Weekend Roundup: Argentine Head Of Customs Fired And ‘Cristileaks’
If you missed it, here’s a taste of the weekend’s biggest international distraction:PM Abe appears at Rio closing ceremony dressed as Mario. let’s get into what happened over the weekend in case your comment on Prime Minister Abe falls flat. The Head of Argentine Customs (DGA) Juan José Gómez Centurión was fired last Friday over suspicions of corruption. The corruption was allegedly committed during former Victory Front (FpV) presidential candidate Daniel Scioli’s time as governor of said province. Read more: Argentina Gives Best Olympics Performance Since 1948Go forth and show yourselves to be well informed, my loyal Monday readers!
Source:The Bubble
August 22, 2016 14:15 UTC
Off Season Fun: Colonia Del Sacramento In 48 Hours
There’s something about Colonia del Sacramento that makes you want to linger. Just across the Río de la Plata from Buenos Aires, Colonia beckons porteños and visa-renewing foreigners curious expats to Uruguay. Getting ThereImpressively intact, this modern-day/old-world city is just an hour from Buenos Aires. But once aboard the ferryboat, sit back and relax – you’re en route to visiting one of Buenos Aires’ breeziest neighbors. Climb to the top of the Faro de Colonia del Sacramento ($U25) for a 360-degree vista of the city.
Source:The Bubble
August 22, 2016 13:18 UTC
Troika seeks to relaunch EU at Italy summit
Monday, August 22, 2016 Troika seeks to relaunch EU at Italy summitGerman Chancellor Angela Merkel (centre), taly’s Prime Minister Matteo Renzi (right), and French President François Hollande (left), leave a press conference during a meeting at the chancellery in Berlin. The location for today’s summit carries particular resonance as Europe confronts Islamic extremist violence, slow economic growth and continued anxiety over the implications of the Brexit vote. Today’s mini-summit will serve as a warmup for an EU-wide summit in Bratislava in September designed to chart the EU’s post-Brexit way forward. According to recent Eurostat figures, growth was flat in Italy in the second quarter, compared with 0.4 percent growth in the EU. Youth unemployment was even worse: 36.5 percent in Italy, exceeded in the EU only by Spain, and nearly twice as high as the EU average of 18.5 percent.
Source:Bueno Aires Herald
August 22, 2016 03:11 UTC
Huge protest in Chile against private pensions
Monday, August 22, 2016 Huge protest in Chile against private pensionsDemonstrators take part in a march demanding changes to the national pension system in Santiago, yesterday. Under the current system, which was started in the 1980s during the dictatorship of general Augusto Pinochet, six private pension funds, known as “AFPs,” manage some US$160 billion in assets. Opponents of Chile’s private pension system say it forces workers to give their earnings to for-profit funds that do not ensure a dignified old age for all Chileans. But the protesters said they wanted the current system totally dismantled. Pinochet-era planCitizens are upset over the private pension system that has regularly paid out pensions under the minimum wage, currently set at just over US$380 a month.
Source:Bueno Aires Herald
August 22, 2016 03:11 UTC
Rio de Janeiro bids farewell to 2016 Games
Olympics — Closing ceremony Monday, August 22, 2016 Rio de Janeiro bids farewell to 2016 GamesGold medal winner judoka Paula Pareto bears the Argentine flag during the parade at the closing ceremony. But two late gold medals for the host country in its two favourite sports — men’s soccer and volleyball — helped smooth some of the rough edges around the Games for Brazilians. The first Refugee team in Olympic history, one of the biggest crowd-pleasers of the Games, marched in behind the Olympic flag, carried by a Congolese judoka and Rio resident. Paula Pareto, winner of the Olympic gold in judo in the under-48kg category, was the Argentine flag bearer. And US gymnast Simone Biles, the US flag bearer in the closing ceremony, kicked off her Olympic run by tying the record of four gold medals in a single Games.
Source:Bueno Aires Herald
August 22, 2016 02:48 UTC
Coaching, the hardest job in the country
OPINION Monday, August 22, 2016 Coaching, the hardest job in the countryBy Dan EdwardsFor the HeraldRacing’s Facundo Sava becomes first casualty before start of seasonThe Olympic Games extravaganza in Brazil was not the only place in the last week where one could witness a false start. Now the club must start from scratch, with a new man taking over a talented but underachieving group of players. That job insecurity goes a long way towards explaining why the average club values results over playing style, with three defeats almost guaranteeing a change of coaching personnel at any stage of the season. Chances are that the number will be even smaller by the mid-season break in December, as the coaching merry-go-round starts powering up for another busy year of action. Forget politics, or running a top business — running the gauntlet as a Primera División coach is undoubtedly the toughest job going in Buenos Aires and beyond.
Source:Bueno Aires Herald
August 22, 2016 02:48 UTC
Rosenkrantz joins Supreme Court, resetting its alignment
Days after hikes ruling, Two of President’s nominees now sit on the nation’s highest tribunal Monday, August 22, 2016 Rosenkrantz joins Supreme Court, resetting its alignmentMauricio Macri’s Supreme Court nominee Carlos Rosenkrantz will be sworn-in at the nation’s highest court today, expanding the number of sitting judges to five and potentially altering its composition in the president’s favour, just days after his government was handed a major setback by the same court. But with the new Supreme Court justice’s swearing-in, this chapter has been finally closed. On March 15, Rosenkrantz’s appointment to Supreme Court passed the Senate’s Appointments Committee. There were also calls to expand the number of justices on the Supreme Court. The two main objections to Rosenkrantz’s appointment was his having litigated for the Clarín Group against the State, and for having initially accepted this appointment as a Supreme Court justice via presidential decree.
