Chile voters punish Bachelet’s ruling coalition
Tuesday, October 25, 2016 Chile voters punish Bachelet’s ruling coalitionPresident’s New Majority loses 26 mayoral seats leaving only 141 to Chile Vamos’ 144SANTIAGO — Chileans gave the ruling, centre-left coalition a bloody nose in municipal elections on Sunday after more than two years of sluggish growth and bitter disputes over education, pension and labour reforms. The ruling coalition that Bachelet heads has dominated Chilean politics for 26 years, holding the presidency for all but four of those years and controlling a majority of municipalities — until yesterday. “Chile wants, needs a change,” said Sebastian Piñera, former president for the right-wing coalition. “Today we have taken a great step towards the change that Chile needs.”Yet, many voters didn’t turn to the coalition that backs Piñera. Independent candidates won 52 mayoral seats, compared with 41 four years earlier, with their percentage of the vote rising to 17.4 percent from 10.9 percent.
Source:Bueno Aires Herald
October 25, 2016 01:41 UTC
Estudiantes puts a stop to San Lorenzo
SOCCER — DOMESTIC LEAGUE Monday, October 24, 2016 Estudiantes puts a stop to San LorenzoTournament leader takes 2-1 away victory at the Nuevo GasómetroEstudiantes de La Plata stayed alone at the top of the First Division standings after beating San Lorenzo 2-1 at the Nuevo Gasómetro stadium yesterday in a seventh-round match. Estudiantes fielded three defensive midfielders to block Fernando Belluschi and Néstor Ortigoza, two of San Lorenzo’s playmakers. After wasting a couple of chances, Damonte scored with a header to take the 2-1 win. San Lorenzo fielded: Sebastián Torrico; Mathías Corujo, Marcos Angeleri, Fabricio Coloccini, Emmanuel Mas; Franco Mussis; Ezequiel Cerutti, Fernando Belluschi, Néstor Ortigoza, Sebastián Blanco; Nicolás Blandi. The Rosario derby went to Newell’s Old Boys yesterday as Maximiliano Rodríguez scored in extra time to take a 1-0 victory over Rosario Central at the Gigante de Arroyito stadium.
Source:Bueno Aires Herald
October 24, 2016 03:27 UTC
World laughs at Donald Trump in SNL’s debate sketch
Monday, October 24, 2016 World laughs at Donald Trump in SNL’s debate sketchBy Aaron BlakeThe Washington PostA week after drawing an unhappy response from Donald Trump for its portrayal of him in its spoof of the second presidential debate, Saturday Night Live didn’t back down on the third one. Featuring the debate again in its cold open — this time with Tom Hanks playing moderator Chris Wallace — Alec Baldwin’s Trump was as brutish and offensive as ever. There’s even a subtle jab at Trump’s strange comment that he would date daughter Ivanka if she weren’t his daughter. The sketch had some fun with the audience laughter that was clearly heard when Trump said that nobody respects women more than he does. This is the final debate sketch we’ll see, given that there aren’t any more debates.
Source:Bueno Aires Herald
October 23, 2016 13:18 UTC
IACHR condemns prison conditions
Sunday, October 23, 2016 IACHR condemns prison conditionsThe Inter-American Commission of Human Rights (IACHR) published a report last week condemning the complicity of the media and the judiciary in the irregular detention of citizens, as well as prison conditions violating international human rights standards. “Daily we overturn pre-trial detention orders which were imposed as a punitive prevention measure as opposed to meeting the requirements for pre-trial custody,” a Cassation Court Judge reported. Around 50 percent of the prisoners in the different prison systems are being held in pre-trial detention. In the Buenos Aires provincial prison system, 37,895 are being held and 22,965 are in pre-trial detention, representing 56 percent of the province’s prison population. The IACHR has a long history of monitoring human rights situations throughout Latin America and Argentina.
Source:Bueno Aires Herald
October 23, 2016 03:22 UTC
Fiscal deficit up by 80 percent in September
Annual comparison without financial revenue Saturday, October 22, 2016 Fiscal deficit up by 80 percent in SeptemberArgentina posted a primary fiscal deficit of 38.9 billion pesos in September, up from 37.2 billion pesos in August, the Finance Ministry said yesterday. In comparison to the same month last year, the deficit has widedned by 80 percent. Those figures do not include revenue from financial sources liked to Central Brank or by the ANSES FGS sustaimnability gfunds. With those sources of revenue included, the deficit is nine percehnt larger than in the sme month last year. The government has set a reduction of the budget deficit to 4.8 percent of GDP, but recently upped its primary fiscal deficit projections for 2017 to 4.2 percent of GDP, greater than 3.3 percent promised earlier this year.
