United Kingdom Whisky, haggis and plentiful toasts: British Embassy marks Burns Night in style 29-01-2024 07:23 Birth of Scotland’s most famous poet Robert Burns marked in appropriate fashion by UK diplomacy. by Michael Soltys
YEAR IN REVIEW 2023 - The year that was 31-12-2023 08:22 Economic unrest, never-ending price hikes, never-ending drought, devaluations, Alberto absent and often abroad (even Maximo in China), Cecilia Strzyzowski, re-enter Macri and ‘Toto’ Caputo, backstabbing and scheming, opposition infighting, Berni actually beaten up, scandals about ‘Chocolate’ and yachts in Marbella, Massa wins then loses, Milei goes from playing his ‘la casta’ hit to ‘cacerolazos’ in weeks, the appearances of Tucker Carlson, Taylor Swift, Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the election that immediately delivered change… just another year in Argentina. by Michael Soltys
Türkiye’s 100 years Turkey’s centenary through Argentine eyes 23-12-2023 06:12 While Argentina ends this year with a dramatic change of government and the open-ended dawn of a new era, the Republic of Turkey starts its second century with domestic continuity – the 100 years of Turkey beginning with Atatürk have been celebrated this year under Erdogan. by Michael Soltys
CAMPAIGN COMMENTS Going to the dogs? 16-12-2023 07:20 This final election 2023 column concludes a series running the length of the campaign – now it’s time to detail the resulting political architecture in the present tense. by Michael Soltys
A WALK THROUGH HISTORY How Argentina arrived to 40 years of democracy 09-12-2023 09:31 From Raúl Alfonsín to Alberto Fernández, a breathless, compressed account of how Argentina traversed four decades of democracy. by Michael Soltys
CAMPAIGN COMMENTS They also serve… 02-12-2023 10:23 That stateside visit threw something of a spanner into what is anyway very much a stop-go process of transition and Cabinet-building – Milei would seem anxious to remind people of the first half of his self-definition as an anarcho-capitalist. by Michael Soltys
OBITUARY A personal tribute: Maud Daverio de Cox, 1931-2023 02-12-2023 08:44 Maud Daverio de Cox's story is quite rightly centred on human rights, but the late 92-year-old was remarkable woman and loyal wife who shone through her writing despite a brutal battle with blindness. by Michael Soltys
COMMUNITY Ambassador stages grand occasion for royal birthday 26-11-2023 22:14 British Embassy opens doors of residence to celebrate the 75th birthday of King Charles III. by Michael Soltys
CAMPAIGN COMMENTS Method in his madness? 25-11-2023 14:16 Javier Milei’s solitary rise to the top from almost nowhere in a couple of years is more apparent than real. The key to this success is more like the solution to Agatha Christie’s 'Murder on the Orient Express' – they all did it. by Michael Soltys
CAMPAIGN COMMENTS Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow 18-11-2023 06:42 Democratic voting in Argentina ran on the basis of simple majorities until 1972 when that system was a non-starter for a military régime since it would guarantee victory for a Juan Domingo Perón. In order to give themselves the faint chance of the anti-Peronist chunk of society outnumbering the Peronist masses if obliged to vote en bloc, they introduced a system whereby nothing short of an absolute majority would permit victory in the first round. by Michael Soltys
community Poppy Day marked at Remembrance Day service 16-11-2023 15:17 Poppy Day was faithfully marked by a Remembrance Day service in St. John’s Anglican cathedral last Sunday. by Michael Soltys
Campaign comments Run-up to run-off II 11-11-2023 05:40 If everybody assumed Milei to be the next president after his PASO primary upset with Massa massively favoured following last month’s turnaround, the wheel could be turning full circle again. by Michael Soltys
CAMPAIGN COMMENTS Run-up to run-off 04-11-2023 05:37 If we have had two straight surprises in the voting so far this year, why not three? by Michael Soltys
CAMPAIGN COMMENTS Crouching tiger, hidden lion 28-10-2023 04:18 Fear of the unknown is such a conservative emotion that instead people ended up clinging to the status quo, inflation and scandals included. by Michael Soltys
ELECTIONS 2023: PREVIEW Election 2023: Not just a presidential vote 21-10-2023 05:57 No less than 18 of the 23 provinces have already voted with Corrientes and Santiago del Estero not renewing their governors until 2025. But the few remaining contests are far from minor – almost half the national electorate (or 48.39 percent, to be exact) between Buenos Aires City and Province, Catamarca and Entre Ríos. by Michael Soltys
