Translation troubles: presidential debate edition
But the two presidential debates held on October 1 and 8 were truly overflowing with our national dialectic, for better or worse. ChicanaThis is the word of the day come presidential debate time — with candidates accusing each other of throwing unfair chicanitas — and has nothing to do with Mexican culture or heritage. In Argentina, a chicana is a bad-faith provocation, usually when one politician tries to get a rise out of another. Gato is also an insult in its own right but we can leave that translation trouble for another day. There is a lot at stake in this year’s election but luckily for the politicians on the debate stage, it’s just an idiom.
Source:Bueno Aires Herald
October 16, 2023 02:16 UTC
Ecuadoreans weigh economic, security pledges in presidential ballot
Ecuadoreans voted on Sunday to choose their next president, weighing pledges to improve the economy and control a spiraling security situation from a businessman who is heir to a banana fortune and a leftist who would be the country’s first woman leader. “We need the hope of a prepared candidate and [Noboa] is that,” said Guayaquil University student Estefano Ruales, 25. Nearly 45% of eligible Ecuadoreans had voted by 1 p.m. local time (3 p.m. Buenos Aires time), council president Diana Atamaint told a press conference. About a quarter of the 13 million Ecuadoreans obliged to vote are between the ages of 18 and 29. Noboa is expected to await the results in the seaside town of Olon, while González has an event planned in Quito.
Source:Bueno Aires Herald
October 15, 2023 19:03 UTC
Bullrich announces Larreta will be Chief of Staff if she wins the election
Juntos por el Cambio (JxC) presidential candidate Patricia Bullrich announced that Buenos Aires City mayor Horacio Rodríguez Larreta, whom she defeated in the August JxC primaries, would be appointed Chief of Staff if she wins the election. A team that hits the field and scores goals every day because Argentines can’t take it anymore,” Bullrich said in a joint press conference at the Botanical Garden in Buenos Aires with Larreta and her vice-presidential candidate, Luis Petri. “Personally, the election was a blow for me, but we have to move forward,” he said. The announcement comes only eight days before the presidential elections. “I believe society is defining its vote in this last week, as it is always the case.”
Source:Bueno Aires Herald
October 14, 2023 15:33 UTC
Central Bank imposes more restrictions on banks and importers
They will be able to cover it totally or partially with an untransferable short-term bond from the Central Bank that can be settled at the official exchange rate. “The same thing happened in the 2021 elections,” an official source told the Herald. It does not refer to savers’ US dollars, but to the bank’s own dollars, an official source told the Herald. “Savers’ dollars are backed up by the Central Bank, nobody can touch them,” the source added. When authorized, the Central Bank allows businesses to buy US dollars at the official exchange rate, AR$350 per unit at the time of writing.
Source:Bueno Aires Herald
October 13, 2023 19:57 UTC
‘Caves’ and the ‘blue dollar’ informal market. This is how they work
Last Wednesday, in the midst of financial turbulence and extreme tension in the currency exchange market, the government raided several “caves” in Buenos Aires City that operate with “blue dollars”. This is the blue or parallel market dollar, which in other parts of the world is better known as the “black market dollar”. These are the people standing on the streets chanting “cambio, cambio” (‘exchange, exchange’). The crime of buying and selling blue dollarsBuying or selling illegal blue dollars is a crime under the Currency Exchange Law, which punishes those who engage in that trade. But most of them do prosecute caves that sell fortunes in blue dollars.
Source:Bueno Aires Herald
October 13, 2023 16:42 UTC
Israel-Hamas war: Lula calls for the protection of ‘Palestinian and Israeli children’
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Wednesday called on the United Nations and the international community to protect “Palestinian and Israeli children” in the midst of the Israel-Hamas War. He also called for a ceasefire and an “international humanitarian intervention” so that human rights violations can be put to an end. Lula said that militant Islamist group Hamas should release Israeli children “kidnapped from their families”, while calling on Israel to stop bombings to allow Palestinian children and their mothers to leave the Gaza Strip and cross the border with Egypt. “An international humanitarian intervention is urgently needed,” Lula wrote on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter. It will continue to work for the promotion of peace and in defense of human rights in the world”, said Lula.
Source:Bueno Aires Herald
October 12, 2023 16:33 UTC
Lower House passes Rental Law changes, makes reform official
The Chamber of Deputies approved the changes the Senate had made to a Rental Law reform bill the Lower House had passed in August, making said reform official law. The minimum duration of a lease, which the bill initially approved by the Lower House had shortened to two years, will remain at three years after the Senate rejected that provision last September. The Ley de alquileres or Rental Law currently in place was originally passed in July 2020 and put a three-year minimum on rental contracts — adding a year to the two-year period then in place. The introduction of these changes meant that it had to go back to the Chamber of Deputies for final approval. The Senate-made changes were approved by the Lower House on Wednesday with 128 votes in favor and 114 against.
Source:Bueno Aires Herald
October 11, 2023 21:24 UTC
Government unifies three dollar exchange rates
In the midst of financial turbulence and the skyrocketing of the blue dollar, the AFIP ordered that the debit and credit card dollar and the Qatar dollar be unfied. All three will be more expensive at a current exchange rate of AR$731 per US dollar. Two exchange rates were in place until Monday: one for purchases under US$300 per month (solidarity exchange rate), and another for payments over that amount (the exchange rate known as Qatar dollar). Qatar, solidary and credit and debit card dollar: the unified exchange rateOfficial dollar exchange rate: AR$365.5030% PAIS tax: AR$109,6545% surcharge: $164,4825% surcharge: $91.38Total: AR$731.01It is worth mentioning that this is still much lower than the blue-chip exchange rate of AR$840 per US dollar, as well as the blue dollar, at approximately AR$1000. The final exchange rate is the following: official dollar, AR$365.50 per US dollar, plus the added charges of 45%, 30% and 25%.
