Spanish government expresses disapproval over Milei’s decision to shun top officials during visit
Spain’s Foreign Ministry expressed strong disapproval on Thursday at what it called Argentine President Javier Milei’s “deviation from expected diplomatic norms” in deciding to shun top government officials during a planned visit this week. Milei landed on Friday at Torrejon de Ardoz Air Force Base amid a simmering diplomatic spat between Madrid and Buenos Aires over remarks he made last month. The Palace said only that no such meeting was on the king’s agenda, adding that the Foreign Ministry coordinates official visits. “This highlights a deviation from expected diplomatic norms and suggests a lack of priority for formal state relations,” it added. During his first visit to Spain last month, Milei also declined to have any meetings with top officials.
Source:Bueno Aires Herald
June 22, 2024 05:09 UTC
Argentine play explores prison life for women and marginalized genders
The play, by 47-year-old writer and director Lola Arias, who won the prestigious International Ibsen Award, is heading to Europe at the end of June. It’s part of a wider project with companion film Reas that arose from a workshop Arias gave in a women’s prison. For Arias, prisons may not always be the best solution. Yoseli Arias, 28, who was in prison for over four years, said in an interview in the theater dressing room, with her baby nearby, that she hoped the play would spur thought about what prison life was really like. You may also be interested in: Argentine playwright and director Lola Arias wins 2024 Ibsen Award
Source:Bueno Aires Herald
June 20, 2024 21:04 UTC
UN rights office: Milei’s measures undermine human rights
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said measures enforced by President Javier Milei’s administration are detrimental to human rights. “In Argentina, recent proposed and adopted measures risk undermining human rights protection,” Türk said on Thursday during the 56th session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva. Some of its goals are related to the climate crisis, which Milei denies is rooted in human activity. In January, three special rapporteurs said Security Minister Patricia Bullrich’s anti-protest protocol goes against international human and civil rights treaties that Argentina is party to. Similarly, the International Monetary Fund, with whom Argentina has a US$44 billion debt, has applauded Milei’s austerity measures but consistently asked his government to “support the vulnerable.”
Source:Bueno Aires Herald
June 20, 2024 16:29 UTC
Eleven Ley Bases protestors released, five who remain in prison indicted
Eleven protesters who were arrested last Wednesday while President Javier Milei’s Ley Bases bill was being discussed in Congress were released on Tuesday night. The five people remaining in jail out of the original 33 who were arrested were indicted by judge María Servini. In her ruling, Servini determined a “lack of merit” for the 28 who have so far been released. The charges of the indictmentDavid Sica, Cristián Fernando Valiente, Roberto María de la Cruz Gómez and Facundo Ezequiel Gómez remain in prison, charged with “public intimidation” and attacking police officers. In her ruling, Servini said she has security camera footage, videos, and police officers’ testimonies that back her decision to keep them imprisoned.
Source:Bueno Aires Herald
June 20, 2024 06:10 UTC
Iconic Argentine art piece ‘Manifestación’ gets tribute show
Antonio Berni’s ManifestaciónThe Mondongo Manifestación exhibit includes a three-dimensional clay-made version of Berni’s painting featuring contemporary artists, activists, and acquaintances of the artists in place of the original faces of low-income workers. According to the artists, the choices of the people in the piece were a way of stating a genealogical review of how Argentine art represented excluded communities and social protest. The piece was purchased by MALBA’s owner, art collector and real-estate mogul Eduardo Costantini. The exhibit also includes a two-meter tondo piece called Villa II, which depicts scenes from slums in Buenos Aires, Dharavi, and Río de Janeiro. Manifestación in FocusThe Mondongo exhibit is part of MALBA’s institutional project Manifestación in Focus, an interdisciplinary investigation into the material, historical and cultural aspects of the piece, which began in 2021.
Source:Bueno Aires Herald
June 20, 2024 06:10 UTC
Former Tucumán Governor Alperovich sentenced to 16 years in jail for sexual assault
Former Tucumán Governor José Alperovich was convicted Tuesday on nine counts of sexual assault for abusing and raping his niece and sentenced to 16 years in jail. Judge José María Ramos Padilla convicted Alperovich on Tuesday night, marking the end of the trial that began last February. The case against AlperovichAlperovich was tried on 9 charges, including attempted sexual abuse, sexual abuse, and rape that took place in Tucumán and Buenos Aires between December 2017 and March 2018. He became a national senator in 2001 before running for governor 2 years later. After concluding his 12-year run as governor, Alperovich was elected senator again, finishing in 2021 in the midst of the accusations of abuse.
Source:Bueno Aires Herald
June 19, 2024 13:35 UTC
IMF's eighth review contradicts government economic plans
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said that Argentina remains “firmly on track” in its eighth review of the economic program, but stressed that the country should devalue its currency faster and lift exchange controls. The staff report, published on Monday, examined the application of the Fund-mandated economic program in the first three months of the year and enabled a disbursement of around US$800 million. However, last week Economy Minister Luis Caputo said in a post on X that the scheme, also known as “dollar blend,” would remain untouched. Last week, Caputo promised to undo the increase if the government’s flagship Ley Bases bill gets approved. The government also promised to unify the exchange rate “as conditions permit” to transition into a new monetary regime called “currency competition,” without offering further details on how it would work.
