Dates for Presidential Debates & more – 7th Sep 2023

¡Buenos días from BA! This is the Rorshok Argentina Update from the 7th of September twenty twenty-three A quick summary of what's going down in Argentina.

The dates for the presidential debates have been confirmed, and they are only a few weeks away. On the 1st and 8th of October, the three main candidates will debate in Buenos Aires City first and the Santiago del Estero province second, where they’ll have the chance to convince the voters they are missing to seize the presidency.

Both Patricia Bullrich and Sergio Massa are aiming to expose Javier Milei by challenging his proposals. Rather than winning the debate, everyone seems focused on not losing. Both of them are assembling teams, including strategists and actors for rehearsal, as well as conducting focus groups to better understand Milei’s supporters.

Speaking of Milei, his vice presidential candidate Victoria Villarruel ignited controversy this week after she defended military officers convicted of crimes against humanity. Villarruel organized an event to pay tribute to the victims of terrorism in the Buenos Aires City Legislature, where she suggested that both the Argentine military and left-wing guerrilla groups share equal responsibility for the violence during the last military dictatorship.

The problem with this line of thinking and the reason why she was shut down by both members of the ruling party and the opposition is that it neglects the fact that the majority of the 30,000 people who disappeared during the dictatorship were not involved in guerrilla activities.

Still, her statements came as no surprise as Villarruel has a track record of defending military officers accused of crimes against humanity, and there are concerns about her potential role in the armed forces and police if her party attains power.

On that note about crimes, Patricia Bullrich, the presidential candidate for Together for Change or Juntos por el Cambio, shared her intention to push for changes to the Penal Code if she wins the upcoming general election. She’s aiming to reduce the legal age of criminal responsibility for minors from sixteen to fourteen, which used to be the case prior to a law that was introduced in nineteen eight-three.

In Argentina, individuals under the age of sixteen cannot be brought to trial or receive sentences, and minors aged sixteen to eighteen are subject to a distinct legal framework compared to adults. Specifically, only those who are found guilty of committing offenses carrying a potential prison term exceeding two years can face sentencing, and they can only be incarcerated once they reach the age of eighteen. Prior to that, a judge can order their placement in a specialized juvenile facility.

Also related to the number fourteen, as many as fourteen regions are refusing to adhere to the one-off bonuses to public-sector workers that Sergio Massa announced last week.

Buenos Aires City, Córdoba, Catamarca, Misiones, Jujuy, Entre Ríos, Neuquén are some of the provinces that have declared their refusal, arguing that they are already addressing wage disparities caused by inflation and devaluation at the local level. Additionally, private-sector firms have expressed concerns about the bonus, with business associations rejecting it as an imposition on labor relations.

Back to the topic of the presidential candidates for a second, Javier Milei made an appearance at the Argentine Economic Congress event, where he made controversial statements regarding environmental protection and the management of natural resources in the country. He stated that a company can pollute rivers as much as it wants since that would only happen if there’s no need for that river. Once water becomes scarce, someone will claim ownership rights, leading to an end to pollution.

As always, reactions to his comments were polarized, with some supporting his focus on private property rights as a long-term solution for resource conservation, while critics and environmental advocates expressed concern about downplaying the environmental damage caused by water pollution and its impact on ecosystems and public health.

Speaking of resources, the government has reintroduced the “soy dollar” scheme as part of the fifth Export Increase Program to stimulate exports and address foreign currency imbalances. This version targets soy producers and exporters who have traded soy abroad in the last eighteen months, offering incentives for liquidating sales before the end of September.

As the soy industry tries to protect itself against devaluation and inflation, so do individuals. According to an article by The Buenos Aires Herald, there’s been a rise in polyworking, also known as holding multiple jobs instead of a single full-time position. Nearly ten percent of workers are engaged in polyworking, a twenty-five percent increase since twenty eighteen. This phenomenon has become more common than unemployment, which affects only seven percent of the economically active population.

While Argentina has seen employment growth during President Fernández’s administration, many jobs offer poor working conditions and low salaries due to inflation, resulting in workers' incomes falling by nearly twenty percent since twenty seventeen. Therefore, polyworking has become a means to make ends meet, with sixty percent of polyworkers being women and almost half of them under forty, often juggling multiple part-time or freelance jobs to sustain their living standards.

Wanna know more? Link in the show notes!

Teachers in Argentina are known for juggling multiple jobs across different schools, shifts, and sometimes private lessons. And on that note, the 11th of September marks Teachers’ Day or Día del Maestro, a day dedicated to honoring and paying tribute to teachers and educators across the country.

This observance is held in memory of Domingo Faustino Sarmiento, an important Argentine educator, writer, and statesman who played a significant role in the development of education in Argentina during the 19th century. On this day, primary schools often organize special events and activities, and students may express their gratitude to their teachers with cards, flowers, or small gifts.

Moving on, we have to discuss a very sad topic that made the headlines this past week: Silvina Luna, a former actress, model, and TV presenter, tragically passed away at the age of forty-three, following a prolonged battle with severe health complications stemming from a plastic surgery procedure. Her troubles originated from a cosmetic surgery performed by the now discredited doctor Aníbal Lotocki, who injected a toxic substance called methacrylate into her body in two thousand and ten.

Luna’s passing has reignited discussions surrounding society’s unrealistic beauty standards. It also highlighted the ongoing malpractice claims against Lotocki. Numerous individuals from the entertainment industry have suffered health issues after surgeries he carried out, but he has yet to face significant legal repercussions.

Back to the topic of the military dictatorship, a team of three twenty-three-year-old college students developed an artificial intelligence tool that provides unrestricted access to the Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo’s extensive journalistic archive, consisting of over 10,000 clippings related to the people who disappeared and the human rights movement in Argentina.

The software, which indexes the transcribed scans of the clippings, is now available on a public website, making it easier for researchers and the public to access this valuable historical resource. The team, known as The Cicadas, won the AI for Identity award for their contribution to preserving the Grandmothers’ legacy and making it accessible to all.

Plus, the Argentine publicist Santiago Barros has been using the generative AI tool Midjourney to create images of what the children of parents who disappeared might look like as adults.

On that note about awards, the Argentine-Brazilian couple Julián Sánchez and Bruna Stellita emerged as world champions at the twenty twenty-three Tango World Championship, held in Buenos Aires. In the traditional 'Pista' or ballroom tango category, local couple Johnny Carvajal and Suyay Quiroga took the top spot.

The competition saw over sixty couples participating in its final day gala event and attracted over thirteen hundred dancers from around the world.

Also related to championships, the national rugby team, known as Los Pumas, will be competing at the upcoming Rugby World Cup in France. The first opponent at the tournament will be England on the 9th of September, which presents quite a challenge. Still, the team has expressed their readiness for the event, and they expect to qualify for the next stage as both Argentina and England are considered the front-runners in their category, which also includes Japan and Chile.

That’s it for this week! Thanks for joining us!

Did you know that today is the perfect day to subscribe to our show? Already did that? Thanks! Then tell your friends about us!

Remember you can help us financially with the link in our show notes!

¡Nos vemos la próxima semana!