Showing posts with label Argentina. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Argentina. Show all posts

Saturday, February 10, 2024

Taking the Welsh Language to Patagonia - Britain's Secret Homes

Apr 6, 2016 | To save the Welsh language, hundreds of Welsh people travelled to Patagonia to start a new Welsh community.

Saturday, February 03, 2024

What Experts Think of ‘Anarcho-capitalist’ Milei’s Plan to Dollarize the Argentinian Economy?

Dec 4, 2023 | Replacing the Peso with US dollars and getting rid of the central bank, that’s what Javier Milei, Argentina’s recently elected president, has proposed as part of his radical economic agenda. We speak to two experts who give us details on what could be Argentina’s road ahead.


Milei's anarcho-capitalistic solutions will not solve Argentina's economic problems. If anything, they will heap even more misery onto the long-suffering Argentinians. Extreme and radical solutions are rarely the answer to anything. – © Mark Alexander

Tuesday, January 16, 2024

Argentina: A Journey into Discord | ARTE.tv Documentary

Jan 16, 2024 | The resounding victory of populist candidate Javier Milei as President of Argentina on 19 November, with almost 56% of the vote, is a worry for many in Argentina and abroad. After Donald Trump and Jair Bolsonaro, another country is tilting towards extremism. Public sector employees, including railway workers are especially concerned as large-scale privatisation is planned.

Monday, January 08, 2024

All Feminists Are Under Attack’: Ultra-right Threat in Milei’s Argentina Forces Writer into Exile

THE GUARDIAN: The new president’s rightwing supporters are targeting journalists and women’s rights activists – but the fight goes on

Female journalists who write about gender issues say they are having to deal with a toxic wave of threats against them in Argentina. Some are fighting back, others are lying low and one has gone into self-imposed exile for her safety.

“We are facing a witch-hunt from the ultra-right,” said the author, journalist and activist Luciana Peker, who recently left Argentina for an undisclosed location due to the weight of threats against her.

Argentina became the largest Latin American nation legalise abortion in 2020, but its newly elected far-right libertarian president, Javier Milei, campaigned to overturn the law saying he would call a referendum on it if necessary. » | Uki Goñi | Monday, January 8, 2024

Wednesday, December 27, 2023

Argentina: Milei Wants to Reverse Rapprochement with China | DW News

Dec 27, 2023 | When he was still campaigning, Argentina's new president Javier Milei threatened to cut ties with Beijing, favoring trade with the US and Europe. But after 23 years of negotiations, a European free-trade deal still seems to be a long way off. That leaves none other than China as an increasingly important trading partner for Argentina - something that is softening the hard anti-Beijing stance of the country's new president.


Naturally, I wish Argentina and the Argentinians all the luck in the world; however, I fear that Argentina is travelling down the wrong road. Javier Milei's experiment with EXTREME DEREGULATION of the economy will, in all probability, lead to no good place; on the contrary, Milei's experiment is likely to make matters ten times worse! If you think that the economy is screwed up now, wait for a few years until the effects of this reckless experiment play out! Almost always in life, the best path to stability is not the extreme path, but the middle way, the golden path – the golden middle way.

We here in the UK have plenty of experience of deregulation under Thatcher and her misguided policies. Look at the mess that the UK is in today as a result of them! But Argentina will be in an even worse situation, because its starting position is so much worse than even the UK's was.

I wish Argentina and the Argentinians well. Of course I do. They are going to need everyone's good wishes. But more than good wishes, Argentina needs a path forward paved with sound economic policies. Javier Milei's anarcho-capitalistic ideas are highly unlikely to deliver the needed goods. – © Mark Alexander

Tuesday, December 26, 2023

'There Is No Money': Javier Milei Delivers Argentines Painful Truth in Maiden Speech

Dec 11, 2023 | Argentina's new libertarian leader Javier Milei has declared the country is broke after "more than a 100 years of decadence" as he warns of a painful but inevitable fiscal shock to fix the severe economic crisis.

On Sunday, Milei was officially sworn in, succeeding the Peronist leader Alberto Fernandez, whose government was dogged by failures to curb rampant inflation that is now almost reaching 200 per cent.

In his maiden speech, Milei said his focus is on trimming state expenditure rather than burdening the private sector, aiming to stabilise the economy and appease investors.

"If a country is lacking in reputation, as is unfortunately the case with Argentine, business will not invest until they see a fiscal readjustment, bringing it down," he said. "And no less important, for gradualism it is necessary that there is financing. And unfortunately I have to tell you again that there is no money."


"Therefore, following such a situation there can be no doubt that the only possible option is an adjustment, an orderly adjustment that comes down with its full weight on the state and not on the private sector."


