CAMPAIGN COMMENTS The lion sleeps tonight 20-09-2025 06:31 Milei actually polled a higher percentage in Buenos Aires Province this month than in BA City last May, yet the former is unanimously deemed an unmitigated disaster while the latter was a resounding triumph. by Michael Soltys
Campaign comments Blast from the past 13-09-2025 06:09 Last Sunday’s election was very much the mayoral tail wagging the dog and here we’re not just talking about Greater Buenos Aires Peronist “barons” – almost the only successes of third parties came thanks to the PRO mayors bucking the Milei alliance, proving mayoral clout beyond the general trend. by Michael Soltys
CAMPAIGN COMMENTS A tale of two provinces 06-09-2025 07:07 The population of Buenos Aires Province outnumbers over two-thirds (160) of the world’s 233 countries and territories. by Michael Soltys
CAMPAIGN COMMENTS Swimming against the current 30-08-2025 06:04 The undecided in Corrientes could just top up Juan Pablo Valdés over the 40 percent needed to ensure first-round victory, although the current Zeitgeist of voter apathy would make it likelier for them to sit this one out. by Michael Soltys
Campaign comments Ins and outs of Congress 23-08-2025 06:42 Almost all those deputies taking their leave would doubtless be rubbished by President Milei as “caste” but most carry a political weight far from evident in their prospective replacements. by Michael Soltys
Campaign comments Jousting in the lists 16-08-2025 06:30 In broad terms, President Javier Milei’s La Libertad Avanza will be flying solo in half the country whereas Peronism is presenting a united front in three-quarters of the districts, including all the most important except Córdoba. by Michael Soltys
THEATRE An interactive Dracula 14-08-2025 17:41 ‘Dracula – a Gothic tale reimagined’; by The Suburban Players; Directed by Peter Macfarlane, MBE; Centro Cultural San Isidro, Av. del Libertador 16138, San Isidro. by Michael Soltys
Campaign comments Deadlines or lifelines? 09-08-2025 06:52 We have confirmation of one important definition – the La Libertad Avanza far right and the PRO centre-right extending their Buenos Aires Province alliance to this city. by Michael Soltys
CAMPAIGN COMMENTS The future Senate – Victoria’s secret? 04-08-2025 18:15 In more than one province there is potential for polarisation and the traditional two-party system to be replaced by two competitive non-Peronist options leaving Kirchnerism out in the cold along the lines of the 2013 City race. by Michael Soltys
CAMPAIGN COMMENTS Darkness at midnight 28-07-2025 15:46 If inner strife tore the centre-right apart in 2023 while eroding the rusty Kirchnerite machine now, is infighting infecting today’s invincibles? by Michael Soltys
CAMPAIGN COMMENTS Anatomy of a macrocephalic 19-07-2025 18:53 While the last census of 2022 showed that Argentina’s population had risen some 15% since the Bicentenary count of 2010, the population of Greater Buenos Aires only rose 9%. by Michael Soltys
CAMPAIGN COMMENTS Independence for whom? 12-07-2025 06:13 The Independence Day alliance on the right leaves the Peronists playing catch up after their stab at unification at the Partido Justicialista Congress. by Michael Soltys
Campaign comments The autumn of the patriarch 05-07-2025 07:19 Gildo Insfrán’s power stems from the provincial government being by far Formosa’s biggest employer with less than six percent of the workforce having formal jobs in the private sector, boosted by shameless patronage. by Michael Soltys
Campaign comments Midterms in midyear 28-06-2025 07:24 Given the total inability of the protagonists in Buenos Aires Province to get their act together, the midterms still four months away are looking more like candidates for “It’s the economy, stupid” than ever. by Michael Soltys
Campaign comments Begin the begin 21-06-2025 06:28 Cristina Fernández de Kirchner is paradoxically sidelined and occupying centre stage at the same time. With her exclusion from any electoral candidacy, the campaign effectively starts again. by Michael Soltys
CAMPAIGN COMMENTS The lady vanishes 14-06-2025 06:37 The most immediate question here is who replaces Cristina Fernández de Kirchner at the helm. Problems of Peronist succession have always been so daunting historically that most of the movement would rather not face them. by Michael Soltys
