Category Archives: Argentina

Argentina’s abortion campaign launches virtual events to revitalise movement

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Activists seemed on the brink of victory when they were stalled by the pandemic and a historic bill wasn’t formally introduced

Feminists in Argentina like to say: “la lucha está en la calle” — the battle is in the streets.  But with the country under a strict coronavirus lockdown, the women’s movement can no longer flood the streets.

So on Thursday, activists have planned a series of virtual events to mark 15 years of their campaign to legalize abortion – and inject new momentum into a campaign which was stalled by the pandemic, just as it seemed on the brink of victory.

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Polémico proyecto de fracking en Argentina amenazado por la pandemia de coronavirus

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El confinamiento y la caída del precio del petróleo ponen en juego el futuro de un enorme yacimiento petrolífero argentino

En las próximas semanas, se esclarecerá si el mundo vuelve a los combustibles fósiles tras la pandemia o si da un paso adelante hacia una economía limpia, mientras el FMI (Fondo Monetario Internacional) y Argentina deciden si van a continuar ofreciendo su apoyo a los inmensos yacimientos de petróleo y gas de Vaca Muerta, en Patagonia.

El objetivo del proyecto es explotar el segundo depósito más grande de esquisto del planeta (después de la Cuenca Pérmica, en Texas), pero su futuro es incierto debido al confinamiento forzoso provocado por COVID-19, que ha causado el descenso más drástico en el precio del crudo de los últimos treinta años.

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Stealth plunder of Argentinian waters raises fears over marine monitoring

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Green groups fear coronavirus lockdown has weakened environmental protections

An “armada” of more than 100 fishing vessels are illegally plundering south Atlantic waters close to Argentina, environmental groups say, raising concerns that the coronavirus lockdown has weakened already fragile marine protections.

The incursion of the ships, mostly from east Asia, appears to have been carried out by stealth. The vessels waited until nightfall, shut down satellite tracking systems in coordination and then moved into the squid-rich waters of Argentina’s exclusive economic zone, Greenpeace said.

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Lockdowns leave poor Latin Americans with impossible choice: stay home or feed families

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Families struggle to maintain coronavirus restrictions as they seek to stay afloat: ‘My fear is my children going hungry’

Leaders across Latin America have ordered their citizens indoors as they struggle to tame the coronavirus.

But for Liliana Pérez, an Argentinian single mother of six, staying at home is a pipe dream.

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Half Uruguay’s coronavirus cases traced to a single guest at a society party

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Covid-19 struck 44 guests at a glamorous wedding after a designer attended despite having had a fever and just arriving from Spain

It was supposed to be a highlight of the social season in the Uruguayan capital, Montevideo: but a glamorous wedding celebration in the upmarket neighbourhood of Carrasco has gained a different kind of notoriety after it emerged that 44 guests contracted the coronavirus at the party.

Related: Bolsonaro’s son enrages Beijing by blaming China for coronavirus crisis

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Argentina set to become first major Latin American country to legalise abortion

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President Alberto Fernández says he intends to put a bill before congress in next 10 days

Argentina is on track to become the first major Latin American country to legalise abortion.

Its president, Alberto Fernández, said on Sunday that he intends to send a legal abortion bill to congress in the next 10 days.

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Antarctica logs hottest temperature on record with a reading of 18.3C

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A new record set so soon after the previous record of 17.5C in March 2015 is a sign warming in Antarctica is happening much faster than global average

Antarctica has logged its hottest temperature on record, with an Argentinian research station thermometer reading 18.3C, beating the previous record by 0.8C.

The reading, taken at Esperanza on the northern tip of the continent’s peninsula, beats Antarctica’s previous record of 17.5C, set in March 2015.

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Argentina: thousands protest in Mendoza wine region over axed water protections

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Law kept mining projects out of Argentina province – now water for wine-growers will be threatened in drought-stricken area

Argentina’s wine-growing province of Mendoza, renown for its inky red Malbec varietal, has erupted in protest against the surprise overturning of a 2007 water protection law that had successfully kept water-intensive mining projects out of the province.

Thousands of people joined demonstrations on Monday outside the office of provincial governor Rodolfo Suarez in the capital city, also called Mendoza, after he overturned the law, known as 7722 late last week.

The peaceful protest turned violent on Monday afternoon, as police fired rubber bullets and tear gas into the crowd in response to stone-throwing by angry demonstrators.

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How did an accused torturer end up teaching at the Sorbonne?

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Mario Sandoval charged with dictatorship-era crimes in Argentina – so how could he have worked undetected at a top French university?

Mario Sandoval had been living in France for 14 years when he became a lecturer at the Institute of Latin American Studies (IHEAL) at the Sorbonne in Paris.

The Argentinian security specialist was in his mid-40s, spoke good French and had recently obtained French citizenship. His credentials were impeccable – he’d spent the previous five years teaching international relations at another Paris institute, the Université Marne-la-Vallée – and he soon became a valued asset at the Sorbonne.

