Argentina’s country risk, as measured by JP Morgan, fell to 517 basis points on Monday — the lowest level since June 2018. Having a low score, therefore, is key to regaining access to the international debt market. Country risk was close to 2,000 points when Javier Milei took office in December 2023. After striking a deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in April, the Argentine administration seemed bent on avoiding international reserve purchases on the grounds that they believed it would trigger a spike in inflation. Argentina’s access to international markets has been voided since 2018, after the collapse of then-President Mauricio Macri’s first economic program.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Sunday that Trump’s endorsement and the US$20 billion U.S. currency swap with Argentina had enabled President Javier Milei to perform well in October’s midterm elections. Asked about the swap in an interview with La Derecha Diario owner Javier Negre, Bessent said: “[Trump] endorsed President Milei. Bessent also defended the decision to offer Argentina a currency swap, claiming the deal was misreported. Initially, the U.S. authorities said it could include purchase of the country’s USD bonds, a stand-by credit line, and a Central Bank currency swap. In October 2025, the United States and Argentina agreed on a US$20 billion currency swap line, which Buenos Aires had to “activate” to access the funds.

Indian firm Welspun Corp was chosen by Southern Energy (SESA) as its pipe supplier for a massive US$15 billion project to export liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the Vaca Muerta field, beating local company Tenaris, part of the Techint group. Welspun also beat 13 other bids from companies in Spain, China, Colombia, Mexico, Japan, Greece, and Turkey, La Nación reported. “The winning bid barely exceeded US$200 million and was 40% lower than Techint’s,” said journalist Pablo Fernández Blanco. The projectSouthern Energy is a consortium that groups state company YPF with Pan American Energy (PAE), Pampa Energía, Harbour Energy and Golar. The contract it awarded to Welspun is for the supply of pipes for a nearly 500-kilometer pipeline that will carry gas from Vaca Muerta, in Neuquén, to the coast of Río Negro, where it will be liquefied and exported by ship.

The San Matías Gulf, alongside Argentina’s central Río Negro province, has become a key site in national plans to export liquefied natural gas (LNG). However, the San Matías Gulf is an area of enormous ecological value, home to five national and provincial marine reserves. The San Matías Gulf was chosen because it is one of the few points on Argentina’s Atlantic coast with sufficient depth and a direct connection to Vaca Muerta. Several sources consulted by Dialogue Earth have pointed out that environmental assessments of fossil fuel projects in the San Matías Gulf are fragmented. It runs to Punta Colorada, a town located between two protected areas in the San Matías Gulf.

The Argentine government recently announced that the country will participate in NASA’s Artemis II, the first crewed mission to the moon since Apollo 17 in 1972. President Javier Milei held up Argentina’s spot in the moon mission as proof of the country’s technological prowess and vindication of his “efficient” allotment of resources. In the mission, a rocket will carry four astronauts around the moon and back to Earth. While they will not land on the moon, the flight will take the crew farther from Earth than any previous human mission. For Baum, the Artemis mission represents a “new space race” between the United States and China.

Donald Trump’s newly announced Board of Peace sounds, at first glance, like a diplomatic initiative. This is less a peace council than a conflict powers’ club, one that assumes peace is best managed by those who break it most often. Trump’s path to resentmentTrump did not discover peace late in life. For years, he has publicly lamented not receiving the Nobel Peace Prize, despite claiming credit for everything from Middle East diplomacy to preventing wars that never formally existed. This is ego diplomacy: peace not as a collective project, but as a personal legacy exercise.

The legal battle between the Argentine Football Association (AFA) and the Milei administration has intensified after they exchanged lawsuits on Thursday. The ARCA tax bureau accused Argentine football’s governing body of falsifying invoices, while the AFA filed a suit alleging abuse of authority. A long-standing feudThis is the latest chapter in the Milei administration’s long battle with the AFA. Argentine clubs quickly voted against allowing private sports corporations in their statutes. The announcement prompted strong condemnation from AFA, who claimed the government had withdrawn from negotiations after requesting that they present a “deficit-free project.”