Campaign comments On a mission in omission 07-06-2025 06:34 Voting for provincial deputies in Misiones is more likely to be a landslide for the local ruling party than any electoral earthquake. by Michael Soltys
CAMPAIGN COMMENTS Where angels fear to tread 31-05-2025 06:33 The demolition job suffered by PRO in the City has most provinces now thinking twice about advancing their elections and exposing local hegemonies to the forces of heaven. by Michael Soltys
Campaign comments Milei’s purple patch 24-05-2025 06:38 The headlines all reflect a Milei triumph and a PRO catastrophe (the government objectives in almost equal measure), both accurate enough but also relative. by Michael Soltys
BOOKS & LITERATURE Things ain’t what they used to be – and nor were they then 23-05-2025 15:12 'Crisis social, pandemia y colonialismo inglés: una mirada de la Argentina a través del sainete y del seminario Don Quijote de Eduardo Sojo'; by Victoria Cox, Ediciones Diotima, 2024, 96 pages. by Michael Soltys
CAMPAIGN COMMENTS They also serve who only stand and wait 17-05-2025 06:31 Electoral tides notoriously shift in the final week and even the last minute. by Michael Soltys
CAMPAIGN COMMENTS Four-by-four voting 10-05-2025 07:20 Next weekend’s City race hogs the electoral limelight but there is voting even closer in time – like tomorrow when four provinces will be advancing their midterms. by Michael Soltys
Community Pioneering women’s ed club celebrates 90th year 09-05-2025 18:39 University Women’s Club of Buenos Aires enters tenth decade, celebrates with new exhibition marking its rich history at UCA library. by Michael Soltys
OBITUARY Former US ambassador to Argentina Lino Gutiérrez dies aged 74 06-05-2025 17:20 Ambassador to Argentina between 2003 and 2006, Lino Gutiérrez had a long and distinguished career in the US Foreign Service. by Michael Soltys
CAMPAIGN COMMENTS The great debate 01-05-2025 09:39 The absurd multiplicity of 17 list-heading candidates for 30 City Legislature seats can be boiled down into a triangle of the PRO, libertarian and Peronist blocs, although this does not necessarily translate into only three candidates since others stand to make inroads. by Michael Soltys
BOOKS & LITERATURE Not just a rationale for atheism 01-05-2025 09:23 ‘Beyond the Gods,’ by Nicolás E. Meyer, Hypatia Press. by Michael Soltys
COMMUNITY Ronnie Scott laid to rest at British Cemetery 28-04-2025 15:07 Ronald David Scott remembered with “honour, respect and affection” at service at the British Cemetery in Chacarita. by Michael Soltys
Campaign comments First day of the rest of the year 19-04-2025 06:00 Economists have hailed the exit from the cepo as a milestone but this columnist hesitates to consider it an electoral game-changer – there is both too much and too little time for that. by Michael Soltys
THEATRE A nose for theatre 18-04-2025 17:57 ‘Cyrano de Bergerac’ by Edmond Rostand, translated by Brian Hooker; Directed by Simon Chater; Suburban Players at The Playhouse, San Isidro. by Michael Soltys
OBITUARY Ronnie Scott, beloved World War II veteran, dies aged 107 17-04-2025 19:41 An inspiration to much of the local community, Ronald David Scott – who volunteered from Argentina to join the Allies’ war effort in 1942 – passes away in his 108th year. by Michael Soltys
Campaign comments And so it begins 12-04-2025 05:22 This year’s midterm voting begins tomorrow in the major province of Santa Fe with the constituent assembly elections. by Michael Soltys
ART & CULTURE Youthful promise overflows at Teatro Colón 08-04-2025 12:34 Precocious talent on full display at Teatro Colón as Orquesta Aeropuertos Argentina celebrates its 10-year anniversary in style. by Michael Soltys
BEYOND THE HEADLINES Midterms North and South 05-04-2025 06:48 Midterm results have tended to be adverse in both the United States and Argentina, from a government standpoint. In the former, a mere two of those 10 contests have gone the way of the presidential party – in the latter, the margin is narrower. by Michael Soltys
