News of Agustino Fontevecchia

Agustino Fontevecchia

It’s Kici-Time!

17-04-2021 07:25 The emergence of Kicillof and his worldview is part of an electoral strategy aimed at antagonising the opposition, particularly the figure of City Mayor Horacio Rodríguez Larreta.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

With the government and the opposition doing what they should, the system has proven ineffective at generating Hegelian synthesis that sparks progress.

GRIDLOCKED

‘Imbeciles,’ restrictions and elections

10-04-2021 08:06 It is common to hear people in Argentina complaining that issues have become politicised, meaning that powerful people representing conflicting interests have gridlocked an issue.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

Alberto Fernandez and Rodriguez Larreta.

POLITICS & THE PANDEMIC

On ‘the fear’ and philosopher kings

03-04-2021 08:17 When polarisation and emotional entrenchment reaches the level of a football rivalry, the democratic system begins to fail.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

Former President, Mauricio Macri and VP Cristina Kirchner.

OLD HABITS DIE HARD

Mauricio and Cristina take centre-stage

27-03-2021 07:38 Both former presidents are both playing their games and talking to their people. The problem is we’re stuck in the middle.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

Alberto Fernandez reading Macri´s latest book.

TIME FOR A SUBSTITUTION?

Macri returns, but is unable to turn the page

20-03-2021 07:35 Taking a page from Cristina Fernández de Kirchner’s playbook, Mauricio Macri has used a book launch to reset his political career in the midst of an electoral campaign.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

Martín Guzmán acting as a health agent with a syringe in his hand.

ECONOMIC OUTLOOK

More of the same?

13-03-2021 05:48 The kick-off of the October electoral campaign promises to be brutal for future expectations. Government and opposition will duke it out once again, using all of the usual dirty tricks.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

Radicalisation appears to have taken hold of the Argentine socio-political space in recent weeks.

ALBERTO'S PIVOT TO KIRCHNERISMO

Radicalised

06-03-2021 08:11 It is troubling to see how both President Alberto Fernández and certain leaders in the opposition have given up their “post-grieta” posture all too quickly, proving their political and ideological fragility.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

The Internet is at its most basic element a human network, maintained by machines but structured and utilised by and for humans.

SEARCH FOR A DIGITAL MANIFESTO

News in the age of the Internet

27-02-2021 07:51 At stake is the health of our information ecosystem, and therefore the robustness of democracy. This is the time for everyone with a vested interest in a strong field of journalistic production to act.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

POLITICAL ECONOMY

The anchor: Guzmán’s second mistake?

20-02-2021 07:12 The Fernández administration has doubled down on an economic strategy that appears aimed at winning this year’s midterm elections. Whether or not Economy Minister Martín Guzmán agrees with the plan is debatable.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

Economy minister, Martín Guzman, satirized.

ARGENTINE AMAUTERISM

Guzmán’s first mistake

13-02-2021 08:40 The economy minister’s appeal stems from a technocratic approach to the field of public economics, coupled with a soft but convincing, almost stubborn, conviction in his plan.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

ON FACEBOOK´S 17TH BIRTHDAY

Facebook and Zuckerberg – one year from adulthood

06-02-2021 09:08 Facebook reached its first million monthly users the same year it was founded, 2004. It reached 100 million just four years later, went on to top one billion by 2012 and currently boasts 2.8 billion monthly active users, or roughly 36 percent of the global population.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

TAMING INFLATION

Alberto’s 21st-century agenda?

30-01-2021 07:18 In order to imagine an avant garde agenda worthy of the 21st century, Argentina needs to fix its 20th-century problems.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

From left to right: Alberto Fernandez, Pope Francis and Joe Biden.

BILATERAL RELATIONS

Don’t expect ‘carnal relations’ between Alberto and Joe Biden

23-01-2021 08:31 One actor could tilt the scales, though: Pope Francis. Biden is the second Catholic president of the US, preceded by John F. Kennedy. How much will the Peronist leader of the Holy See nudge Biden our way?

by Agustino Fontevecchia

SOCIAL MEDIA

The fallacy of 'deplatforming' Donald Trump

16-01-2021 08:11 Regardless of whether the decisions made by Mark Zuckerbeg and Jack Dorsey were right or wrong, the Trump ban lays bare the absolute fallacy behind arguments used by the major platforms in the past.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

President Trump seen from a latin american perspective.