Campaign comments Expecting every voter to do their duty 21-10-2023 05:51 While tomorrow’s election is widely seen as a three-cornered affair (like the hats in the times of Trafalgar), all three of its fleets tend to believe that there are only two sides. Could tomorrow’s election echo the battle by ultimately leading to a breakdown of existing alliances with a new Argentina eventually resulting? by Michael Soltys
Campaign comments The pit and the pendulum II 14-10-2023 05:22 The pit and the pendulum feed each other with “the worse, the better” logic, appealing to most candidates with Milei’s advice against renewing fixed-term peso deposits the outstanding example. by Michael Soltys
CAMPAIGN COMMENTS The pit and the pendulum 07-10-2023 06:22 Neither last Sunday’s debate nor the passage of eight weeks have produced any paradigmatic shift from the three-way tie of the PASO primary. by Michael Soltys
SECOND DEBATE THIS SUNDAY Presidential candidates prepare for final chance to make case to voters 05-10-2023 19:09 Five presidential candidates prepare for a final showdown at UBA Law Faculty, just two weeks before go to the polls. by Michael Soltys
CAMPAIGN COMMENTS Hat-trick or the third wheel? 30-09-2023 05:07 Any win helps and far more so when the margin of Alfredo Cornejo’s victory in Mendoza surpassed all expectations. But does this injection of enthusiasm reviving optimism reach the dimensions of a game-changer for Patricia Bullrich? by Michael Soltys
CAMPAIGN COMMENTS Will Mendoza be the bulldozer? 23-09-2023 05:03 Whichever way Mendoza goes, it will be the last throw of the dice before general election day on October 22. by Michael Soltys
CAMPAIGN COMMENTS It’s the election, stupid! 16-09-2023 05:37 By all but abolishing income tax, Massa has also abolished the contradiction between his simultaneous economic stewardship and presidential candidacy by chucking away his ministerial hat in favour of his electioneering cap. by Michael Soltys
CAMPAIGN COMMENTS Do you know the way to Santa Fe? 09-09-2023 05:32 The three-way split with half the electorate potentially up for grabs opens up infinite mathematical possibilities. by Michael Soltys
CAMPAIGN COMMENTS Neither ready nor steady but still go 02-09-2023 06:24 Is there any structure beneath the protest vote foam – is there any iceberg below the tip? by Michael Soltys
Tango World Championship UK dancers show off tango talent at British Embassy 31-08-2023 17:21 Discreet elegance of Iro Davlanti Lo and Adrien Bariki Alaoui and the dramatic acrobatics of Tanya Margarita Gutiérrez Lara and Sebastián Avendaño on display at British Ambassador's Residence in Buenos Aires. by Michael Soltys
CAMPAIGN COMMENTS Milei – melee or millennial? 26-08-2023 06:00 The Milei vote can be seen as a backlash against impoverishment, laid at the door of a regime belittling self-made wealth, meritocracy and savings. by Michael Soltys
CAMPAIGN COMMENTS Two’s grieta, three’s a crowd 19-08-2023 06:01 While we are constantly told that Greater Buenos Aires is the “mother of all battles” deciding every election, Javier Milei’s win was hinterland payback, winning 16 of the 23 provinces, all inland – the mirror image of his 2021 midterm electoral advent by Michael Soltys
FILM & CINEMA Quiet girl in a noisy week 18-08-2023 13:49 Award-winning film 'The Quiet Girl,' directed by Colm Bairéad, hits screens in Buenos Aires. by Michael Soltys
Campaign comments Public Apathy Stunts Outcome 12-08-2023 07:23 The potential for surprises remains intact and to find a prime example, we need not go back any further than the PASO primaries for the last general elections in 2019. by Michael Soltys
CAMPAIGN COMMENTS A good election to lose? 06-08-2023 18:57 That question of what will be won is extremely difficult to answer but the question of who will win is hardly easier in this final weekend before the PASO primaries. by Michael Soltys
CAMPAIGN COMMENTS Of Mediterranean and other voting 28-07-2023 21:32 If Córdoba’s Peronist government delights in reviling its national comrades, Chubut holding its provincial elections tomorrow goes one better – there the Peronist gubernatorial candidate disowns his own governor despite the common loyalty of both men to Massa. by Michael Soltys
CAMPAIGN COMMENTS More losers than winners 22-07-2023 19:42 Apart from confounding the opinion polls, last Sunday’s PASO primaries in Santa Fe also defied the grieta logic of a zero-sum game whereby one side or the other of the chasm has to win – last weekend both extremes lost. by Michael Soltys
CAMPAIGN COMMENTS Santa Fe not so holy or faithful 15-07-2023 06:56 Turning to tomorrow’s PASO primary in Santa Fe, the mutual backstabbing within Juntos por el Cambio mentioned above is far from absent there – indeed nowhere else is the internal warfare more open. by Michael Soltys