Source:Bueno Aires Herald
June 19, 2024 11:28 UTC
Nine-year-old Argentine motorbike racer dies after crash in Brazil
Nine-year-old Argentine motorbike racer Lorenzo Somaschini died on Monday after crashing on Friday in Brazil. During the free practice sessions on Friday, he fell off his bike while coming out of a curve known as Pinheirinho. “I’ve been riding bikes since I was four,” Somaschini told specialized website Paseo Tuerca in April. “My dad used to ride; when I was two, he took me to watch SuperBike and I started to like it. My dream is to reach MotoGP and become a world champion.”These were Somaschini’s first steps in the Honda Junior Cup, a junior class for drivers aged 8 to 18.
Source:Bueno Aires Herald
June 18, 2024 16:24 UTC
Five for 2025: The young stars that could become the Scaloneta’s next generation
As Argentina’s men’s national football team prepares to defend the Copa América title, there are questions about the team’s future. However, the next generation of Argentine footballing talents has already started to make waves in and around the national team’s sphere. With Manchester United star Alejandro Garnacho already firmly entrenched as a Scaloneta member, who are the young stars that could help him fill the gaps left by Messi and friends? A key player for Albiceleste youth teams since U-16, he’s been with Italian giant Juventus since 2020. However, he won’t stay in the country much longer, having agreed to a deal with Manchester City for 2025.
Source:Bueno Aires Herald
June 18, 2024 14:28 UTC
Protesting is not a crime
Although the Senate didn’t deem that enough to halt the session, the world was watching — and few were applauding the Ley Bases going through. Despite multiple attempts to overwhelm the legislature and push it through at all costs, this is a remarkably watered-down version of the Ley Bases, having gone from 664 articles to 238. Reduced though it may be, the Ley Bases remains a mammoth piece of legislation that implements wide-sweeping reforms that deeply affect the lives of Argentines. There’s also the fact that following months of negotiations, the final vote count was 36-36 so this victory isn’t a comfortable one. Protesting or being close to a protest is not a crime, and when crimes are committed there should be due process.
Source:Bueno Aires Herald
June 17, 2024 17:57 UTC
Watch the 2024 Copa América opening match with the Herald
What’s the Copa América? When and where is the Copa América played? The 2024 Copa América will be played in the United States, with 13 cities hosting games. You may also be interested in: The Copa América is around the corner. Here’s everything you need to knowWho plays in the Copa América?
Source:Bueno Aires Herald
June 17, 2024 15:23 UTC
Brazilian women march against bill tightening abortion ban
Thousands of women protested on Saturday against a bill advancing in Brazil’s conservative Congress that would equate abortions after 22 weeks of pregnancy to homicide and establish sentences of six to 20 years in prison. If the bill backed by evangelical lawmakers becomes law, abortions by rape victims would be considered homicide after 22 weeks gestation. Feminist groups criticized the proposed legislation for imposing harsher penalties than those given to rapists in Brazil. Such children, often lacking the understanding or support to recognize themselves as crime victims, frequently discover their pregnancies late. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva called the bill “insane” and said his government would defend the current laws that punish rapists and treat their victims with respect.
Source:Bueno Aires Herald
June 16, 2024 21:23 UTC
Ley Bases: what exactly did the Senate approve?
The Senate approved a modified version of President Javier Milei’s flagship reform bill known as Ley Bases in the early hours of Thursday. If approved, the bill modified by the Senate becomes law. Whatever deputies decide, there are articles of the bill that weren’t touched by the Senate and are thus guaranteed to be enacted. These are the key points of the Ley Bases as approved by the Senate. “All public companies are subject to privatization,” he said, referring to Milei’s presidential mega-decree that turned all public companies into limited companies in December, the first step toward privatization.
Source:Bueno Aires Herald
June 16, 2024 20:59 UTC
What we’re reading: Nazis, football history, and Jack Reacher
Book Day in Argentina is June 15 and we decided to celebrate it with a rundown of what our staff has been reading lately. With more characters than a Russian novel, the book doesn’t shy away from fine detail and is meticulously referenced. Meanwhile, another author gets famous by writing an exploitative “ghetto book.”So Monk decides to write his own as a parody. The novel’s structure is experimental: short poems and texts by Monk and his “parody novel” are included in full. Director Cord Jefferson adapted it into the Oscar-nominated movie American Fiction, which is not a bad film by any means.
Source:Bueno Aires Herald
June 16, 2024 02:17 UTC
Former Vélez Sarsfield players accused of sexual assault allowed parole
Former Vélez Sarsfield players Abiel Osorio, José Florentín, and Braian Cufré, who were accused in March of sexual assault and placed under house arrest in Tucumán, have been granted parole. The fourth player involved in the case, Sebastián Sosa, had been on parole since March. Judge Eliana Gómez Moreira, who dictated the house arrest on March 21, granted the players’ defense request that they be released, albeit under certain conditions. The players will be allowed to stay in their private homes but will have to return to Tucuman whenever they are needed for the investigation. Upon arrival at around 10 p.m., she found Cufré, Osorio, and Florentín were also in the room.
Source:Bueno Aires Herald
June 15, 2024 15:57 UTC