Argentina
Why CFK’s Arrest Warrant Is Nothing to Celebrate
A questionable court ruling could bolster suspicions about politicized courts in Argentina.
Why Argentina’s Kirchner Is Poised for a Comeback – Despite Corruption Charges
If Cristina Fernández de Kirchner wins a senate seat in Sunday’s mid-term elections, as she is poised to do, her comeback would be significant: The former president is under investigation in at least eight separate corruption cases. Part of the explanation for why these investigations have not sunk Fernández’s senate bid may lie with Argentina’s … Read more
Argentina’s Milagro Sala: Criminal, or “Political Prisoner”?
SAN SALVADOR DE JUJUY – As Argentina’s crucial midterm elections approach, the country’s growing political divides are on full display. Nowhere is this more clear than in the case of Milagro Sala, a prominent activist in Argentina’s remote northwest who once enjoyed vast influence bolstered by the patronage of then-President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner as well … Read more
A Kirchner Comeback in Argentina?
If you thought Cristina Fernández de Kirchner was finished with national politics, think again. Less than two years after relinquishing Argentina’s presidency, the 64-year-old Fernández has been meeting with foreign dignitaries, giving primetime interviews, even tweeting out campaign-style videos – in other words, behaving like a candidate for Congress in October’s midterm elections in all but … Read more
Green Envy: What Argentina Is Learning from Chile’s Renewable Energy Boom
Argentines don’t like it when their neighbors across the Andes get the better of them. But few will deny that when it comes to green energy, Chile has the upper hand. Over the past three years, Chile has turned itself into the continent’s renewable energy powerhouse, while Argentina’s green promise has remained unfulfilled. That may … Read more
Argentina’s Return to Honest Accounting Is More Than Just Numbers
Nearly four years after Argentina became the first country to be censured by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for providing inaccurate data on inflation and economic growth, the international body on Nov. 9 restored the country to good standing. The move provided a win for the government’s reform agenda and offered a positive sign for hesitant … Read more
Fighting Corruption: Why Argentina Might Not Be the Next Brazil
Argentina has seen an unprecedented wave of corruption charges this year against high-profile individuals, plus the arrest of members of the business elite, union leaders, and former government officials. Even former President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner (2007-15) was formally charged in May over her alleged role in the sale of future dollar contracts by the … Read more
Argentina’s Quiet (Giant) Step Against Corruption
With anti-corruption efforts making noise throughout the hemisphere, Argentina is quietly on the brink of a major victory. A draft bill that would change the way the country prosecutes malfeasance seems like a simple fix. But if passed, the legislation could have a major effect on the way businesses treat – and crackdown on – … Read more
Argentina to Expand Use of Plea Bargaining, Inspired by Brazil
With the use of plea bargaining, a Brazilian legal team has recovered $785 million stolen in the Lava Jato (Car Wash) corruption scandal, and they’re hunting down another $5.9 billion. You can’t blame Argentina for wanting to use the controversial legal tool to see what it can recoup, too. Inspired by Brazil, Argentine President Mauricio Macri is laying … Read more
This Week in Latin America: Obama in Havana, Venezuela in Crisis
Sign up here to get This Week in Latin America delivered straight to your inbox every Monday. Cuba, Argentina Host Obama: Cuba and Argentina each play host to U.S. President Barack Obama this week, with human rights issues shading both visits. Today, Obama will hold a working meeting with Cuban President Raúl Castro, who will then host a state dinner … Read more
How Mauricio Macri Plans to Fill a $1 Billion Hole at Aerolíneas Argentinas
Last year was a good one for global airlines. Thanks to falling fuel prices and an increased demand for air travel, the industry earned an estimated $33 billion in 2015. Carriers around the globe earned near-record profits. Not so in Argentina, where according to official figures state-run Aerolíneas Argentinas operated at a loss of nearly … Read more
How Twitter Activism Made Violence Against Women a Campaign Issue in Argentina
Whoever wins Argentina’s presidential runoff on November 22, they will be expected to deal with the country’s staggering rates of gender violence. A femicide occurs in Argentina on average once every 30 hours. But it isn’t just the scope of the problem that has the candidates scurrying to suggest solutions. It is also thanks to the … Read more
Hangar Pains: The Argentina-Chile Airport Controversy
Relations between neighboring Argentina and Chile have reached a new low point. The latest controversy surrounds a decision by Argentina’s airport regulator, ORSNA, mandating LAN-Argentina, a Chilean-owned airline operating domestically, to vacate its maintenance hangar at Aeroparque Jorge Newbery, one of Buenos Aires’s two airports. LAN-Argentina’s director, Agustín Agraz, called this decision a form of … Read more
The New Pope and Gay Rights
While naysayers joke that the Cardinals may as well have elected another Italian Pope in choosing a porteño, the move to elect Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina, now Pope Francis, is of undeniable significance for the global south. This is particularly true for Latin Americans, who—while accounting for 40 percent of all Catholics—often complain of … Read more