Specialty coffee shops have been on the up and boomed in the past year. ), Hobby (a teen favourite), Nomada (never been), No Coffee No Prana (comes with a yoga studio) and Docena (brand new). Coffee shops are showered with love. “People would prefer to drink more without the big kick, and we bartenders are interested in people drinking more cocktails, [rather] than fewer. Get creative with our most prestigious ingredients, chefs, and give our taste buds a treat this 2026.

In addition to them, Gerardo Boschín and Leonardo Comperatore, leaders of public train companies Trenes Argentinos Operaciones and Trenes Argentinos Infraestructura, respectively, also resigned after Pierrini announced he was leaving the government. All the changes were announced as resignations, although it remains unclear whether some of them were asked to leave by the government. However, he expressed surprise with the decision to leave him out of the new board. Outgoing UIF head Paul Starc. Cover image features outgoing Transport Secretary Luis Pierrini

Argentina recorded the lowest homicide rate in Latin America and the Caribbean in 2025, with 3.7 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants, according to preliminary statistics from the Security Ministry. This is the second year running that the country boasts the lowest homicide rate in the region, Monteoliva said. She added that the number of homicides was the lowest figure so far this century. The national rate fell by 20.8%, comparable only to the year 2020, which was marked by the Covid lockdown, said the minister. The decrease was uniform across all 24 jurisdictions,” stated Monteoliva, who said the drop represented a “historic turning point.”

As the Venezuelan government, currently led by interim President Delcy Rodríguez, continues to release political prisoners, hundreds are still being held in jails and detention centers across the country, including four Argentine men. Nahuel Gallo, Germán Giuliani, Roberto Baldo and Gustavo Rivara have been detained for months, and in some cases, over a year. Harary, 72, had been held in El Rodeo I prison since September 4, 2024, when he crossed the border from Colombia. Ellos son Roberto Baldo y Montserrat Espinosa de Baldo. Cover image: Gustavo Rivara, Roberto Baldo and Germán Giuliani

The national government has officially launched a 12-month administrative takeover of the Port of Ushuaia after detecting apparent financial irregularities and the diversion of public funds. The measure was ordered by the National Ports and Navigation Agency (ANPYN, by its Spanish initials) and published this Thursday in the Official Gazette. The government of Tierra del Fuego, Antarctica and South Atlantic Islands said it will take legal action against the takeover of the port. From the National Ports and Navigation Agency, a strategic body created in 2025, Arreseygor has taken on responsibility for leading a process with significant institutional impact on the national port system. From that position, Arreseygor is now directly responsible for the administrative intervention of the port of Ushuaia — a measure with strong institutional and strategic impact that has placed the Fuegian port under direct national government control and thrust it into the center of Argentina’s port, logistics and geopolitical agenda.

The Torneo Apertura, the opening stage of the Argentine football league, is set to start on Thursday, with a five-match slate. The action continues at 8 p.m., as Banfield takes on Huracán and Unión de Santa Fe faces off against Platense. The league formatFor 2026, the league format will remain mostly the same as last year. They will also play two games against teams in the other group, one at random and one against their derby rival. There will be eight trophies up for grabs this season, with the Recopa de Campeones making a debut for 2026.

The Torneo Apertura, the opening stage of the Argentine football league, is set to start on Thursday, with a five-match slate. The action continues at 8 p.m., as Banfield takes on Huracán and Unión de Santa Fe faces off against Platense. The league formatFor 2026, the league format will remain mostly the same as last year. They will also play two games against teams in the other group, one at random and one against their derby rival. There will be eight trophies up for grabs this season, with the Recopa de Campeones making a debut for 2026.

Chile’s president-elect José Antonio Kast announced the list of 25 ministers that will be part of his cabinet after he takes office on March 11. Fernando Rabat, who defended Pinochet in a 2004 embezzlement case, will be minister of justice and human rights. However, in 2021 Kast denied being a Pinochet supporter and questioned the human rights violations committed during his rule. “Chile needs decision, character, it needs a government that acts with urgency,” Kast said during the cabinet presentation on Wednesday. Although Pinochet was investigated for the embezzlement case and the extreme violations of human rights committed during his dictatorship, he died in 2006 without any convictions.