Low Temperatures Throughout the Country& more –20th July 2023

¡Buenos días from The Springs! This is the Rorshok Argentina Update from the 20th of July twenty twenty-three A quick summary of what's going down in Argentina.

Seventeen Argentine provinces are under yellow alert this week due to extremely low temperatures. According to the National Meteorological Service, temperatures are reaching almost minus eleven degrees Celsius in the Santa Cruz province and minus nine in Jujuy. This could be dangerous for small kids and the elderly.

In addition to that of the National Meteorological Service, on Monday the 17th, the National Institute of Seismic Prevention also had to issue an alert. They reported an earthquake at midnight with its epicenter some 200 kilometers west of the city of Neuquén, which was felt strongly in Chile.

Fortunately, there were no casualties or material damages.

Speaking of environmental news, the Argentinian conglomerate Corporación America International, which is owned by one of the country’s richest families, is making a major investment in clean energy. The company entered the oil and gas business by buying one of Argentina’s biggest drillers a decade ago. Now, they will build a 100 million euro ammonia plant in Burgos, Spain, to be fueled by solar or wind farms.

The ammonia, produced with hydrogen extracted from water in a process powered by renewable energy, would be sold as of twenty twenty-seven to a livestock feed maker.

Ironically, it is not green energy but an oil boom that could solve Argentina’s economic issues. In Vaca Muerta, oil production is increasing at a double-digit rate, and companies are coming up with new projects to boost exports and natural gas output. Some of the stocks related to Argentina’s hydrocarbon business, such as YPF and the pipeline operator Transportadora Gas del Norte, are up more than 300 percent in dollar terms year on year.

Industry executives are looking ahead to the upcoming presidential election with high hopes for an improved business environment.

On that note about the upcoming election, the province of Santa Fe held its primary elections in the race for the governorship. The opposition Unidos para Cambiar Santa Fe (or United to change Santa Fe) recorded a sound victory over the ruling Peronists.

Presidential hopefuls Horacio Rodriguez Larreta and Patricia Bullrich celebrated the victory and congratulated the local candidate, Maximiliano Pullaro.

Since we brought up Rodriguez Larreta, the Buenos Aires City mayor presented eight measures he would take if elected president. His plan to lower inflation includes taking the fiscal deficit to zero in his first year in office, gradually eliminating currency controls, and requiring state-owned companies to be profitable—so the government doesn’t have to cover their losses.

For example, he proposed to eliminate the deficit of state-owned companies such as Aerolíneas Argentinas, the country’s flag carrier. Plus, Congress should not be able to pass laws that require extra spending unless the bill explains where the money would come from. His fourth proposal was to modify the Central Bank’s charter to make it independent of the government, which he said would stop it from financing the deficit by printing money.

Other anti-inflation measures included increasing exports, increasing government-backed credit, and a new federal agreement to lower taxes.

Back to the topic of Aerolíneas Argentinas for a minute, this week, Vice President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner and Economy Minister Sergio Massa appeared together at the launch of a national airline’s pilot-training simulator. The aims of the event were to celebrate the simulator, the first of its kind in South America, and mark the 15th anniversary of the airline’s nationalization.

The simulator is for Boeing 737 Max aircraft training and, according to Aerolíneas, it will save the state seven million dollars a year by not having to send Argentine pilots abroad to complete their training. This way the airline won’t have to hire substitutes to replace the pilots.

Speaking of going abroad, Paraguay’s Industry and Commerce Minister Luis Castiglioni made the headlines this week by saying that he would like to build a Donald Trump-style wall on the Argentine border to end smuggling. He added that Argentina’s macroeconomic policies and its chronic economic problems make all its bordering countries suffer. In other words, things are cheaper across the border, and it makes it hard for him to stop his people from buying cars, motorbikes, and other things in Argentina.

The Argentine ambassador to Paraguay said in a radio interview afterward that there were important contradictions in what the minister said. In fact, during the pandemic, when borders were completely closed, Paraguay worked hard on opening them back up because it was having a very serious social and economic impact on the border cities.

On the topic of things being cheaper, the good news is that inflation slowed in June for the second month straight. Living costs continue to increase at an elevated pace, but consumer prices rose one percent less in June than what specialists forecast, sitting at six percent.

These two months of slightly slower inflation will come as a relief to Economy Minister Sergio Massa, the ruling party’s presidential candidate. However, July is expected to trend upward with increases in regulated prices coming into play.

About Massa, President Fernández confirmed that he asked the Economy Minister to stay until the end of the year. Massa is still renegotiating the country’s forty-four billion dollar aid program with the International Monetary Fund, and so the president wants him to remain in his post even as the election unfolds.

Meanwhile, the blue dollar kept soaring last week against the Argentine peso. The parallel exchange rate reached 525 pesos at some point but closed the week at 522. That’s a thirty-one peso increase in the last week.

Now, the gap between the parallel and the official exchange rates stands at almost 100%.

The difference between the exchange rates is important to keep in mind if you’re traveling to Argentina.But also keep in mind that Catena Zapata “was just crowned the number one wine estate in the world to visit at the World’s 50 Best Vineyards awards.” Located below the Andes mountains in the province of Mendoza, Catena Zapata is known for being one of the winemakers that put Argentine Malbec on the map.

If you’re more interested in experiencing a local football game, the Buenos Aires Herald news outlet published an interesting piece titled “Argentine football passion up close: what to expect at your first Boca game.” Written by Cecilia Schmitz, the article covers how to get tickets, how to get to the stadium, what to wear, and what to expect once you’re there. Follow the link in the show notes if you want to know more.

Speaking of publications, The Architect’s Newspaper published a piece on the reopening of the mythical Confitería del Molino. After several years of restoration work on the facade of Buenos Aires’ art nouveau-style building, it has reopened to the public.

When constructed, the five thousand-square-foot café was one of the tallest structures in the city; it used only materials imported from Italy. The landmark structure was designated as a National Historical Monument in nineteen ninety-seven and later UNESCO deemed it a Historical Heritage of Art Nouveau and the avant-garde of the Belle Époque era.

We’ll add the link to the show notes if you want to read the full article.

Just right around the corner from the Confitería del Molino, Argentina held its first-ever non-binary march. On Friday the 14th of July, which marks International Non-Binary People’s Day, activists called for true recognition of non-binary identities and freedom to write their gender identities on their ID cards. They also protested against the ban on inclusive language in public schools, a twenty twenty-two ruling imposed by the Buenos Aires City government.

The march around Argentina’s Congress building started at around five pm and featured seats for disabled protesters close to the stage, sign-language interpreters, and low-stimulation spaces to recharge.

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

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¡Nos vemos la próxima semana!