Argentina’s Labor Minister backs shorter work week
Currently, Argentine law allows a maximum of eight hours of work per day, six days a week, or 48 hours a week in total. Olmos said that the working week should be 40 hours, but added that more developed countries have a 36-hour week. Senator Mariano Recalde filed a bill in the upper chamber that would also reduce working hours to 36 a week, aiming to promote a four-day working week. They decided to maintain the reduced working week after the test run because it helped them increase productivity. “The 48-hour working week is anachronistic because worker productivity has grown exponentially, so we have to discuss and modify it,” he said.
Source:Bueno Aires Herald
September 13, 2023 15:20 UTC
Hydrocarbon surge: a new city to be developed in Vaca Muerta
The new urban development will be called “Añelo Ciudad Central” (‘Añelo Central City’) and will be connected to the current city of Añelo in Neuquén province, near Vaca Muerta’s main pits. The goal is to expand the city now that the recently-approved arrival of the North Patagonian railroad will increase the area’s accessibility and connections. “It’s a city that will coexist with Añelo, expanding its urban limits with new lands,” he explained. To give an idea of how big it will be, the city of Añelo currently covers 2000 hectares: this project could cover up to 10,000 hectares. But there is also the bottleneck of how to get to, live in, and work in Vaca Muerta,” said Cantero.
Source:Bueno Aires Herald
September 13, 2023 14:34 UTC
Focus on English: in pursuit of ‘perfect’ pronunciation?
However, this is not the place for such sociolinguistic analysis; suffice it to say that local catering staff are more likely to speak local dialects, with local accents. All of which leads me to the Argentine learner of English, who wants to improve the way they speak. However, most Argentines studying English are not, presumably, thinking of applying for a post with the CIA or their equivalent. Native speakers don’t expect or require “perfect diction” in learners of English, and learners should not be so ashamed of their origins that they want to eliminate all the linguistic clues that betray their provenance. Some English teachers and phoneticians are so conscious of a need to speak “correctly” that they go over the top with their demands.
Source:Bueno Aires Herald
September 12, 2023 22:16 UTC
With Messi on the bench, Argentina faces Bolivia looking for its second win
Argentina’s men’s national football team will face Bolivia this Tuesday in the second fixture of the South American Qualifiers. Despite concerns about a potential injury, the Albiceleste will have star and captain Lionel Messi on the team, albeit on the bench. “We saw the people support Argentina, but we’ll discuss it after the game,” said striker Marcelo Moreno Martins, Bolivia’s most capped player and La Verde’s top goalscorer. If he scores, he’ll reach 30 goals to become the South American Qualifiers all-time record goal scorer. Argentina and Bolivia have met 41 times, with 29 wins for the Argentines, seven for Bolivia and five ties.
Source:Bueno Aires Herald
September 12, 2023 20:31 UTC
Sergio Massa raises threshold for income tax to AR$1.7 million per month
Economy Minister Sergio Massa revealed on Monday that the Argentine government will raise the threshold for an income tax to AR$1.7 million pesos per month (US$2,620 at the MEP exchange rate, US$2,404 at the blue chip swap rate), beginning in October. The announcement comes as the Union por la Patria candidate enters the home stretch in his campaign to be Argentina’s next president. The General Confederation of Labor (CGT, by its Spanish acronym) confirmed to the Herald that Massa convened the institution’s entire board of directors for the announcement. In a nine-page document titled “Eliminación Impuesto a Las Ganancias Trabajadores y Jubilados” (“Elimination of the Income Tax for Workers and Pensioners”), the Economy Ministry noted that 890,000 people are currently paying the income tax and that 800,000 would become exempt. The measure aims to make the tax the exclusive burden of CEOs, managers, sub-managers, privileged pensioners, and other high-income earners.
Source:Bueno Aires Herald
September 12, 2023 00:05 UTC
Chile’s coup 50 years on: cries for justice are waiting for answers
But military officers from the National Intelligence Directorate (DINA) arrested Ortiz and transported him to a clandestine detention center known as Venda Sexy in Santiago. Ortiz was one of more than 1,000 people who were detained and disappeared during the Chilean dictatorship that began on September 11, 1973, 50 years ago on Monday. Pinochet ruled until March 11, 1990, and remained head of the Chilean Military until 1998. As in other countries of the region, Chile’s military officers have kept the secret of what they did to the disappeared and executed people. The investigations initiated after Pinochet’s arrest led to several other cases against military officers.
Source:Bueno Aires Herald
September 11, 2023 14:58 UTC
Mate for beginners: how to enjoy the Argentine staple
My coworkers excitedly filmed my reaction, thrilled that I had savored this Argentine staple. “Yerba mate is also drunk a lot in the south of Brazil.”Approximately 250 years later, the drink remains an Argentine mainstay. “All social classes drink mate, but it is a private drink, enjoyed inside and outside the home,” Perticone added. The bombilla is there for one reason and one reason only: to drink the mate. Thanking the mate pourer actually signals that you don’t want anymore.
Source:Bueno Aires Herald
September 11, 2023 01:47 UTC
Biden and Lula express concern about Milei at G-20 Summit
At the G-20 summit in New Delhi, India, on Saturday, President Alberto Fernández held two informal meetings with his United States counterpart, Joe Biden, in which the two discussed the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Fernández asked after Biden’s wife, Jill, who was recently diagnosed with Covid-19, and Biden reciprocated by inquiring about Alberto’s spouse and young son. The second dialogue, which took place during a break after the morning and midday sessions, was more political in content, according to Télam sources. “The same character who is looking to take a picture with Donald Trump in the United States,” answered Presidential Spokeswoman Gabriela Cerruti. “Lula once again expressed his desire for Sergio Massa to win the next election,” official sources said.
