News of economy

Bolivia scandal shines light on Cerimedo’s far-right connections

Today 17:18 A look at the Fernando Cerimedo attempted murder scandal in Bolivia and its repercussions for the Latin American right.

Women look at clothes in a store in Buenos Aires on February 13, 2025.

POLLING & SURVEYS

Survey: 58% of Argentines say economic situation is worsening

Today 16:42 Six in 10 say they are feeling the deterioration personally, while almost two-thirds see no improvement in the economy under President Javier Milei.

SOCIAL MEDIA

Meta tests fact-check replacement in Latin America

Today 16:35 Crowdsourced notes system, modelled on the one used by Elon Musk's X, is designed to supplant checks carried out by accredited newsrooms and fact-checking agencies.

This undated topographical handout image released on September 9, 2026, shows the location of the Sea Lion oil field off the Islas Malvinas/Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic Ocean.

MALVINAS DISPUTE

Milei steps up pressure on oil companies over Malvinas

Today 15:32 Milei administration launches legal action against firms linked to the Sea Lion project as the government widens its sanctions drive; Sixty companies and individuals linked to hydrocarbon activity around disputed islands targeted.

ANALYSIS – SHOCK THERAPY

Oil and crop prices save Milei from surging demand for dollars

Today 14:56 Purchases of US banknotes jump, but remarkably, the peso has emerged largely untouced – an usual feat for the historically volatile currency.

Inter Miami's Argentine forward Lionel Messi looks on during a Major League Soccer (MLS) regular season football match between Inter Miami CF and Atlanta United FC at Nu Stadium in Miami, Florida, on September 5, 2026.

BUSINESS OF SPORT

Messi closes in on takeover of Spanish second-division club

Today 08:15 Argentine superstar reaches preliminary agreement to acquire Eldense on the eastern Mediterranean, expanding his growing portfolio of football and business investments.

FOOTBALL & MONEY

Lionel Messi nears deal to buy another football team

Today 08:07 Star plans to buy a majority stake in Spanish second-division football team Eldense, pending due diligence, according to reports.

A shopper at a Coto supermarket in Buenos Aires.

Economic indicators

Inflation in City slowed to 1.7% in August

Yesterday 16:40 Price hikes in the capital slowed for the first time in two months; Deceleration offers potential early read ahead of Thursday's national data from INDEC.

EDUCATION

Argentina's PISA scores fall, Milei government blames predecessors

Yesterday 14:56 PISA education test scores fall compared to 2022, prompting blame game; Results for 15-year-olds declined in maths, reading and science, renewing debate over the state of education.

The border of the Villa 31 low-income neighbourhood in Buenos Aires.

ECONOMIC WOES

Six in 10 people in Argentina’s poorest areas borrow to eat

Yesterday 14:29 Borrowing has ceased to be the exception and become the norm, says report by Instituto Periferias.

The Israeli Company Navitas Petroleum has become embroiled in controversy over its participation in this oil exploration project off the Malvinas, the centre of a sovereignty dispute between Britain and Argentina.

MALVINAS DISPUTE

Argentina files lawsuit against oil firms operating off Malvinas

Yesterday 14:11 Argentina’s government announces lawsuit against Navitas Petroleum Development & Production Ltd, Navitas Petroleum Atlantic United, Navitas Petroleum LP, IHI Associates Inc, and Eco Atlantic Oil & Gas Ltd.

MALVINAS CLAMPDOWN

Milei-allied real-estate mogul defends his Malvinas investment

07-09-2026 17:55 Eduardo Elsztain, one of Argentina’s most influential business executives, breaks ground to defend his investment strategy in the Malvinas Islands

POLITICS – ANALYSIS

Milei quiets ruling-party rifts, reclaims agenda via Malvinas

06-09-2026 09:17 President Javier Milei’s nationwide broadcast brings sense of calm to ruling party; Adviser Santiago Caputo was involved in drafting of speech, a bid to reclaim centre stage and set the conversation.

by Pablo Varela

Brazil election 2026

Supreme Court feud threatens to upend Brazil’s presidential race

06-09-2026 08:47 Dispute between two powerful Supreme Court justices threatens to reshape Brazil's looming presidential election.

