Category Archives: Argentina

Milei plan to privatise Argentina river sparks fears among local communities

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Communities on Paraná River fear privatisation of waterway operations will destroy way of life

River communities in Argentina fear that Javier Milei’s plans to privatise operations on a key shipping route could lead to environmental damage and destroy their way of life.

Since taking office almost a year ago, the self-styled “anarcho-capitalist” president has pledged to privatise a number of the state’s assets. The latest is the Paraguay-Paraná waterway – a shipping route of strategic importance for Argentina and its neighbours.

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Lula launches alliance to combat world hunger as Brazil hosts G20

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Summit’s first day notable for frosty meeting of far-right Argentinian leader Javier Milei and leftwing host

The president of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, has opened the G20 meeting in Rio de Janeiro with the launch of an alliance to combat hunger, which he described as the “ultimate symbol of our collective tragedy”.

Brazil holds the rotating presidency of the group and is hosting the meeting this Monday and Tuesday, attended by all but two – Russia and Saudi Arabia – of the 19 member countries.

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Argentina seeks arrests of 61 rightwing rioters from Brazil

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Supporters of former president Jair Bolsonaro wanted for role in 2023 storming of government buildings

Argentina has ordered the arrest of 61 Brazilian citizens for participating in the 2023 storming of government buildings in Brasília by supporters of the far-right former president Jair Bolsonaro, an Argentine source said on Saturday.

Two people have been arrested so far who face prison sentences in Brazil, a judicial source in Argentina told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorised to speak publicly.

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Fears grow that Milei will withdraw Argentina from Paris climate accord

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Far-right president may announce country’s departure from agreement after meeting Donald Trump

There is growing concern that Argentina’s far-right president, Javier Milei, is set to announce his country’s departure from the Paris climate accord.

Earlier this week, negotiators from Milei’s government were ordered to leave the Cop29 climate summit in Baku, Azerbaijan, after just three days. Now, the Guardian understands that Milei is considering announcing a formal withdrawal from the agreement, and that a decision could be made after a formal meeting with Donald Trump.

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Argentina withdraws negotiators from Cop29 summit

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Move adds to concerns about the stability of the Paris agreement after the election in the US of Donald Trump

Argentinian negotiators representing the government of the climate science denier Javier Milei have been ordered to withdraw from the Cop29 summit after only three days, adding to concerns about the stability of the Paris agreement.

More than 80 representatives from the South American country are in Baku, Azerbaijan, for two weeks of negotiations about climate finance for the energy transition. Argentina’s far-right leader has previously called the climate crisis a “socialist lie”, and during his election campaign last year he threatened to withdraw from the Paris agreement, though he has since backed down.

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Three people charged in connection with Liam Payne’s death in Argentina

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Prosecutors say they charged someone who was close to the singer, a hotel employee and a suspected drug dealer

Three people have been charged in connection with Liam Payne’s death in Argentina for supplying narcotics and the abandonment of a person followed by death.

Toxicology tests found that when he died, Payne had traces of alcohol, cocaine, and a prescription antidepressant in his body, prosecutors said in a statement on Thursday.

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‘Time for patriots’: global far-right figures celebrate Trump’s win

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Jair Bolsonaro, Javier Milei and Giorgia Meloni among those in Europe and the Americas paying tribute

Key members of the global far right have celebrated Donald Trump’s US election win, with tributes to the former president rolling in from Rio de Janeiro to Budapest.

The Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orbán – who had vowed to toast a Trump win with “several bottles of champagne” – hailed what he called “a much-needed victory for the world!”

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Scientists discover oldest ever giant tadpole fossil in Argentina

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Tadpole that wriggled around 160m years ago surpasses previous record holder by about 20m years

Scientists have discovered the oldest-known fossil of a giant tadpole that wriggled around over 160m years ago.

The new fossil, found in Argentina, surpasses the previous ancient record holder by about 20m years.

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Argentinian police raid hotel where singer Liam Payne fell to his death

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Special investigation unit seized hard drives and camera footage on orders from the public prosecutor’s office

Argentinian police have raided the Buenos Aires hotel where ex-One Direction singer Liam Payne stayed before dying last week after falling from a third-floor balcony.

A police special investigations unit went to the Casa Sur hotel late on Wednesday on orders from the public prosecutor’s office. Officers seized items including computer hard drives and footage from hotel cameras, said a government official, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

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Surrogacy ring accused of exploiting vulnerable women in Argentina

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Prosecutors say ‘criminal enterprise’ charged foreign couples $50,000 and denied payments for miscarriages

An international surrogacy ring exploited impoverished women, denied payments for miscarriages, and “commercialised” babies in Argentina, prosecutors have alleged.

A team of prosecutors said they had discovered a “criminal enterprise” which has been charging foreign couples about $50,000 for a baby born by surrogacy in Argentina.

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Liam Payne had ‘pink cocaine’ in his system at time of death – reports

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An official in Argentina, where the boy band star died last week, has spoken anonymously ahead of the final toxicology results being released

Former One Direction singer Liam Payne had multiple drugs including crack cocaine and methamphetamine in his system when he fell to his death from a hotel balcony in Argentina, according to anonymous Argentinian sources familiar with the initial toxicology reports.

The British singer and former One Direction member died last week at the age of 31 after plunging from a third-floor hotel room in Buenos Aires.