Source:Bueno Aires Herald
September 11, 2023 00:31 UTC
‘Dirty Wars’: a video game where you can fight in the Chilean resistance
Editor’s Note: It’s the Herald’s policy not to use the term “dirty wars” due to its denialist associations. We’ve decided to use it here because the video game is the subject of the story. “Dirty Wars: September 11” is a stealth and espionage video game set in Santiago between 1973 and 1978, soon to be released on Steam. A Spanish video game developer contacted me and I started composing soundtracks for several video games. “Dirty Wars” is awaiting a fourth revision by Steam to be finally published on the platform.
Source:Bueno Aires Herald
September 10, 2023 15:40 UTC
In 'macho' Mexico, stage set for first female president
“Just imagine having a female president in a country as macho as Mexico!” said Maria del Carmen Garcia, 70, a secretary who said women’s pay needs to catch up with men’s. Victory for Sheinbaum or Galvez would make them the first woman to win a general election in the United States, Mexico or Canada. Mexican women did not win full voting rights until 1953, 33 years after the neighboring United States. Today, Vazquez Mota said, her PAN ally Galvez no longer had to respond to whether Mexico was ready for a female president. The Mexico Como Vamos think tank reported in May that for every 100 men in working poverty, there were 112 women.
Source:Bueno Aires Herald
September 10, 2023 13:22 UTC
Preska rules against Argentina in YPF expropriation trial: country could pay almost U$S16 bn
U.S. Judge Loretta Preska ruled against Argentina this Friday in the YPF expropriation payout trial. The judge’s ruling also means that the highest P/E ratio proposed is the valid one. Preska sided with Burford and decided the interest rate should be 8%. The judge ruled that April 16 be taken as the reference date and that the interest rate is 8%, which means Argentina will have to pay close to US$16 billion. Argentina, on the other hand, requested May 7 be used as the reference date and a 0% interest rate.
Source:Bueno Aires Herald
September 08, 2023 21:51 UTC
New restoration of ‘The Battle of Chile’ to premiere in US
“The major political film of our times,” according to the Village Voice’s 1978 review, The Battle of Chile gives a real-time, on-the-ground account of the events surrounding General Augusto Pinochet’s bloody, US-backed coup. Fifty years later, the three parts of this rarely-screened masterpiece will premiere on September 8 at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) in a restored print. The Battle of ChileAfter being held by the military for ten days in the concentration camp that operated inside Santiago’s National Stadium, Guzmán fled Chile into exile. The Battle of Chile will have a weeklong run at BAM Rose Cinemas in New York City, followed by the Harvard Film Archive in Boston, the Roxie Theater in San Francisco, and other cities. Completed before the coup, the film was released in 1972 in Chile, but most of the prints were lost or destroyed once the military took power.
Source:Bueno Aires Herald
September 08, 2023 11:07 UTC
Argentina leads Ballon d’Or nominees list with four candidates
Lionel Messi, Emiliano Dibu Martínez, Lautaro Martínez and Julián Álvarez are among the candidates to win the Ballon d’Or, the award crowning the best player of the past season. Lionel Messi is expected to be in contention for the award once the list is shortened to the three finalists. Although he struggled to make an impact with Paris Saint Germain, the 36-year-old captained his country to World Cup glory in Qatar 2022 and was chosen the best player of the tournament. It would be a record-setting eight Ballon d’Or win for Messi, who recently admitted that after winning the World Cup, he doesn’t think much about individual awards. Goalkeeper Dibu Martínez was Argentina’s second most important player in the World Cup.
Source:Bueno Aires Herald
September 07, 2023 13:18 UTC
Soybean exporters will have access to dollars for industrial production
Exporters in Argentina are required to convert all their export earnings into pesos at the official exchange rate, which is currently frozen at AR$350 until October. However, the wide gap between the official rate and the financial exchange rates often prompts producers to hold stock in expectations that the official rate will decline. According to the decree published in the Official Bulletin, 75% of export earnings will enter the country in dollars and be liquidated in pesos at the official exchange rate. For the remaining 25%, exporters will be able to access dollars (without exchanging them for pesos) but only if they use those dollars to purchase soybeans to produce oil or pellets. Tthe official exchange rate at the time was AR$214.
Source:Bueno Aires Herald
September 06, 2023 13:03 UTC
Tango dancers wow Buenos Aires at world championships
As the sun set behind the Buenos Aires Obelisk, dozens of tango dancers from around the world turned the avenue Diagonal Norte into a milonga on Saturday afternoon for the final of the Tango World Cup. Duo Suyay Quiroga and Jhonny Carvajal, representing Buenos Aires City, won the classic tango (tango de pista) category. Julián Sánchez and Bruna Estellita, also representing the capital, were the champions of stage tango (tango de escenario), the more acrobatic variant in which participants are allowed to jump and break their embrace. “It’s more unstructured, or less uniform.”Finalists dance tango in front of the Obelisk in Buenos Aires. Brizzi believes the quality of the acts on display in Buenos Aires this week shows that tango is flourishing around the world.
Source:Bueno Aires Herald
September 05, 2023 15:03 UTC