President Javier Milei delivers a nationwide broadcast.

MALVINAS CLAMPDOWN

Government targets 45 entities over Malvinas oil projects

05-09-2026 15:50 President Javier Milei's government launches sanction proceedings targeting hydrocarbon activities around the disputed archipelago, including shareholders and firms providing related services.

POLITICS – ANALYSIS

Milei vs Kicillof and the third wheel

05-09-2026 01:50 Milei has the advantage of being the incumbent and having the resources of the state. Kicillof has a similar, albeit much more limited, platform. Both of them promise to be genuine, meaning their rejection rates will be one of the election’s defining factors, particularly if they both make it to the run-off.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

BEYOND THE HEADLINES

Worthy of their higher?

05-09-2026 00:40 Milei’s government seems so grateful that unemployment has not risen dramatically, despite drastic austerity, that they’ve apparently settled for the falling productivity and job quality accompanying the relatively stable employment levels.

by Michael Soltys

Milei administration versus the Peronists.

ANALYSING ARGENTINA

The Bad, the Worse and the Peronists

05-09-2026 00:29 If the Peronists cannot deprioritise their differences, even as a weakened Milei creates an opening for victory, the prospects of sound political management if they eventually reach office are next to zero.

by Marcelo J. García

As I see it

Time to batten down the hatches

05-09-2026 00:09 Economists and financiers are not the only people who suspect that bad times are in the offing. The “rules-based order” underpinned by the US is falling apart.

by James Grainger

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Argentina's Economy Minister Luis Caputo.

The Week in Review

Stories that caught our eye: August 28 to September 4

04-09-2026 18:00 A selection of the stories that caught our eye over the last seven days in Argentina.

FEATURE

Cartoneros face an uncertain future in Buenos Aires

04-09-2026 13:45 The cartoneros emerged from Argentina’s 2001 crisis and became a key part of Buenos Aires waste management network. But City Hall looks to private contractors, tighter enforcement and technology, thousands of informal recyclers fear they are being pushed out.

by David Sorbaro in Buenos Aires

MALVINAS SOVEREIGNTY CLAIM

Milei's Malvinas measures: What the President announced

04-09-2026 11:52 From a new naval base in Tierra del Fuego to a National Security Council, President Javier Milei announced a six-point package in Thursday night's national broadcast.

MALVINAS SOVEREIGNTY CLAIM

UK rebuffs Milei on Malvinas, vows to keep British control

04-09-2026 08:19 UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband reaffirmed British control over the Malvinas Islands, pushing back against renewed efforts by President Javier Milei to press Argentina's longstanding claim.

MALVINAS SOVEREIGNTY CLAIM

Milei revives bitter Malvinas dispute with UK

04-09-2026 01:08 “Today our national cause faces a clear and urgent danger,” Milei said in a televised address Thursday evening. “And demands a proportional response.”

Argentina's President Javier Milei Addressing the Nation from Casa Rosada Presidential Palace in Buenos Aires on September 3, 2026.

MALVINAS SOVEREIGNTY DISPUTE

Milei announces tougher Malvinas sanctions on firms, new naval base

03-09-2026 22:35 President announces he will toughen sanctions against companies operating in waters near Malvinas and the construction of a new naval base in Tierra del Fuego as he seeks to capitalise on Trump’s remarks over sovereignty.

President Javier Milei is welcomed to Santiago by Chile leader José Antonio Kast.

FOREIGN RELATIONS

Milei vindicates 1973 overthrow of Chile’s Allende in Santiago

03-09-2026 18:08 Argentina’s president calls for left-wing ideas to be “banished” as he addresses right-wing summit in Santiago.

President Javier Milei speaks at the 'Vientos de Cambio' event in Buenos Aires in September 2026.

Politics

President: Not re-electing me would be 'social suicide'

03-09-2026 00:27 President closes out right-wing Vientos de Cambio forum in Buenos Aires by ruling out any softening of his austerity drive ahead of next year's vote; While defending his economic programme and sharp attacks on the opposition, he declares: "If we don't win, it's because as a society we're choosing to commit suicide.”