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‘Heartbroken’: family, friends and fans pay tribute to Liam Payne

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Former One Direction member died after falling from hotel balcony in Argentina on Wednesday

Liam Payne’s family and stars from across the music world have led tributes to the former One Direction star after his death at a hotel in Argentina.

“We are heartbroken. Liam will forever live in our hearts and we’ll remember him for his kind, funny and brave soul,” his family said in a statement issued on Thursday.

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Liam Payne, former One Direction singer, dies aged 31

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British musician was found dead after falling from the third floor of a hotel in Buenos Aires

Liam Payne, a former member of the boyband One Direction, has died aged 31 after falling from a third-floor hotel room in Buenos Aires, police have confirmed.

The singer died on Wednesday at 5pm local time.

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UK ‘resolutely committed’ to its overseas territories, says foreign minister

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Stephen Doughty’s remarks come as Argentina vows to gain ‘full sovereignty’ of Falkland Islands

The UK is “resolutely committed” to all of its overseas territories, the responsible foreign minister said, after Argentina vowed to gain “full sovereignty” of the Falkland Islands.

Stephen Doughty said on Saturday that the sovereignty of the territories is “not up for negotiation”.

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Argentina’s Javier Milei accused of plagiarising UN speech from West Wing

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Populist leader alleged to have ‘copied word for word’ a monologue by TV show’s fictional president Jed Bartlet

Argentina’s rightwing populist president, Javier Milei, has been accused of plagiarising a chunk of his recent speech to the United Nations general assembly from the political drama The West Wing.

“It seems like fiction, but it isn’t,” the left-leaning Buenos Aires newspaper Página 12 reported on Friday, claiming Milei had “copied, word for word, a monologue” by the television show’s fictional president, Josiah “Jed” Bartlet.

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Parrots overwhelm Argentinian town with screeching, poo and power outages

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Birds outnumber residents in Hilario Ascasubi, after deforestation leads them to seek food, shelter and water

The town of Hilario Ascasubi near Argentina’s eastern Atlantic coast has a parrot problem.

Thousands of the green, yellow and red birds have invaded, driven by deforestation in the surrounding hills, according to biologists. They bite on the town’s electric cables, causing outages, and are driving residents around the bend with their incessant screeching and deposits everywhere of parrot poo.

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‘Do they take us for fools?’: Argentina vice-president lambasts Falklands pact

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Victoria Villarruel breaks ranks to claim confidence-building deal signed with UK offers only ‘crumbs’

Argentina’s vice-president has lambasted a new UK-Argentina Falkland Islands agreement, saying her nation had been offered “crumbs”.

The pact, announced last week, includes resuming flights to the islands, restarting negotiations on a humanitarian project plan, and organising a trip for relatives of fallen soldiers of the Falklands war to visit their graves.

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Poverty in Argentina soars to over 50% as Milei’s austerity measures hit hard

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Far-right president has been battling inflation by imposing steep cuts in spending, resulting in widespread poverty

Argentina’s poverty rate has soared to almost 53% in the first six months of Javier Milei’s presidency, offering the first hard evidence of how the far-right libertarian’s tough austerity measures are hitting the population.

The new poverty rate, reported by the government’s statistics agency on Thursday, is the highest level for two decades, when the country reeled from a catastrophic economic crisis, and means 3.4 million Argentinians have been pushed into poverty this year.

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Weather tracker: Francine looking likely to be next Atlantic hurricane

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An area of low pressure in the Gulf of Mexico is moving landward, and is expected to bring intense rainfall

Francine could soon be the next to be ticked off the list of Atlantic hurricane storm names this week. On Friday, a broad area of low pressure emerged in the Gulf of Mexico, designated as Invest 91L. An “invest” – a shorthand for “investigative area” – refers to a region of atmospheric disturbance, characterised by low pressure and thunderstorms, and is closely monitored for its potential to evolve into a tropical cyclone.

Invest 91L is anticipated to encounter more favourable environmental conditions as it progresses northward over the coming days, meandering along the eastern coasts of Mexico and Texas. The National Hurricane Center has now labelled this as a potential tropical cyclone, and it is expected to reach hurricane status before reaching the Gulf coast of the US. It advises that hurricane and storm surge watches will probably be issued on Monday for coastal parts of Texas and Louisiana, with the impacts expected to be felt from Tuesday night.

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Venezuela revokes Brazil’s custody of Argentine embassy housing Maduro opponents

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Opponents holed up for months in the Argentine ambassador’s residence say the building has been surrounded by security forces

Venezuela’s government has said that Brazil can no longer represent Argentina’s diplomatic interests in the country, putting several anti-government opponents holed up for months in the Argentine ambassador’s residence seeking asylum at risk, as reports emerge that the embassy has been surrounded by security forces.

Venezuela’s foreign ministry said in a statement that it had notified Brazil of its decision, which will take effect immediately. It said it was forced to take action based on what it called evidence – which it hasn’t shared – that those who sought refuge in Argentina’s diplomatic mission were conspiring to carry out “terrorist” acts.

Brazil said that it had received the communication “with surprise” and Argentina said shortly afterwards that it rejected the “unilateral” decision by Venezuela. Both countries urged the government of Nicolas Maduro to respect the Vienna convention on diplomatic relations.

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