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Warrant for arrest of Evo Morales issued in Bolivia

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Ousted president accused by prosecutors of sedition and terrorism

Prosecutors in Bolivia’s capital have issued an arrest warrant against the former president Evo Morales, accusing him of sedition and terrorism.

The interior minister, Arturo Murillo, recently brought charges against Morales, alleging he promoted violent clashes that led to 35 deaths during disturbances before and after he left office.

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Suspected torturer for Argentina’s ‘dirty war’ extradited by France

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Ex-police officer alleged to be ‘butcher’ of dictatorship held over student’s disappearance

An Argentinian ex-police officer suspected of links with the murder of hundreds of people during the country’s “dirty war” has been extradited by France to Buenos Aires to face trial over the disappearance of a student.

Mario Sandoval, 66, was arrested on Wednesday at his home near Paris after French authorities gave the final go-ahead for his extradition, ending an eight-year legal battle.

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British tourist fatally shot in robbery outside Buenos Aires hotel

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Matthew Gibbard was killed and his son Estefan injured in Argentina after being targeted by robbers

A British tourist was killed and his son seriously wounded when they were shot outside a luxury hotel in Buenos Aires during a robbery.

Matthew Gibbard, aged 50 and his son Estefan, 28, were targeted on Saturday by robbers on a motorcycle, supported by accomplices in a car, according to local reports.

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Catholic priests in Argentina sentenced to 45 years for child abuse

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Court convicts two priests and former gardener at school for deaf students on counts of sexual abuse and corruption of minors

A court in Argentina has convicted two Roman Catholic priests and the former gardener of a church-run school for deaf students on 28 counts of sexual abuse and corruption of minors, in a case that has shaken the church in Pope Francis’s homeland.

A three-judge panel in the city of Mendoza sentenced Nicola Corradi to 42 years and Horacio Corbacho to 45 years for abusing children at the Antonio Provolo Institute for Deaf and Hearing Impaired Children in Lujan de Cuyo, a municipality in north-western Argentina.

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Argentina’s new president vows to legalise abortion

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Campaigners hail Alberto Fernández’s pledge to oversee U-turn in official policy

Argentina’s president-elect, Alberto Fernández, has promised he will move to legalise abortion after taking office on 10 December.

He will send a bill to congress which, if approved, would make Argentina the first major Latin American nation with legalised abortion. The ruling in the 45 million-strong country would follow decisions by its much smaller neighbour Uruguay, which legalised the practice in 2012, and Cuba, in 1965.

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Argentina election: Macri out as Cristina Fernández de Kirchner returns to office as VP

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Victory of Alberto Fernández’s presidential campaign puts an end to the pro-business economic policies of Macri’s administration

In a dramatic comeback, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, one of Argentina’s most popular presidents during her two terms in 2007-2015, has been voted back into office as vice president.

A large crowd of supporters burst into a roar outside the Frente de Todos (Everybody’s Front) party bunker in the Chacarita neighbourhood of the capital city of Buenos Aires at 9pm when preliminary official results gave the victory to presidential candidate Alberto Fernández and Fernández de Kirchner.

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Bystanders rescue woman who fell into path of incoming train in Buenos Aires – video

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People on a crowded underground platform in Buenos Aires came to the rescue of a woman who fell on to train tracks.

CCTV footage from Pueyrredón station shows the woman being knocked off the platform by a man who fainted. Passengers quickly responded by waving their hands to alert the train driver. They then jumped on to the tracks to help the woman after the train came to a halt

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Caroline Williams obituary

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My friend and colleague Caroline Williams, who has died aged 57 after a short illness, was a senior lecturer in Latin American history at the University of Bristol. A much-loved and respected teacher, research supervisor and colleague, she was also an award-winning scholar.

Caroline was born in Argentina, the third of the four children of Erik Hansen, a metallurgist from Cardiff, and his wife, Tricia (nee Gorman), a nurse. She was 14 when the military junta seized power in 1976. This provoked in her a profound and critical interest in both national and global politics and a lifelong concern for human rights.

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IMF accused of ‘reckless lending’ to debt-troubled states

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Jubilee Debt Campaign says the Fund broke its own rules by not ensuring sustainable debt burden

Debt campaigners have accused the International Monetary Fund of encouraging reckless lending by extending $93bn (£75bn) of loans to 18 financially troubled countries without a debt restructuring programme first.

In advance of the IMF’s annual meeting in Washington next week, the Jubilee Debt Campaign (JDC) said the the Fund was breaking its own rules by providing financial support without ensuring that the debt burden was sustainable.

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Argentina police arrest gang accused of smuggling cocaine in plastic penises

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Police say they seized the cocaine-loaded penises at the home of a couple who managed a Peruvian restaurant

Police in Argentina have arrested members of a gang of drug dealers accused of smuggling cocaine hidden inside plastic penises.

The cocaine-loaded members, of the kind found as costume adornments at party shops, were sold by dealers operating in the red light district of the city of La Plata, about 36 miles south of Argentina’s capital city of Buenos Aires.

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