POLITICS & THE PANDEMIC 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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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 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
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
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