CHAOS IN WASHINGTON

Latin American lessons for the United States’ damaged democracy

09-01-2021 07:16 Being able to disrupt the constitutional process, whether directly or indirectly, through the use of violence is an indication that said democratic process is breaking down.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

Alberto Fernandez, Larreta, Santilli and Kicillof during an online meeting.

VACCINES & POLITICS

Unforced errors and the unlikely prospect of unity

02-01-2021 08:24 It’s time to put aside differences and find a common way forward together, tackling the structural problems that will allow the country to move in the direction of progress.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

CORONA-CRISIS

Vaccines, ambassadors and cabinet shake-ups

26-12-2020 09:29 With a Cabinet that is already on shaky ground and a dangerous combo of pandemic and stagflation on the horizon, President Fernández faces a tough start to 2021.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

MARTÍN GUZMÁN

Should he stay or should he go?

19-12-2020 08:31 The series of reversals of Martín Guzmán’s 2021 policies sends a clear message: austerity will not be tolerated, much less so in an electoral year.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

POLITICAL BREAKDOWN

A growing sense of incompetence

05-12-2020 09:58 Public perception has worsened from one where Cristina was calling the shots from the background, to one where no-one is even in control.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

A rebel to the bone, genuine, charismatic and 100 percent controversial, all this and more constructed the myth of Diego.

DIEGO ARMANDO MARADONA (1960-2020)

The life, death and philosophy of Diego Maradona

28-11-2020 08:06 A rebel to the bone, genuine, charismatic and 100 percent controversial, all this and more constructed the myth of Diego.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

The country’s reckless borrowing didn’t begin with Macri, but with Cristina, and the practice endures even today, with Alberto.

RECKLESSNESS

Cristina, Macri and Alberto - all of them took on debt

21-11-2020 08:38 Everyone loves to play the blame game, but let’s get one thing straight for the record: former presidents Cristina Fernández de Kirchner and Mauricio Macri both took on debt – and so has Alberto Fernández.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

More of the usual will generate similar outcomes as we’ve seen in the past: stagflation, polarisation, and a growing bureaucracy. It’s time for our political class to take charge of the situation to avert another disaster.

POLITICAL INSTABILITY

On the verge of another nervous breakdown?

14-11-2020 09:16 More of the usual will generate similar outcomes as we’ve seen in the past: stagflation, polarisation, and a growing bureaucracy. It’s time for our political class to take charge of the situation to avert another disaster.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

The problem with a bimonetary economy is, without a doubt, the gravest faced by our country, and its solution is impossible without an agreement that spans the entirety of the political, economic, media and social sectors of the Argentine Republic.

CFK'S OPEN LETTER

Unity, in whatever form

31-10-2020 09:24 Both former presidents have given their blessing to an initial conversation that could work towards a broader social consensus.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

The death of the argentine currency, the peso.

ARGENTINA ON THE RUN

The peso's got a fever and the only prescription is more dollars

24-10-2020 08:08 Whereas classical economic theory suggests that markets create efficient prices through a cumulative aggregation of information, thus allowing market players to accede to perfect information, the current situation in the City Porteña is one of absolute price opacity.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

President Fernandez and former president, Mauricio Macri.

A PRESIDENTIAL TETE Á TETE?

Enough with the bickering – Alberto and Mauricio should meet

17-10-2020 09:05 At an extremely troublesome moment for the world, Argentina is engaging in ridiculous self-inflicted shocks of uncertainty.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

FOREIGN (AND DOMESTIC) POLICY

Venezuela: Argentina's old/new problem

10-10-2020 09:07 It doesn’t really matter whether Cristina is calling the shots, whether her henchmen are acting independently, or if Alberto is acting out of his own accord, trying to please his vice-president and keep his coalition united. The end result is the same: increased uncertainty, which ultimately feeds Argentina’s risk thermometer: the dollar-peso exchange rate.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

This war between Big Techis (Google and Facebook) is about money, but it is also about the future makeup of an information ecosystem that is currently trending toward the gutter, defined by misinformation, fake news, and “viral content” that is making people addicted to behaviours determined by algorithms whose only objective is to make more money.