Source:Bueno Aires Herald
October 22, 2016 04:42 UTC
Britain to posthumously pardon thousands of gay and bisexual men once considered criminals
So-called ‘Alan Turing Law’ will clear convictions Friday, October 21, 2016 Britain to posthumously pardon thousands of gay and bisexual men once considered criminalsBy Max BearakThe Washington PostBy all accounts, Alan Turing was a genius. Tens of thousands of gay and bisexual men were convicted of “gross indecency.” On Wednesday, the British government announced that it would posthumously pardon those who had been convicted. Dubbing it the “Alan Turing law,” the pardons would be achieved through an amendment to a bill that originally criminalized homosexuality. The gross indecency law ruined peoples’ lives. As Alan Turing received a pardon, it is absolutely right that those who were similarly convicted should receive a pardon as well.
Source:Bueno Aires Herald
October 21, 2016 01:30 UTC
Trump keeps sowing doubt over US democracy
Friday, October 21, 2016 Trump keeps sowing doubt over US democracyUS Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump smiles after making what he said was a major announcement, that he’d abide by the election results if he won, to supporters at a campaign rally in Delaware, Ohio, yesterday. DELAWARE, Ohio — Mocking his critics, Donald Trump pledged yesterday to fully accept the outcome of next month’s presidential election — if he wins. Trump’s comments came a day after his stunning refusal in the final presidential debate to say whether he would concede to Clinton if he loses. I will keep you in suspense.”Clinton slammed Trump’s comments as “horrifying,” and fellow Democrats piled on yesterday. In Pennsylvania, Senator Pat Toomey said Trump’s comments were “irresponsible.”US elections are run by local elected officials — Republicans, in many of the most competitive states.
Source:Bueno Aires Herald
October 21, 2016 01:30 UTC
The Indy Eye: Argentine Women March Against Gender Violence
One of these women responding on behalf of the many women murdered in the past few weeks was university student Gaita, who had ‘Enough’ painted on her cheek. “For some young women, abuse is now seen as a normality, and it shouldn’t be that way. They told the Indy that their decision to use ‘Puta feminista’ was their way of regaining power over bad perceptions of women. 9 de Julio, women lay motionless with plastic bags over their faces to represent the dead bodies of the victims of femicide. It was a small demonstration, but powerful and moving: the only thing separating these women from the reality of Lucía Pérez and the 226 women murdered this year was the rise and fall of the plastic bags in time with their breathing.
Source:The Argentina Independent
October 20, 2016 18:10 UTC
France to release dictatorship-era files
Thursday, October 20, 2016 France to release dictatorship-era filesHuman Rights Secretary Avruj says President Hollande made decision after visit to BAFrench President François Hollande has ordered the release of classified documents from the French state relating to the last military dictatorship in Argentina (1976-83), Human Rights Secretary Claudio Avruj and Argentine Ambassador to Paris Jorge Faurie announced yesterday. Speaking to the EFE news agency, Avruj said the French declassification would “strengthen democracy.”“We all win when more information sees the light of day,” the human rights secretary said. He added that the large number of Argentines with ties to France, including those who fled there during the period of military rule, meant that the forthcoming release of documents would yield large amounts of previously undisclosed information. “There were many exiles and there is a lot of documentation,” Avruj said, adding that it would be necessary to “label and catalogue” the documents prior to their release. French helpThe human rights secretary also confirmed that the French government had contacted the Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo human rights group ahead of the announcement via French Ambassador to Buenos Aires Pierre Henri Guignard.
