First Presidential Debate & more – 5th Oct 2023c

¡Buenos días from Greenway Parks! This is the Rorshok Argentina Update from the 5th of October twenty twenty-three A quick summary of what's going down in Argentina.

The first of two presidential debates was held on Sunday the 1st in the Santiago del Estero province. The five presidential candidates went head-to-head in debating economic, educational, and human rights issues, but there weren’t any clear winners or losers.

Patricia Bullrich from the opposition coalition Together for Change, or Juntos por el Cambio, faced criticism for her lack of clarity on her plans for the country. Libertarian Congressman Javier Milei and Córdoba Governor Juan Schiaretti challenged Economy Minister Sergio Massa over economic issues and historical facts. Massa argued for fiscal balance while defending the peso’s sovereignty.

The debate also included discussions on tax evasion, shocking incidents involving officials, and past affiliations with political groups. However, the most controversial moment of the night occurred when Milei questioned the number of desaparecidos or missing people during the nineteen seventy-six - nineteen eighty-three military dictatorship, asserting a lower figure and framing the era as a war.

The next presidential debate will take place on Sunday the 8th at the University of Buenos Aires at nine pm. The topics will revolve around security, production, human development, housing, and environmental protection.

Speaking of appalling incidents involving officials, Martín Insaurralde, the Buenos Aires Province Cabinet Chief, has resigned from his post and candidacy following images of his luxury trip with his girlfriend, model Sofía Clérici. He was running for a councilor seat and had to call off his campaign after Clérici posted a series of photos of the couple enjoying an extravagant trip in Marbella, including intimate moments on a yacht and a series of gifts from brands like Rolex and Louis Vuitton.

This is not only a matter of being out of touch with the regular citizens; it also prompted allegations of corruption and illicit enrichment. Isaurralde has been a public official for decades, and there’s seemingly no explanation as to how he funded that ostentatious trip with the salary of a public official.

As soon as the news broke, Massa called the Kirchnerite to step down from his ticket, but the incident may still have repercussions on his own presidential bid.

On that note about Massa, he introduced the “Dólar Vaca Muerta,” a differential exchange rate program targeting oil and gas exporters operating in the Vaca Muerta basin. The program allows twenty-five percent of exports to be exchanged at the CCL (contado con liquidación) rate, which is a financial market exchange rate used for investment transactions, while the remaining seventy-five percent utilizes the official exchange rate.

The goal is to generate 1.2 billion dollars to bolster reserves and reduce exchange rate tensions in the run-up to the general elections.

The Economy Minister had a tough week. The International Monetary Fund (or IMF) criticized him for his election-driven measures aimed at boosting the purchasing power of struggling citizens. The IMF said that these measures will further compound the challenges that Argentina is facing, and emphasized the importance of evaluating their impact. They also criticized Milei’s proposal to dollarize the economy, as it would require significant preparatory steps and sound macroeconomic policies.

Despite everything we talked about and the looming recession, Argentina’s economy saw a surprising upturn in July, marking a break from four consecutive months of decline. According to government data, the economy expanded by 2.4 percent in July compared to the previous month, surpassing economists’ expectations of less than one percent.

One more economic news before we move on. The government is working on the creation of a digital currency, the “Argentine digital currency” and will send the bill to Congress soon. Massa told the C5N network that he will not wait until the October election results to do so and hopes to pass this bill along with an initiative that will allow citizens to bring money held abroad into Argentina without new taxes.

Those pushing for the creation of the Argentine digital currency believe it will help combat corruption, just like Norway and Sweden did, and see a successful outcome. At a regional level, Brazil was also working on something similar.

On that note about digital assets, Buenos Aires is gearing up to launch QuarkID, a blockchain-based digital identity protocol enabling citizens to access essential personal documents like birth and marriage certificates via a native wallet.

The initiative, described as a first in Latin America, is a collaboration with on-chain digital identity solutions firm Extrimian and Matter Labs, the company behind some of Ethereum’s blockchain developments. The service emphasizes self-sovereignty, offering individuals control over their personal data.

Starting in November, residents will access proof of income and academic attendance certificates within their digital wallets. The full QuarkID roadmap aims to expand the service to over 2.5 million users by the end of the year, bolstering the adoption of decentralized digital identity technology in the region, which has been increasingly open to blockchain solutions.

In other news, thousands of women took to the streets on Thursday the 28th to defend the recently acquired right to abortion. Activists are concerned that this right could be endangered if Javier Milei, the far-right presidential candidate, wins the upcoming elections. Demonstrators also voiced their fears about his policies on gender violence, education, and his stance on women’s rights and sexual and gender diversity.

Similarly, Argentine filmmakers at the 71st San Sebastián International Film Festival used the platform to protest against Milei’s proposed policies, particularly his plan to cut back on cultural institutions like the National Institute of Cinema and Audiovisual Arts if he wins the presidential election.

At the festival, representatives of twenty-five Argentine film productions, along with actor Leonardo Sbaraglia and director Santiago Mitre, posed with the national flag bearing the phrase “Argentine cinema united.” The festival showed solidarity with the protest, emphasizing its support for Argentine cinema and cultural institutions.

Argentine cinema had a significant presence at the festival, with two films in the main Official Section category and a strong representation in the Horizontes Latinos section dedicated to regional cinema.

Speaking of representing the country, Candela Belén Francisco Guecamburu, a seventeen-year-old Argentine chess prodigy, became the World Junior Chess Champion, defeating Bulgaria’s Beloslava Krasteva and becoming Argentina’s first woman Grandmaster.

Her historic win saw her sacrifice her queen to secure victory in the final match, and people are comparing her to the protagonist of The Queen’s Gambit. Francisco Guecamburu has been competing in chess tournaments since she was nine and previously won the American Continental Women’s Championship in twenty twenty-two.

On a related note, the Argentine diplomat Rafael Mariano Grossi has been reelected as the Director of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN’s nuclear agency, for a second four-year term. The confirmation came through a vote by the agency’s conference general, which consists of representatives from 176 member countries.

Grossi, who has been in the role since late twenty nineteen, is known for his work on nuclear issues, including the verification of Iran’s nuclear program and addressing nuclear safety concerns in the context of the conflict in Ukraine.

Before we go, remember that we have a holiday coming up. The 12th of October marks the Day of Respect for Cultural Diversity, which was originally named “Día de la Raza” or “Columbus Day,” but its name was changed in twenty ten to emphasize respect for the cultural diversity of Argentina’s population, including its indigenous communities.

This year, however, the holiday has been moved to favor tourism. Monday the 16th is the official holiday, and Friday the 13th has been turned into a bridge holiday as well. So that’s an extra long weekend coming up soon.

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

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¡Nos vemos la próxima semana!