ARGENTINA: Cristina & more – 2nd May 2024

¡Buenos días from Greenway Parks! This is the Rorshok Argentina Update from the 2nd of May twenty twenty-four. A quick summary of what's going down in Argentina.

Former vice-president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner gave her first public appearance since President Milei took office. Cristina attended a rally at a newly inaugurated stadium in the Quilmes neighborhood in the Buenos Aires Province, where she gave a speech criticizing the new President’s austerity measures.

She stated that President Milei was putting the population through a “useless sacrifice” and that he didn’t really have a stabilization plan but an austerity plan. She also attacked the government’s economic plan, saying it relied exclusively on extracting natural resources, and cautioned that unemployment would rise.

In other political news, on Tuesday, the 30th of April, the lower house approved a new version of Milei’s highly controversial omnibus bill. Recall that Congress rejected the first draft of this sweeping reform package in early twenty twenty-four.

The second version left out some of the more divisive measures, such as watering down the proposed labor reform and lowering the number of companies up for privatization. It also prohibits the government from closing down institutions like the National Scientific Research Council, or CONICET, and Argentina’s food and drug regulator, ANMAT.

Speaking of the omnibus bill, workers from unions of soy-processing plants are not on board with the draft law. Several plants throughout the country have shut down to protest the government’s proposed labor reforms.

The Soy Oil Workers Union or SOEA, which represents those who work at soy oil processing plants from the San Lorenzo port district on the Parana River, went on strike on Monday, the 29th of April. The Federation of Oilseed Industry Workers has joined the strike as well. A long protest could wreak havoc on Argentine soy output since the soy has already been harvested, and if it is not collected and processed on time, producers might lose the entire harvest.

Let’s shift over to the Economy, which is always a pressing subject in Argentina. On Friday, the 26th of April, the Central Bank announced it would offer companies a new type of bond: the BOPREAL. Until now, it was something only importers had access to.

The bonds are backed by pesos at the official currency rate, and holders can choose to keep them until they expire — when they will be redeemed in dollars —, or resell them earlier. The aim is to make sending dividends abroad easier. This measure is part of the current government’s plan to untangle the myriad of restrictions that still keep the foreign exchange market tied up.

In more economic news, Santiago Bausili, the Central Bank Governor, and Pablo Quirno, the Secretary of Finance, traveled to China to meet with Pan Gongsheng, the governor of the People’s Bank of China, on Monday, the 29th of April. Their aim was to renew around 5 billion dollars from the swap line by June.

Argentina has participated in several currency swaps with China, but Sergio Massa negotiated the latest chapter of the swap line in twenty twenty-three when he was the Economy Minister. The $18 billion dollar swap line was a much-needed source of foreign currency meant to shore up the Central Bank’s depleted reserves.

Diana Mondino, the Foreign minister, also went along on the trip. She was supposed to meet with several Chinese officials to negotiate Chinese investment in Argentine infrastructure. One important project addressed in the meetings was a hydroelectric power plant being constructed in Santa Cruz, which was put on hold after President Milei froze all public works.

Next, there have been new developments concerning the closure of Télam, the state-run news agency. The new government had suspended all the agency’s activities and put its workers on indefinite paid leave back in March.

Now, Diego Chaher, Télam’s new government-appointed administrator, has put pressure on workers to accept the voluntary retirement program. On Saturday, the 27th of April, Chaher released a statement saying that those who did not take voluntary retirement before the 10th of May would risk receiving only 50% of the funds the program offered.

Normally, that would not be allowed, but Chaher also requested the Labor Secretariat that a crisis prevention procedure be triggered. This procedure would let him bypass certain regulations and accelerate Télam’s shutdown.

Let’s circle back to President Milei. There is one question about him currently making headlines all across the globe: how many dogs does he have? In a recent interview with CNN, Milei mentioned having five dogs, although public knowledge was that he only owned four since his first Mastiff, Conan, passed.

A journalist asked Manuel Adorni, the presidential spokesperson, to clarify the subject, saying that it was worrisome that the president might not be in touch with reality if he indeed had four dogs and not five. However, Adorni didn’t say how many dogs the president had.

Now, it’s finally time to talk about the good news for the week as Limay Biosciences, an Argentine start-up, is developing a new dengue test that could give results in one to two hours. Clinical trials will begin this week, and it is also set to be significantly cheaper than current options.

Developments such as these are a shot of optimism in a country that has seen a startling rise in dengue fever cases. By the end of April twenty twenty-three, just under 80,000 cases were reported, but there have already been almost 316,000 in twenty twenty-four. Moreover, many patients with dengue have seen medical care delays because tests can take time, are in short supply, and are sometimes too expensive for local health centers to afford.

Still on good news, recently, Patagonian shores have seen the return of a species that had not been spotted in the area since nineteen twenty-nine. The Sei whale is the third largest whale species and was considered critically endangered due to exploitative whaling practices during the early 19th century.

In twenty seventeen, researchers from the San Juan Bosco National Patagonic University (or UNPSJB) and the Center for Marine Mammal Studies (or CESIMAR) used drones to track breathing patterns. They also employed specialized divers to take samples for biopsies, which later confirmed they were dealing with Sei whales. Experts calculated the whale population to be between 2,400 and 2,800.

On an unrelated note, the Miss Buenos Aires pageant was held on Friday, the 26th of April. This year, however, was the first with no age limit for contestants. This year, women between eighteen and seventy-three competed in the contest.

The winner was Alejandra Marisa Rodriguez, a sixty-year-old lawyer, legal advisor, and journalist from La Plata City. The result shows how beauty pageants are adopting a more progressive approach to beauty standards.

Keeping with the subject of entertainment news, an Argentine wine has gone viral after the one and only Britney Spears posted about it on her Instagram account on Saturday, the 27th of April. The pop star posted a photo of Norton Winery’s twenty nineteen special reserve Malbec and wrote, “REAL wine feels extremely nice.”

Argentines all over the world began reposting the picture, and eventually, the people over at Norton caught wind of it. The company then decided to make the most of the free publicity and began offering a 25% discount in their online store with the code “Britney.”

And that’s it for this week! Thanks your joining us!

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