News of Michael Soltys

Michael Soltys

Michael Soltys, who first entered the Buenos Aires Herald in 1983, held various editorial posts at the newspaper from 1990 and was the lead writer of the publication’s editorials from 1987 until 2017.

Why should the political response of Argentina and Peru to extreme socio-economic disintegration not be repeated here?

AND THAT REMINDS ME...

Second waves and tsunamis also electoral

17-04-2021 08:13 The extreme fragmentation of the vote in Peru not only brings back memories from recent Argentine electoral history, but might well also be the shape of things to come for the midterm elections in October.

by Michael Soltys

The PASO primaries system now stands at a crossroads between postponement, suspension and even elimination.

AND THAT REMINDS ME...

Passing up PASO

10-04-2021 08:16 The PASO primaries system now stands at a crossroads between postponement, suspension and even elimination. Neither the government nor the opposition speak with a single voice on this issue where public health realities are as much a factor as political preferences.

by Michael Soltys

AND THAT REMINDS ME ...

East(er) and South (Atlantic)

03-04-2021 08:34 The most memorable Semana Santa of the last generation would undoubtedly be that rocked by the Campo de Mayo carapintada Army uprising of 1987 famously ending with Raúl Alfonsín’s: “Happy Easter, the house is in order”

by Michael Soltys

AND THAT REMINDS ME...

Mercosur’s murky future

27-03-2021 07:27 Mercosur will have problems selling itself to the rest of the world while it cannot sell to itself.

by Michael Soltys

Berni and Santilli during a press conference.

THE WEEK

What we learned this week: March 13 to 20

20-03-2021 08:34 A selection of some of the headlines that caught our eye over the last seven days in Argenina

by Michael Soltys

The nationwide quarantine imposed exactly one year ago today might well have qualified for that cliché “the first day of the rest of your life,” but let us hope that it is not quite as bad as that.

AND THAT REMINDS ME...

A year of fear

20-03-2021 07:08 The nationwide quarantine imposed exactly one year ago today might well have qualified for that cliché “the first day of the rest of your life,” but let us hope that it is not quite as bad as that.

by Michael Soltys

THE WEEK

What we learned this week: March 6th to 13th

13-03-2021 09:16 A selection of stories that caught our eye over the last seven days in Argentina.

by Michael Soltys

The judicial system and the lawfare doctrine.

AND THAT REMINDS ME...

Is justice being done to justice?

13-03-2021 09:03 It’s not realistic to go monkeying around with the Argentine legal system while entering into serious negotiations with the IMF.

by Michael Soltys

COMMUNITY

Ronnie Scott: 103 not out

13-03-2021 08:52 Keep moving would seem to be the secret of Ronnie Scott’s longevity – flying the skies from World War II to the year of Argentina’s first World Cup, he remains on wheels to this day with a driving licence.

by Michael Soltys

The congress in Buenos Aires, epicentre of Alberto´s speech.

AND THAT REMINDS ME...

State of the nation

06-03-2021 09:24 Last Monday was not “100 percent Cristina” – the spirit of her perhaps but not the letter. More credit should go to Cabinet Chief Santiago Cafiero.

by Michael Soltys

The paradox of corruption is that it is such an ingrained everyday phenomenon at many levels that it explodes into big news relatively infrequently.

AND THAT REMINDS ME...

The craft of graft

27-02-2021 08:42 The paradox of corruption is that it is such an ingrained everyday phenomenon at many levels that it explodes into big news relatively infrequently.

by Michael Soltys

OBITUARY:CARLOS SAÚL MENEM (1930-2021)

Carlos Menem: Peronist, president, playboy

20-02-2021 08:07 Late former governor, senator and president – who led the nation for a decade between 1989 and 1999, the longest period of a democratic leader in modern-day Argentina – dies aged 90 at a hospital in Buenos Aires.

by Michael Soltys

AND THAT REMINDS ME...

Charlie was my darling

20-02-2021 07:40 A selection of purely personal memories and perceptions of Carlos Menem, including some that differ from conventional wisdom.

by Michael Soltys

Consensus might sometimes push the right buttons but there is no guarantee and it is not a virtue in itself.

AND THAT REMINDS ME

Suicide pacts are also consensus

13-02-2021 09:14 Consensus might sometimes push the right buttons but there is no guarantee and it is not a virtue in itself.

by Michael Soltys

From left to right: Eva Perón, Juan Domingo Perón and Isabel Perón.

AND THAT REMINDS ME...

All about Eva, whoops, Isabel

06-02-2021 09:40 The importance of trade unionism to Isabel Perón – truly the spine of the Peronist movement in her eyes – has been perhaps insufficiently stressed.

by Michael Soltys

AND THAT REMINDS ME...

This Formosa is no Taiwan

30-01-2021 07:27 Although a province since 1955, Formosa has only had four elected governors in its entire political history, all Peronist. Yet such lack of alternation is far from unique in Argentina.

by Michael Soltys

If Vaca Muerta is indeed a dead cow, then Argentina will end up importing fuel, a move which will surely cost more dollars than those denied YPF to service its debts.

AND THAT REMINDS ME...