CAMPAIGN COMMENTS The elections according to Saint John 08-07-2023 06:59 San Juan is not an especially attractive city for tourists but it does have an uncanny knack for being a venue for key turning-points in Argentine political history. by Michael Soltys
CAMPAIGN COMMENTS The men in the middle 01-07-2023 08:46 Hard not to read this as an unmitigated defeat for Cristina Fernández de Kirchner but those who see her as the ultimate political genius view this as a cunning move to leave Massa holding the baby for an inevitable national defeat while tightening her own grip on pivotal Buenos Aires Province. by Michael Soltys
INTERVIEW Ambassador highlights modern mosaic on Canada Day 01-07-2023 06:12 Canadian Ambassador to Argentina and Paraguay Reid Sirrs on national identity, lithium and mining, trade ties and revisiting family roots in Buenos Aires. by Michael Soltys
CAMPAIGN COMMENTS Northwest by northeast 24-06-2023 01:22 We will have to await Chaco’s final provincial elections on September 17 to see how many degrees last Sunday’s political earthquake rated on the Richter scale. by Michael Soltys
BOOK REVIEW Harping on Irish-Argentine themes 22-06-2023 13:32 Juan José Delaney, 'El arpa y el océano,' Ediciones El Gato Negro, 2022, 152 pages. by Michael Soltys
BLOOMSDAY IN ARGENTINA Ulysses, an Odyssey of 100 years (and counting) 22-06-2023 13:27 This year’s celebrations to mark James Joyce’s masterpiece in Buenos Aires were grander than ever. by Michael Soltys
CAMPAIGN COMMENTS Toward zero 17-06-2023 06:10 This is an election in which anything could happen – and also nothing, as is occurring in province after province. Pseudo-change in San Luis and a rock-solid majority in Tucumán attest to an underlying provincial continuity at all odds with a volatile national scenario. by Michael Soltys
AND THAT REMINDS ME… Of infighting and inland voting 10-06-2023 06:27 The deadline for defining electoral alliances nationwide expires in only four days’ time but tomorrow’s provincial elections are even more immediate … Tucumán is looking safe for the Frente de Todos government while San Luis could be close. by Michael Soltys
CAMPAIGN COMMENTS A no-win election 27-05-2023 06:45 The fact remains that the last three people to run Argentina have all opted to sit this election out. The only question here is what lies behind their “fear to tread.” by Michael Soltys
CAMPAIGN COMMENTS Under the volcano 20-05-2023 07:00 If three-quarters of the disenchanted in Tierra del Fuego preferred to vote blank than for an explicitly libertarian candidate, who is to say this might not be replicated nationwide? by Michael Soltys
CAMPAIGN COMMENTS To vote or not to vote 13-05-2023 08:45 However cavalier the strongmen of these two inland provinces have been with constitutional limits in seeking multiple consecutive terms, the last-minute timing of the Supreme Court’s interruption of the electoral process is extremely unfortunate, lending itself easily to government outrage. by Michael Soltys
CORONATION OF KING CHARLES III UK Ambassador in Argentina toasts coronation of King Charles III 06-05-2023 21:15 Hundreds of guests from Argentine political, business and social life and the British community toasted the coronation of King Charles III on Saturday at an event in Buenos Aires. by Michael Soltys
CAMPAIGN COMMENTS Three’s a crowd 06-05-2023 06:47 Tomorrow is Jujuy’s turn to go to the polls together with La Rioja and Misiones – can lightning strike twice? by Michael Soltys
CAMPAIGN COMMENTS Out of the pink (house) and into the blue 29-04-2023 06:55 In a country where the urgent almost invariably displaces the important, Alberto Fernández’s premature entry into “lame duck” status has had immediate consequences. by Michael Soltys
CAMPAIGN COMMENTS PRO or provincial? 21-04-2023 09:56 Does the end of six decades of one-party rule in Neuquén mark a new era for the province now and for the nation later this year? by Michael Soltys
CAMPAIGN COMMENTS Of palindromes and black rivers (and this city) 15-04-2023 06:36 It’s impossible to ignore the fireworks over this city’s electoral system, but we should also cast an eye down south – this year’s voting begins in earnest with tomorrow’s provincial elections in Neuquén and Río Negro. by Michael Soltys
Campaign comments April is the cruellest month 08-04-2023 06:02 The results of the local elections so far are puzzling – incumbents winning in often heavy turnouts when opinion poll after opinion poll is telling us that there are masses of angry and alienated voters out there. by Michael Soltys