TECH & MEDIA

Journalism, beware of Google’s billion-dollar siren calls!

03-10-2020 08:40 The largest threat for Google and Facebook, and Big Tech in general, is regulation.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

Alberto Fernandez, President of Argentina.

LA GRIETA

What we've got here is failure to communicate

26-09-2020 09:13 There are at least two major elements to conducting public policy: the construction and execution of successful strategic plans and their communication, in order to generate the correct expectations.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

The future of Argentina: chavism VS neoliberalism.

CULTURAL CRUSADES

Is Argentina really on track to become the next Venezuela?

19-09-2020 09:44 Cristina’s old agenda – the one that expired in 2015 with her last presidential mandate – appears to be back on the table.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

If we are successful, we will find an economically sustainable model for indenpendent investigative journalism in Argentina.

DIGITAL SUBSCRIPTIONS

Why Perfil is launching a paywall

12-09-2020 09:58 There’s no better time than now for Grupo Perfil to launch a paywall – here’s why we’ve taken that decision.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

ALBERTO & HORACIO

Past the point of no return?

05-09-2020 09:26 The early days of the Covid-19 outbreak generated unparalleled collaboration between Frente de Todos and Juntos por el Cambio. Are we past the point of no return?

by Agustino Fontevecchia

President Alberto Fernandez and Rodriguez Larreta.

LA GRIETA

Argentina’s burnout syndrome

29-08-2020 08:28 The lack of social contact, confinement, and a current state of alert given protracted panic is causing anxiety and cognitively wearing down our population, making the future recovery even more uncertain.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

Pundits indicate that both coalitions are suffering from extreme tension, and the real question is how long will the acting leaders of each space last until either their will is dominated by the hawks or the groups balkanise.

ALBERTO & HORACIO

Don’t hate the player, hate the game

22-08-2020 09:06 Pundits indicate that both coalitions are suffering from extreme tension, and the real question is how long will the acting leaders of each space last until either their will is dominated by the hawks or the groups balkanise.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

JUDICIAL REFORM

In the oven

15-08-2020 09:59 What’s troubling, and could mark a complete breaking point between the ruling coalition and the opposition, is the president’s judicial reform bill.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

Cristina Fernández de Kirchner began legal action against Google this week, seeking “millions of dollars” in damages from the Silicon Valley giant.

CYBER MILITANTS

Cristina vs. Google and the invisible battle for Wikipedia

08-08-2020 09:07 It’s unclear whether Cristina Fernández de Kirchner is aware or not, but a silent culture war is being fought in the digital theatre. Wikipedia is one of the main battlegrounds.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

The chief executives of the world’s most powerful companies, all of them Silicon Valley giants, faced US lawmakers this week at a hearing of the House Antitrust subcommittee.

ANTITRUST AND REGULATION

Big Tech’s Funday in Congress

01-08-2020 10:18 Amazon, Facebook, Google, and Apple have become some of the most powerful organisations in the world – and the global coronavirus pandemic has only made their dominant position even stronger.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

Argentina is in the midst of an internal debate regarding the issue of wealth and the definition of economic success.

THE RICH LIST

Argentina’s richest and the perception of wealth

25-07-2020 10:14 The 'Forbes' list generates all sorts of mixed emotions, from admiration to jealousy and contempt.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

An experienced observer of Argentine politics explained the recent surge in friendly fire among different factions within the ruling Frente de Todos coalition, mainly aimed at the leader of the pan-Peronist grouping, President Alberto Fernández.

LA GRIETA

‘The Peronists aren’t fighting, they’re copulating’

18-07-2020 10:22 Is it possible to build a unity government with this level of internal aggression, and with Cristina as the major power broker within your leading coalition?

by Agustino Fontevecchia

Argentina is very quickly descending into a dangerous spiral of hate and division. This situation isn't exactly new, but it actually accurately reflects the general political topography of Argentine society.