Thursday, December 21, 2023

Argentina's President Milei Pushes Austerity Plan despite Protests | DW News

Dec 21, 2023 | Argentina's newly elected president Javier Milei has announced that he plans to change the country's economic system by deregulating it using his presidential powers. He said he plans to change more than 300 regulations to lay "the foundations for the reconstruction of the Argentine economy and restore freedom and autonomy to individuals, removing the State from their shoulders. The goal is to start along the path to rebuilding the country," Milei said in a speech broadcast on television and radio. Milei has vowed to pull Argentina out of economic distress but has warned that economic "shock" treatment is the only solution. He has also warned the public that the economic situation will get worse before it will get better.

Argentinian President's Plans to Liberalize Economy Has Observers Concerned | DW News

Dec 21, 2023 | Argentinian president Javier Milei has announced sweeping reforms to cut the state’s role in Argentina’s economy, including privatization measures and steps to boost exports and end price controls. The move is likely to face pushback in congress and courts.

Tuesday, December 19, 2023

What Experts Think of ‘Anarcho-capitalist’ Milei’s Plan to Dollarize the Argentinian Economy?

Dec 4, 2023 | Replacing the Peso with US dollars and getting rid of the central bank, that’s what Javier Milei, Argentina’s recently elected president, has proposed as part of his radical economic agenda. We speak to two experts who give us details on what could be Argentina’s road ahead.

Sunday, December 17, 2023

‘Prison or Bullet’: New Argentina Government Promises Harsh Response to Protest

THE GUARDIAN: President Javier Milei and his allies are preparing new security guidelines in anticipation of protests against currency devaluation

Human rights activists in Argentina have expressed consternation over new security guidelines to crack down on an anticipated wave of protests after the incoming government of libertarian president Javier Milei devalued the country’s currency by more than 50%.

Protesting individuals and organizations will be identified with “video, digital or manual means” – and then billed for the cost of sending security forces to police their demonstrations, said Milei’s security minister, Patricia Bullrich, as she announced the new protocol on Thursday.

“The state is not going to pay for the use of the security forces; organizations that have legal status will have to pay or individuals will have to bear the cost,” Bullrich said. » | Uki Goñi in Buenos Aires | Sunday, December 17, 2023

Monday, December 11, 2023

Argentinian President Javier Milei's AMAZING Chanukah Message in His Inaugural Address

Dec 10, 2023 | Argentina’s newly sworn-in President Javier Milei inaugural address today quoting from Rabbi Simon Jacobson’s message to him. Seen by around 40 million people!

Milei Vows New Era in Argentina: What Is about to Change? | DW News

Dec 10, 2023 | The 53-year-old libertarian economist Javier Milei, was sworn in as Argentina's president on Sunday.

He has vowed there will be no "half-measures" as he confronts decades of overspending, debt and convoluted currency controls in Latin America's third-largest economy.

"I swear to God and country ... to carry out with loyalty and patriotism the position of president of the Argentine nation," he said as he took the oath of office. Meanwhile, thousands of his supporters lined the streets in front of the Congress in Buenos Aires, waving the blue and white flag of the country and chanting Milei's rallying cry of "Freedom!"

After the swearing-in ceremony, Milei promised a new era for the country, but warned of painful austerity measures and an economic crisis that will "get worse" before it gets better. "Today begins a new era in Argentina," he said, highlighting that "no government has received a worse inheritance than what we are receiving."

"The bottom line is that there is no alternative to austerity and there is no alternative to shock treatment," Milei warned, saying his predecessors had left the country without funds and on a path to hyperinflation.


Thursday, November 23, 2023

Argentina Braces Itself for Its New ‘Anarcho-Capitalist’ President

THE NEW YORK TIMES: Javier Milei has said that society is better without government. Now he is about to run Argentina’s.

President-elect Javier Milei greeting supporters on Sunday in Buenos Aires. “The changes that our country needs are drastic,” he said in his victory speech. | Juan Ignacio Roncoroni/EPA, via Shutterstock

Javier Milei was first introduced to the Argentine public as a combative television personality with an unruly hairdo and a tendency to insult his critics. So when he entered Argentina’s presidential race last year, he was viewed by many as a sideshow.

On Sunday, he was elected Argentina’s next president, and is now tasked with guiding one of Latin America’s largest economies out of one of its worst economic crises.

Many Argentines awoke on Monday anxious, others hopeful, but just about everyone was uncertain about what lay ahead.

Perhaps the only certainty about the country’s political and economic future was that, in three weeks, a far-right political outsider with little governing experience was set to take the reins of a government that he has vowed to upend.

In other words, it is Argentina’s Donald Trump moment.

Mr. Milei, a libertarian economist and freshman congressman, made clear in his victory speech on Sunday that he would move fast to overhaul the government and economy. “Argentina’s situation is critical,” he said. “The changes that our country needs are drastic. There is no place for gradualism.”

Markets cheered his election, with Argentine stocks and bonds rising on U.S. exchanges (the Argentine market was closed for a holiday). Even without clarity on what he can accomplish, markets appear to view him as a better economic bet than his mostly leftist predecessors.

Failed economic policies — including overspending, protectionist trade measures, suffocating international debt and the printing of more pesos to pay for it — have sent the nation of 46 million people into an economic tailspin.