Source:Bueno Aires Herald
August 22, 2016 02:48 UTC
Dissent undermines CGT unification
Monday, August 22, 2016 Dissent undermines CGT unificationMultiple leaders from influential labour grouping set to give today’s congress the cold shoulderThe long-awaited unification of the CGT umbrella union, which was intended to put an end to internal dissent in the highly influential labour grouping, looks set to be overshadowed today as many leaders are expected to give the crucial summit the cold shoulder. Venegas, much of whose power lies in his leadership and influence over the so-called 62 Peronist Organizations, is seen by others in the CGT as answering to Macri. The rural workers’ leader met the president at the most recent Rural Society fairgrounds exhibition and was full of praise for the government, in contrast to a more critical or ambivalent approach from other CGT leaders. Last-minute negotiationsBoth the MASA and the Venegas group are expected to abstain from voting for the incoming triumvirate, but those aligned with the triumvirate are making last-minute efforts for a change of heart. Other negotiations include what the wording of tomorrow’s CGT documents will be, with bank clerks’ unionist Sergio Palazzo calling for a strongly-worded critique of the current socio-economic situation.
Source:Bueno Aires Herald
August 22, 2016 02:48 UTC
Peronist unions and Macri: a year of criticism but no strikes
Government and cgt remain on negotiating terms Monday, August 22, 2016 Peronist unions and Macri: a year of criticism but no strikesPresident Mauricio Macri’s relationship with Peronist trade unions has had its ups and downs — but as president it’s been a much more quiet one than what a casual observer would expect, given their different ideological backgrounds. That protest did not include a walkout either, in contrast to industrial action that took place during the last year of Cristina Fernández de Kirchner administration. While Moyano, Caló and others have sometimes spoken critically of Macri and suggested that a general strike could be on the cards, such a move never actually took place so far. The continued flow of state funds to union-run healthcare schemes, instead, has been central in keeping Macri and the Peronist unions on the same page. Unionists also see a good relationship with Macri as important, some say in order to avoid the close scrutiny that potential corruption cases, involving some of their representatives, could bring.
Source:Bueno Aires Herald
August 22, 2016 02:48 UTC
Life after Rio 2016
Tonight, the 17 days of the Rio Games conclude. In the months leading up to the Olympics, athletes are defined by their preparation and sacrifice. “Everything I did, I did with the idea of going to the Olympics and winning,” Boudia said before the Rio Games began. In his book “Greater Than Gold,” released as the Rio Games opened, he revealed that he contemplated suicide. “I’ve already had [Rio] Olympic athletes calling me and saying, ‘I need to come in and talk.
Source:Bueno Aires Herald
August 21, 2016 03:54 UTC
Seven Days
Sunday, August 21, 2016 Seven DaysBy Michael Soltys / Senior EditorLAST WEEKEND. Energy Minister Juan José Aranguren is grilled in Congress over utility pricing. An Olympic gold in yachting for cancer survivor Santiago Lange and Cecilia Carranza. Attorney General Alejandra Gils Carbó broadly anticipates the next day’s Supreme Court ruling by stipulating prior public hearings. The Leones hockey team win Argentina’s third gold medal in Rio de Janeiro, beating Belgium 4-2.
Source:Bueno Aires Herald
August 21, 2016 03:54 UTC
Old-time demands are back
Sunday, August 21, 2016 Old-time demands are backBy Julio BurdmanObservatorio ElectoralInflation, crime are top main worriesAfter a first half of the year when corruption allegations against Kirchnerite leaders were a priority for the public opinion, something began to change. If we compare these figures with June, we can see how old-time demands gained ground in the concerns of society. In the 1980s, surveys made by pioneer pollsters like Edgardo Catterberg showed that democracy was also a major social concern, besides economic welfare. If the social concern about corruption is fading and thus normal demands rising, then the political agenda needs some sort of adjustment. The other says that a saturation of the public with the corruption issue lets the old-time demands back in.
Source:Bueno Aires Herald
August 21, 2016 02:37 UTC
Another spanner in the works
In Argentina, economic rationality is widely regarded as political lunacy. Cristina and her cronies fear that unless it nosedives within a couple of months, they will end up behind bars. Over the years, Argentine jurists have proved to be good at throwing spanners into the economic works; there is no reason to suppose that they have lost their ability or desire to continue doing so. For a few months, many hoped that Argentina would, uncharacteristically, prove to be a bright spot. They clearly underestimated the power of the forces that are determined to stop or slow down change.
Source:Bueno Aires Herald
August 21, 2016 02:37 UTC
Exports: raw materials gaining ground
You can’t change the structure of the economy so easily.”When looking at each sector, primary products exports rose 9.6 percent between January and June. Shipments of processed meat dropped 4.8 percent while raw animal exports soared 46.2 percent. Shipments of cereals increased by 23.8 percent while exports of grain mill products dropped 13.5 percent. Unprocessed vegetables exports rose 58.5 percent, much higher than the 9.7 increase of the processed ones. Vehicle exports dropped 26 percent, followed by shoes (28 percent), leather goods (nine percent), paper and cardboard (21.9 percent) and base metals (27 percent), among others.
Source:Bueno Aires Herald
August 21, 2016 00:21 UTC
Book sales tumble by 20% so far in 2016
Sunday, August 21, 2016 Book sales tumble by 20% so far in 2016Buenos Aires City has more bookstores per capita than any other major city in the world. “In January 2016 sales in bookstores declined up to 30 percent, then the situation improved a bit because of the sales for Father’s day. If there is no general predisposition for buying, it will also affect book sales,” he added. “If you compare book prices to any other prices you won’t see that they jumped dramatically,” said Barrella. Great expectationsAll experts agree that despite the current fall in general sales, sometimes the book industry also depends on the expectation of the readers regarding new releases.
Source:Bueno Aires Herald
August 21, 2016 00:11 UTC