Your petrol frizzled

23-01-2021 10:19 If Vaca Muerta is indeed a dead cow, then Argentina will end up importing fuel, a move which will surely cost more dollars than those denied YPF to service its debts.

by Michael Soltys

The full story of Resolution 125 is as slippery as its sliding scale – something which has much to do with the youthful economy minister making the announcement, Martín Lousteau.

AND THAT REMINDS ME...

Grain means pain, corn meets scorn

16-01-2021 09:13 Maize in a maze would be as good a way as any of describing the government’s slapdash suspension of corn exports early in this new year.

by Michael Soltys

Yours truly has been a columnist in this newspaper since its very first edition in four different incarnations.

NEW SERIES

And that reminds me…

09-01-2021 07:28 Yours truly has been a columnist in this newspaper since its very first edition in four different incarnations. A new year, a new column.

by Michael Soltys

2020: THE YEAR IN REVIEW

2020: The year that was

02-01-2021 09:27 Economic crisis, rising poverty and unemployment, debt talks, creditors, the IMF, wealth tax, squatters, a police mutiny, the failed appropriation of Vicentin, alleged AFI espionage, ‘lawfare,’ corruption, legalised abortion, diplomacy, disappearances, the death of Diego Maradona… a lot happened in Argentina over the past 12 months, but it was all overshadowed by Covid-19.

by Michael Soltys

THE WEEK

What we learned this week: December 19 to 26

26-12-2020 10:49 A collection of the stories that caught our eye this week in Argentina.

by Michael Soltys

BRITISH CEMETERY

British Cemetery marks 200 years of resting in peace

19-12-2020 09:11 Despite this week’s pandemic upturn, the open-air ceremony was well attended, in contrast to last month’s discreet Poppy Day at the same venue.

by Michael Soltys

Two street signs in Buenos Aires, which have been altered by residents to pay tribute to late footballing great Diego Maradona.

THE WEEK

What we learned this week: November 28 to December 5

05-12-2020 09:27 Stories that caught our eye over the last seven days in Argentina.

by Michael Soltys

The last farewell to the remains of Diego Maradona.

THE WEEK IN ARGENTINA

What we learned this week: November 21 to 28

28-11-2020 09:04 Our pick of the stories from the last seven days (with the exception of just a mention of Maradona).

by Michael Soltys

Formal bilateral ties date back to January 27, 1823 – predating the Monroe Doctrine by over 10 months and long before Argentina was called Argentina.

US ELECTION 2020

Ties that bind or blind: a brief history of US-Argentine relations

31-10-2020 10:31 Formal bilateral ties date back to January 27, 1823 – predating the Monroe Doctrine by over 10 months and long before Argentina was called Argentina.

by Michael Soltys

A police officer listening to her cell phone.

THE WEEK

What we learned this week: September 5 to 12

12-09-2020 09:33 Key stories that caught our eye during the last seven days in Argentina.

by Michael Soltys

Argentina has decided to continue under strict quarantine.

100 DAYS OF QUARANTINE

100 days of quarantine

27-06-2020 07:48 On March 20, President Alberto Fernández told the nation in a televised address that all citizens would enter a mandatory quarantine period in an effort to prevent the spread of Covid-19. Though restrictions in some regions have now been loosened, many Argentines are today waking up this morning to their 100th day of lockdown. Here’s a look back at how the pandemic has changed our lives.

by Michael Soltys

News of Michael Soltys

Michael Soltys

Second waves and tsunamis also electoral

Passing up PASO

East(er) and South (Atlantic)

Mercosur’s murky future

What we learned this week: March 13 to 20

A year of fear

What we learned this week: March 6th to 13th

Is justice being done to justice?

Ronnie Scott: 103 not out

State of the nation

The craft of graft

Carlos Menem: Peronist, president, playboy

Charlie was my darling

Suicide pacts are also consensus

All about Eva, whoops, Isabel

This Formosa is no Taiwan

Your petrol frizzled

Grain means pain, corn meets scorn

And that reminds me…

2020: The year that was

What we learned this week: December 19 to 26

British Cemetery marks 200 years of resting in peace

What we learned this week: November 28 to December 5

What we learned this week: November 21 to 28

Ties that bind or blind: a brief history of US-Argentine relations

What we learned this week: September 5 to 12

100 days of quarantine

Taxation the only certainty beyond the end of life (and this column)

Four ambitious females for Fernández’s Cabinet

Non-ministerial positions – yet still key additions

Interior now rhymes with inferior

Agricultural food for thought

Culture suffering a vulture

Environment more sustainable than development in pandemic

Production in a context of reduction

Economy as the other pandemic

Labour’s love not lost, but whither jobs?

Social policy collides with scandal

Housing too close for comfort

Science joins global hunt for vaccine

Covid-19 pandemic brings Health Ministry to the fore

A new portfolio for the female majority

Education, pay talks and class struggle

Veteran moved back to Defence

Transport taken off the fast track

Will justice be blinder than ever?

Anglo-Argentine community mourns passing of Barney Miller

Public works, private pockets...

The politics of security

Alberto installs a double-hinged Cabinet