Annual inflation has surpassed 140 percent, the world’s third highest rate, leaving many residents rushing to spend or convert their pesos to U.S. dollars or cryptocurrencies as quickly as they can, while the country’s growing number of poor increasingly line up at food banks and soup kitchens. » | Jack Nicas, Natalie Alcoba and Lucía Cholakian Herrera, Reporting from Buenos Aires | Monday, November 20, 2023

Argentina se prepara para un presidente ‘anarcocapitalista’: Javier Milei ha dicho que la sociedad es mejor sin Estado. Ahora está a punto de dirigir el de Argentina. »

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What an 'Anarcho-capitalist' Will Do for Argentina | DW Business

Nov 22, 2023 | Argentina is on the brink of radical economic change following the election of libertarian Javier Milei. The self-branded 'anarcho-capitalist' has vowed to scrap multiple government departments, do away with the central bank and abandon the country's Peso currency in favor of the US dollar. Markets have reacted favorably to his win - but the question now is - can he live up to his promises to battle inflation and turn the country's fortunes around? Video features expert analysis from Alicia García-Herrero, Economist at Natixis, as well as reaction from World Bank President Ajay Banga.


No tickets necessary for the roller coaster/big dipper ride you have embarked on. Javier Milei will give you a free ride. But don’t forget to take plenty of sick bags with you for it! You’re going to need them. – © Mark Alexander

Tuesday, November 21, 2023

Tucker Carlson Interviews Argentinian Presidential Candidate Javier Milei

Sep 15, 2023 | Tucker Carlson interviewed Argentinian presidential candidate Javier Milei

Argentina’s New Leader Is a Snake-oil Salesman with Extreme Views on Abortion, Gay Rights and More. I Fear for My Country

THE GUARDIAN: After his landslide victory in the presidential election, Javier Milei is threatening to undo 40 years of democracy in Argentina

Javier Milei speaks to his supporters after winning the Argentinian presidential election. Photograph: Luis Robayo/AFP/Getty Images

Anti-woke libertarian Javier Milei’s landslide win in Argentina’s presidential election poses not only a worrying question for my country’s fragile 40-year-old democracy, but could also embolden other extreme libertarians in the US and Europe in their own anti-woke wars.

Milei is often described as an outsider – but his revolutionary persona has been carefully crafted by one of the country’s richest men. Argentinian billionaire Eduardo Eurnekian plugged the wild-haired economist relentlessly on his A24 media network as an antidote to those he views as the dominant “political caste”. Milei has accused the Peronist establishment of being “socialist” because they had legalised gay marriage and abortion, put on trial and sentenced the perpetrators of Argentina’s genocidal 1976-83 dictatorship and threatened to impose new taxes on wealth.

Milei has pledged to review all these achievements, and has even proposed a referendum on the legality of abortion. His party is already working on slashing taxes as soon as it takes office next month, and he has signalled he may exonerate Argentina’s imprisoned dictatorship officers. During a presidential debate, he said that the military were guilty only of “excesses”. » | Uki Goñi | Tuesday, November 21, 2023

Trump and Bolsonaro salute Javier Milei as far right rejoice around the world: ‘El Loco’ wins landslide victory in Argentina that experts say shows scale of frustration with Peronist status quo »

Los retos que tiene Javier Milei

Nov 21, 2023

The Guardian View on Argentina’s New President: A Dark Day for Democracy

THE GUARDIAN – EDITORIAL: The election of the far-right candidate Javier Milei reflects the seriousness of the country’s problems – and threatens to deepen them

Javier Milei and his sister, Karina Milei, react to the election results in Buenos Aires on 19 November. Photograph: Reuters

Javier Milei’s landslide election victory, with 55.7% of the vote to his rival’s 44.3%, is not only terrible news for Argentina but terrifying for many. In a country celebrating 40 years of hard-won democracy, the far-right economist threatens to turn the clock back.

It would be easy to mock the former TV celebrity and tantric sex coach, who wielded a chainsaw at rallies and promised that he would take it to the state. But his election as president is no joke. Among the 53-year-old libertarian’s ideas are a referendum to overturn the legalisation of abortion, reducing gun ownership restrictions, making the trade in organs lawful, slashing social spending and abolishing the central bank. He has called the Argentina-born Pope Francis “the representative of the evil one on Earth”, smeared the victims of the military dictatorship as “terrorists” and claimed that their death toll was far smaller than the accepted 30,000 figure.

His win is bad news globally too, and not only because he dismisses climate change as a “socialist lie”. It is a filip for the far right around the world, and was welcomed as far away as Europe. Donald Trump, to whom Mr Milei has often been compared, and the former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro, were swift to congratulate him. » | Editorial | Monday, November 20, 2023

Another clown joins the circus! – © Mark Alexander

And if you’re wondering what ‘tantric sex’ is, I’ve googled it so you don’t have to! Here’s a link.