Source:Bueno Aires Herald
October 20, 2016 01:18 UTC
Women stage first-ever general strike in Argentine history
Wednesday, October 19, 2016 Women stage first-ever general strike in Argentine history#NiUnaMenos (“Not One Less”) demonstrators were expanding their demands on the government today as the first women-only general strike in local history takes place. Under the new slogan “We Strike (Nosotras Paramos)”, the unprecedented protest started at 1pm when women halted all activities for an hour, to carry out a “ruidazo” (noise-making protest). We are not the organizers of it, but we agree with protests by social organizations,” said CGT leader Carlos Acuña. In places such as kindergartens and schools, teachers will participate in the strike by giving special lessons on sexual education and gender issues. Behind femicides there is an economic frame that makes women more vulnerable to violence, but also human-trafficking and drug-dealing,” activist María Florencia Alcaraz told the Herald.
Source:Bueno Aires Herald
October 19, 2016 20:37 UTC
Brazil: Dozens Killed in Prison Riot
Authorities are investigating after up to 25 inmates were killed during a riot at Monte Cristo Agricultural Prison in northern Brazil. At 3pm, prisoners from wing 14 broke the locks and invaded wing 12 in a vicious, gang-related attack. In one of the wings there was no forced entry, the prisoners released the hostages. Figures from the National Survey of Penitentiary Information detail a 167% increase in the country’s prison population in the last 14 years. During this time, the figure increased by nearly 400,000 to reach the current total of over 620,000 – a number that constitutes the fourth largest prison population in the world.
Source:The Argentina Independent
October 19, 2016 18:45 UTC
Argentine Women Call National Strike for Gender Equality
Women’s rights organisation Ni Una Menos, alongside approximately 50 other groups and unions are leading a ‘National Women’s Strike’ today. Ni Una Menos have been referring to today as ‘Black Wednesday’ and momentum has been building online with the use of hashtags #NiUnaMenos (Not One Less) and #NosotrasParamos (We Women Stop). Despite the heavy rain, there is still expected to be a large turnout of women today, and men are also encouraged to protest too. Mercedes D’Alessandro, co-founder of Economía Feminista, an organisation with strong ties to Ni Una Menos, explained these economic factors to the Indy. Godoy credits this popularity to the work Ni Una Menos has done to raise awareness and unite women to oppose gender violence and learn more about the issues that affect them.
Source:The Argentina Independent
October 19, 2016 15:00 UTC
Industrial decline continues in August as sector plunges by 6.6% on the year
mild improvement on monthly comparison Wednesday, October 19, 2016 Industrial decline continues in August as sector plunges by 6.6% on the yearIndustrial output registered another plunge in August, the Argentine Industrial Union (UIA) said yesterday in a report measuring activity in the sector. The year-on-year comparison with August 2015 showed a 6.6 percent decline, the latest indication of how the sector has struggled so far in 2016. That drop was bigger than the average so far this year, as industrial output has declined by 4.7 percent since January when compared to the same months last year. The report showed that no sector is really safe from the current industrial struggle, as they all recorded declines in the yearly comparison. Industrial production has been in decline in the country for some years now, with several factors explaining the fall.
Source:Bueno Aires Herald
October 19, 2016 05:18 UTC
Avruj denies claims of human rights budget cuts
After complaints from activists Wednesday, October 19, 2016 Avruj denies claims of human rights budget cutsHuman Rights Secretary Claudio Avruj denied yesterday that the Let’s Change (Cambiemos) administration is cutting funds to human rights organizations, in the face of claims to the contrary by activists. It’s a reorganization,” said Avruj yesterday. Several human rights organizations accuse the government of wanting to cut funding to such groups by 15 percent in the government’s 2017 budget. Yet Avruj denied the claim, alleging that the 2016 budget had been overestimated. “The Haroldo Conti Cultural Centre only needs seven million pesos to function, but the 2016 budget gave it 28 million pesos, the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo University was given 75 million pesos, but it only needs 18 million,” he said.
Source:Bueno Aires Herald
October 19, 2016 02:37 UTC
Macri ratifies the end of state-run soccer
Domestic League Wednesday, October 19, 2016 Macri ratifies the end of state-run soccerThe government said yesterday that free broadcasts of Argentine League soccer will end in January 2017. Macri has already said that he will try to include this clause in the new agreement with private partners. The confirmation was known amid the battle between soccer club officials and the AFA normalizing commission, whose members are accused by some club presidents of acting according to what the Pink House orders them to do. “The reason to name a normalizing commission was to put the administration in order, but I don’t see any improvement. The normalizing commission had specific commitments: to reform the rules and call for elections.
Source:Bueno Aires Herald
October 19, 2016 02:03 UTC