Source:Bueno Aires Herald
October 11, 2023 15:40 UTC
With seven confirmed dead, government kicks off evacuation of Argentines in Israel
The number of Argentines confirmed dead has risen to seven, and 15 others were confirmed missing by Monday afternoon. Foreign Minister Santiago Cafiero said Tuesday morning that 713 Argentines in Israel have asked to be evacuated so far. Hamas launched the biggest attack on Israel in years on Saturday, firing rockets from Gaza and sending gunmen into Israel on foot. Israeli authorities have confirmed that 1,000 people have been killed, while the health ministry in Gaza has confirmed 750 deaths on the Palestinian side by Tuesday morning. Assistance for Argentines in IsraelTo board the emergency evacuation flights, Argentines in Israel have to enter a register that the Argentine consulate in Tel Aviv is compiling.
Source:Bueno Aires Herald
October 10, 2023 14:35 UTC
Indigenous minister calls on Lula to kill farm lobby's land bill
Brazil’s first Indigenous cabinet minister is urging President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to veto a bill pushed through Congress by the farm lobby that she and Indigenous leaders warn would undermine ancestral land rights and threaten their way of life. Indigenous Affairs Minister Sonia Guajajara told Reuters she is pushing the president not to sign the bill. The largest umbrella organization of Brazil’s Indigenous People (APIB) is campaigning on social media urging Lula to veto the whole bill. “The Supreme Court and the Senate are playing their part. “It also would allow for the expropriation of reservation land if their inhabitants lost their physical and cultural Indigenous traits, which is racist,” Guajajara told Reuters.
Source:Bueno Aires Herald
October 09, 2023 23:42 UTC
Second presidential debate: candidates spar over insecurity and production
Argentina’s five main presidential candidates took to the stage for the second and final presidential debate ahead of the October 22 general elections. Presidential candidates sparred over security, corruption, economic inclusion, workers’ rights, and environmental protections. The debate’s three topic sections were security, work and production, and human development, housing, and the environment. In their starting speeches, nearly all candidates, save Bregman, condemned Hamas’ attack against Israel over the weekend. Describing an “Argentine FBI,” Massa pledged to create a national law enforcement agency to combat corruption, drug trafficking, and human trafficking.
Source:Bueno Aires Herald
October 09, 2023 14:44 UTC
Translation troubles: overscrewed
As we enter the homestretch of the October 22 election, it’s unsurprising that two-thirds of this week’s translation troubles came from political candidates. For now, here are three from the past week: overscrewed, downed lines and joker cards. Pasarse de roscaPresidential candidate Patricia Bullrich said that rival Javier Milei’s denialism was “pasarse de rosca.” This has a fairly simple English translation — to go overboard, going too far. As a kid, I would usually hear “you’re overscrewed” when it was past our bedtime and we had way too much energy for the exasperated adult in question. Share your thoughts and translation hang-ups with us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram!
Source:Bueno Aires Herald
October 09, 2023 07:55 UTC
Rugby World Cup: Argentina beats Japan, reaches quarter-finals
Argentina is through to the Rugby World Cup quarter-finals after the national men’s team Los Pumas beat Japan 39-27 on Sunday morning at Stade de la Beaujoire in Nantes, France. Following the hard-earned victory against the Brave Blossoms, Argentina has managed to slip into the second position of the D group, right behind England. It’s the fourth time that the Pumas have reached the group of the best eight teams in a rugby world cup. Argentina will play against Wales for a spot in the semi-finals on Saturday at 12 p.m. in Marseilles. “Now, we have to enjoy this victory and tomorrow start thinking about Wales to get into the semifinals,” said Carreras.
Source:Bueno Aires Herald
October 08, 2023 16:04 UTC
Seven suspects in assassination of Ecuador candidate murdered in prison
Seven men suspected of involvement in the murder in August of Ecuador’s anti-corruption presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio were killed in prison on Friday, the prisons agency said, barely a week before a crucial run-off election. Six of the killings took place in a penitentiary in Guayaquil, the South American country’s largest city, the attorney general’s office announced. The prisons agency announced a seventh death at another prison. The SNAI prisons agency said in a statement that six of the seven murdered men were Colombian nationals. The second round run-off vote is scheduled for October 15, the culmination of an election cycle marred by numerous incidents of violence.
Source:Bueno Aires Herald
October 08, 2023 07:56 UTC
They reported on the crimes of Argentina's dictatorship and then told the world
It’s June of 1978, and the FIFA World Cup hosted by Argentina has just finished. “Congratulations on the World Cup, Mr. Videla”. Help us.”Barend interviewed the Mothers at the exact same moment the 1978 World Cup opening ceremony was taking place in River Plate stadium. They remained unharmed and left the country as soon as they could after the World Cup ended. Van der Putten had lived in Argentina previously but left a few months after the March 24, 1976 coup.
Source:Bueno Aires Herald
October 07, 2023 20:49 UTC