HORSEPLAY IN BUENOS AIRES Argentina becomes first non-Euro nation to host Horseball World Cup 02-04-2025 08:39 A World Cup unfolding within a space of 1,800 square metres at the Rural Society exhibition grounds in Palermo. by Michael Soltys
BEYOND THE HEADLINES Towards a smarter state 29-03-2025 06:11 The libertarian government seems intent on cutting back a bloated state to its right size without having any clear idea what that size might be. by Michael Soltys
COMMUNITY UK ambassador hails 200 years of bilateral relations in luncheon 28-03-2025 12:19 First luncheon of the 90th anniversary of the University Women's Club had British Ambassador Kirsty Hayes as guest of honour. by Michael Soltys
BEYOND THE HEADLINES 'Cepo' in review 22-03-2025 07:53 It might well be argued that the ‘cepo,’ the seemingly endless set of currency and capital controls, has been a bane of Argentina’s existence. by Michael Soltys
ART Interactive art exhibition 'DESATAR' opens 22-03-2025 07:31 Interactive art exhibition DESATAR (“untying”), by artist María Eugenia Llorente, operns at the British Arts Centre (Suipacha 1333). by Michael Soltys
BOOK REVIEW Will we always have Paris? 21-03-2025 11:11 ‘Buenos Aires, The Biography of a City’ by James Gardner, St. Martin’s Press, New York, 2015, 245 pages. by Michael Soltys
COMMUNITY Visiting minister hails Argentina’s Irish community on St. Patrick’s Day visit 18-03-2025 10:51 Jack Chambers, Ireland’s Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Services, Reform and Digitalisation and deputy leader of the ruling Fianna Fáil party, visits Argentina. by Michael Soltys
BEYOND THE HEADLINES The Ides of March 15-03-2025 07:21 While conspiracy theories are wildly fashionable in today’s world, accidents can also happen. by Michael Soltys
INTERVIEW / IRISH AMBASSADOR Irish eyes are on the future, says Dublin’s man in Buenos Aires 15-03-2025 07:16 Ireland’s Ambassador to Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay, Gerard McCoy, marks St. Patrick’s Day with a review of diplomatic relations, Argentina’s Irish community and bilateral trade. by Michael Soltys
BEYOND THE HEADLINES Distaff dismantled 08-03-2025 06:00 Female suffrage arrived in Argentina in 1947 with Law 13,010, more commonly known as the “Ley Evita” after Eva Perón who announced it in person, with women voting for the first time in the 1951 elections. by Michael Soltys
BEYOND THE HEADLINES State of the nation 01-03-2025 05:13 Milei has been riding the crest of the wave of this summer although the resulting hubris has caused him to fly into a cryptocurrency black swan. by Michael Soltys
BEYOND THE HEADLINES Hidden by crypto 22-02-2025 06:59 The Once train crash was technically a railway accident far more frequently dubbed a tragedy and a crime in not a few eyes – few transport disasters have been so heavily politicised even if two previous rail accidents had claimed more lives. by Michael Soltys
BEYOND THE HEADLINES Primaries (time and) Again Serve Oppositions 15-02-2025 06:05 Introduced little more than 15 years ago for less than noble reasons and widely rejected today as a waste of time and money, the PASO primaries will not be missed by many. by Michael Soltys
BEYOND THE HEADLINES Carnal relations and the forces of heaven 01-02-2025 06:05 The Menem Presidency was the closest thing to providing a template for the disruptive novelty of Milei’s administration but the return of Trump to the White House invites new comparisons. by Michael Soltys
BEYOND THE HEADLINES Coming through the rye 25-01-2025 06:55 “There is no such uncertainty as a sure thing.” Well worth recalling in this election year in Argentina where there is a widespread assumption among pundits that Milei is coasting to victory. by Michael Soltys
BEYOND THE HEADLINES The 86th victim 18-01-2025 06:41 Ten years later, Argentine society is still owed an explanation of a bafflingly mysterious death. by Michael Soltys
BEYOND THE HEADLINES Is appreciation appreciated? 09-01-2025 19:37 Currency appreciation has been a central factor in giving Milei a dream spring – let us see if that same factor impelling several million Argentines to vacation abroad this summer sends the balance of payments wheel spinning in the opposite direction. by Michael Soltys