gaps Ignored

16-05-2026 06:51 Both the quantity and quality of Argentina’s public universities are up for discussion – a right which the government would earn if they were ready to pump more funds into areas which could fuel progress instead of just blindly cutting.

EDITORIAL

Taking liberties with liberty

09-05-2026 06:37 How long can we continue to take this government’s self-identification as libertarian seriously?

Editorial

Missing the point

02-05-2026 00:28 The magnified Adorni scandal is a huge problem for the government, making nonsense of “morality as a state policy” from Milei’s state-of-the-nation speech or his “cultural battle,” but it also serves as a distraction from more serious problems.

AS I SEE IT

The President and the Pope

25-04-2026 06:31 Trump was paying the pontiff a compliment by taking him seriously. Instead of treating Leo’s remarks as the maunderings of an unworldly holy man who should be praised for his idealism and then ignored, as so many regularly do, he thought the Pope’s allusions were worth responding to.

by James Neilson

Editorial

Problems of success?

25-04-2026 06:25 The transformation sought by President Javier Milei in Argentina runs into a delicate balance between the upward thrust of the new being created and the downward pull of the old being destroyed

Editorial

Uneasy lies the head

18-04-2026 00:01 With neither fiscal policy changes possible nor economic pickup likely in any near future and with investors continuing to hold back, President Javier Milei's government badly needs to change the subject

As I see it

Time could be running out for Milei

18-04-2026 00:01 Governments that have little to fear from an effective opposition soon fall prey to the internal squabbles politicians so greatly enjoy.

by James Neilson

AS I SEE IT

Did the ayatollahs get one over on Trump?

11-04-2026 06:49 Even though Trump is desperately looking for an excuse to call it quits, he could change his mind yet again when it dawns on him that the remnants of the Iranian regime are making him look like a loser.

by James Neilson

Editorial

The iceman goeth

11-04-2026 06:04 Resources are the name of the game in today’s world and the amendments to the 2010 Glaciers Law should be seen within that context.

AS I SEE IT

Milei gets a taste of his own medicine

03-04-2026 06:25 This is what tends to happen to holier-than-thou politicians who feel they are morally superior to their adversaries and make a habit of boasting about it.

by James Neilson

Editorial

Open wounds

28-03-2026 05:57 Democracy is alive and well despite the wear and tear of over four decades – one consensus still intact despite the increasing polarisation and fragmentation of the political scenario.

AS I SEE IT

A dark cloud that refuses to disperse

28-03-2026 05:55 The coup d’état of 1976, and its aftermath, continue to weigh heavily on the collective Argentine mind.

by James Neilson

Editorial

Fifty years after

21-03-2026 00:08 We should remember every day that 50 years ago there was a military dictatorship and count our blessings for a democracy equally capable of electing leftist populism and the far-right libertarian administration now ruling.

TEHRAN CALLING

Iran media outlet warns Milei has crossed ‘red line’ over hostile remarks

17-03-2026 11:18 Tehran-linked English-language outlet, widely seen as reflecting regime thinking, accuses Argentina’s President of aligning with US and Israel.

BEYOND THE HEADLINES

A future which works

07-03-2026 06:53 Milei’s determination to open up one of the world’s most closed economies is moving at vastly superior speed to the painstaking parliamentary passage of the structural reforms local companies need to compete.

by Michael Soltys

EDITORIAL

Wheels within wheels

07-03-2026 06:46 Milei’s insults only served to lend importance to the fading force of Kirchnerism, perhaps a deliberate strategy to preserve an electoral opponent virtually guaranteeing him victory.

Editorial

The lion roars tomorrow

28-02-2026 06:01 Let us hope that President Milei takes a newly favourable Congress seriously and presents a solid agenda for the parliamentary year ahead.

Editorial

Behind the times

14-02-2026 06:01 This labour reform bill is a starting-point towards less labour litigation and a more flexible job market but it is also running behind times which are moving much faster.

Editorial

Tearing apart the rag trade

07-02-2026 07:18 Statements by Caputo and Adorni do not come out of nowhere but need to be seen as a continuation of the battle between a libertarian government intent on opening up the economy and an entrenched industrial sector.

Foreign policy & diplomacy

Milei denies report linking Argentina to Trump deportee scheme

31-01-2026 09:21 President denies reports his government in advanced talks to become destination for US deportations; ‘New York Times’ said deal would see Argentina receive deportees of other nationalities who are unable to return to country of origin.

EDITORIAL

Waking up from anti-woke?

24-01-2026 07:40 Milei’s three Davos speeches have had the common denominator of also being addressed to home audiences and Wednesday’s concessions to the World Economic Forum’s motto of the “spirit of dialogue” perhaps also reflect a new domestic political context following last October’s midterm triumph.

EDITORIAL

What’s in a name?

17-01-2026 06:33 Radicalism prides itself on being an inflexible “ethic” which “breaks up rather than bend” in contrast to the Peronism veering wildly.

As I see it

After Maduro, Trump takes on the ayatollahs

17-01-2026 05:32 Having pledged himself publicly to “protect” protesting Iranians, Trump has left himself with precious little room in which to manoeuvre.

by James Neilson

BEYOND THE HEADLINES

Is Vaca Muerta now a dead cow – and EU-Mercosur deal a cherubic baby?

17-01-2026 00:12 Today will go down as a historic day with the world’s biggest free-trade area numbering over 700 million consumers signed into being in the Paraguayan capital of Asunción.

by Michael Soltys

EDITORIAL

The Donroe Doctrine

10-01-2026 06:20 Trump has been explicit in placing democracy on the backburner in Venezuela.

As I see it

Existential angst is for Europeans

02-01-2026 08:40 In contrast to the many Europeans, Argentines have yet to resign themselves to collective failure.

by James Neilson

Editorial

'cause I’m the Taxman

20-12-2025 08:02 In restricting government to ever narrower circles, Milei is misreading the results of the last midterms. But Milei’s conclusion is that sister knows best.

Editorial

Halfway to heaven?

13-12-2025 06:30 The Milei Presidency at its halfway mark can most charitably be described as a work in progress.

As I see it

The Goddess of Reason returns

06-12-2025 06:52 Academics are not the only people who see the difference between perceived truth and falsehood shrinking at an alarming rate thanks in large measure to machines that, in theory, should be making it far easier to tell them apart.

by James Neilson

EDITORIAL

Milei’s offside trap

06-12-2025 06:41 A shady AFA might seem an easy target for polarisation but Milei could be playing with fire.

Editorial

Growing pains

29-11-2025 05:28 The challenge of sustained growth, via making the real economy more competitive with vastly improved productivity levels, is presented as a question of structural labour, tax and pension reforms but there are more immediate problems.

AS I SEE IT

Snug in the arms of Uncle Sam

22-11-2025 06:41 For good or ill, it would appear that for the foreseeable future the United States will continue to be the only superpower worth taking into account.

by James Neilson