POLARISATION AT WHAT PRICE?

Argentina: Great at failing miserably at democracy

11-07-2020 08:19 What level of tolerance to dissent are we willing to accept? And at which point does the discussion about who thinks what shut out the underlying debates we should be having?

by Agustino Fontevecchia

Many K corruption cases will end up being dropped due to procedural abuses.

ILLEGAL ESPIONAGE SCANDAL

The curse of power in Argentina

04-07-2020 08:06 Several of the major corruption cases of the K decade could end up being dropped due to procedural abuses, aiding the newfound lack of political motivation of most magistrates.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

CRISTINA & ALBERTO

Is she winning?

27-06-2020 08:23 The major shock to the president’s credibility, though, was the failed expropriation of agro-giant Vicentín. Not only are a lot more people against the measure, but also the sensation that it’s of Cristina’s making, not Alberto’s.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

A Peronist expropriation, and maybe even nationalisation, sounds like the best way to burn a lot of money straight into inefficient bureaucracy and corruption.

EXPROPRIATION OF VICENTIN

Vicentin’s expropriation and how to break bad news

20-06-2020 09:26 A Peronist expropriation, and maybe even nationalisation, sounds like the best way to burn a lot of money straight into inefficient bureaucracy and corruption.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

Illicit surveillance by intelligence agency.

ILLEGAL ESPIONAGE

The spy's ghost

13-06-2020 08:22 Either the intelligence agencies were an absolute mess during the Macri years, or they were complicit in not only gathering illegal information but also extortion and all sorts of other improprieties.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

The obsession with the dollar in every Argentine government.

ON CAPITAL FLIGHT

Cristina & Macri’s pornographic obsession with the dollar

06-06-2020 08:38 Monetary debasement is a policy that every Argentine government since the return of democracy has collaborated with, and those “smart” enough to play the game have always stored their wealth as far as they can from Argentine pesos, Macri and Cristina included.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

Judicial reforms will accelerate in coming days and weeks as the “new normal” of Covid-19 gives way to “the usual” political agenda. This is past policy adopted by previous governments.

SPIES AND LIES

Once again, time is going backwards

30-05-2020 09:09 Alberto’s Frente de Todos coalition is walking in his predecessor’s footsteps, perpetuating the never-ending cycle of institutional reform of the Judiciary and the intelligence agencies.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

President Alberto Fernández’s bold bet on a young and inexperienced economy minister is close to revealing its worth. Martín Guzmán has led a meticulous and relatively civilised battle with Wall Street titans.

ARGENTINA IN DEFAULT

One step at a time

23-05-2020 07:56 Whatever blueprint Argentina and its creditors leave for the rest of the world’s increasingly troubled debtors, the nation will have to face “the day after” sooner or later, where some 89 percent of the population has directly or indirectly received a public subsidy during this crisis, while the state is absolutely broke.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

The future multiple effects of Coronavirus in Argentine economy.

The virus

Coronavirus exhaustion

16-05-2020 07:37 The pesos being injected into the system – an emergency tool that few have questioned domestically and abroad – haven’t purely been used to finance direct consumption of basic goods and services such as food, or absorbed into peso-denominated assets. As is the norm in Argentina, they have found their way into US dollars.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

Before the Covid-19 outbreak, Argentina was already crushed under a mountain of debt that was impossible to pay, pushing the embattled nation toward an inevitable default.

DEBT RESTRUCTURING

Argentina’s debt showdown between Wall Street and rockstar economists

09-05-2020 08:39 This is a tense showdown featuring some of the world’s most powerful players in international finance, pitting divergent interests against one another in a scenario of absolute uncertainty.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

Crisis and opportunity

A quick global rebound after the global pandemic?

02-05-2020 09:29 Whether we figure it out or not, the global society has the tools to quickly reverse the economic impacts of the coronavirus pandemic.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

Guzman´s responsability regarding the Argentinian economy

Coronacrisis

Default: a ticking time bomb

25-04-2020 10:03 An initial interpretation of what Guzmán says — and does — should put everyone on high alert, as a default appears imminent.

by Agustino Fontevecchia