Martín Rappallini, Presidente de la UIA.

INDUSRY

Industry leaders urge Milei to boost production, call for assistance

02-09-2026 17:13 Industrialists call for tax cuts, cheaper energy and greater access to credit; Manufacturing output on decline with jobs lost across sector.

A monument to Malvinas War veterans in Argentina.

CONTROVERSIAL OIL PROJECT

Groups contest British-Israeli oil project near Malvinas

02-09-2026 11:51 Groups representing war veterans and environmental activists file lawsuit with domestic courts seeking to block massive oil project off the coast of the Malvinas Islands.

Javier Milei speaks during a midterm election rally in La Plata, Argentina, on September 7, 2025.

ANALYSIS: SHOCK THERAPY

Milei’s social media machine is starting to misfire

02-09-2026 10:25 Javier Milei has described himself as “a product of social media,” but his online support is in decline. The president's online machinery is laying bare the challenges facing his re-election bid next year.

Salvo Palace in Montevideo, Uruguay, on Sunday, October 13, 2024.

ANALYSIS

Uruguay’s push to de-dollarise boosted by new money market funds

01-09-2026 12:08 Investors in Uruguay are parking more of their wealth in peso-denominated money market funds and government bonds, adding momentum to the nation's push to reduce its dependence on the dollar.

A cyclist travels past oil tanks in Arida, Wakayama Prefecture, Japan.

OIL & GAS

Asia refiners scoop up Argentine oil as Iran war hits supply

31-08-2026 17:53 Processors in Japan, South Korea and China bought Argentina’s Medanito oil in recent weeks.

US President Donald Trump greets Argentina's President Javier Milei as he arrives at the West Wing of the White House on October 14, 2025 in Washington, DC.

BILATERAL TRADE DEAL

Trump administration urges Milei to advance US-Argentina trade deal

31-08-2026 17:10 Washington wants Argentina to move ahead with parliamentary ratification as trade between two nations soars.

Workers at a cheese factory in Villa María, Córdoba Province, Argentina.

EU-MERCOSUR TRADE DEAL

South American producers fret over new rivals from EU trade deal

31-08-2026 08:55 Producers in Mercosur nations concerned fiercer competition from European goods at home.

EDITORIAL

Innocence and banks

29-08-2026 06:10 Which comes first, the internal or the external debt?

BEYOND THE HEADLINES

Multiplying options

29-08-2026 06:08 Polarisation is far from inevitable when at least half of the 60-plus percent discontented with the current course of events are equally averse to a return to Kirchnerism.

Tech & media

Why Perfil is fighting OpenAI and Microsoft over theft of journalistic content to feed their AI

29-08-2026 06:04 Most of the major AI models have been built on an explicit thief and its perpetuation further weakens one of the beleaguered pillars of democracy: journalism.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

Bancos internacionales financiarán con USD 900 millones el gasoducto San Matías.

OIL & GAS

Vaca Muerta LNG project secures US$900-million international loan

29-08-2026 05:30 Consortium involving Pan American Energy (PAE), YPF and Pampa Energía, along with international partners, closes a key project finance deal; Funding unlocked to build the pipeline that will carry Vaca Muerta gas to export terminals on the Atlantic coast.

by Eugenia Muzio

MASSIVE OIL DEAL

Trump announces deal for huge US stake in Venezuelan oil reserves

28-08-2026 21:57 Venezuela agrees major oil deal with the United States, giving Washington majority control of 65 billion barrels of proven petroleum reserves; Trump and Rodríguez hail "historic" agreement, saying it will benefit both nations.

Tierra del Fuego Province Government complained about the riival of the VS Promise tanker in Ushuaia.

THE WEEK IN REVIEW

Stories that caught our eye: August 21 to 28

28-08-2026 18:38 A selection of stories that caught our eye over the last seven days in Argentina.

Peter Thiel, president and founder of Clarium Capital Management LLC, during the Allen & Co. Media and Technology Conference in Sun Valley, Idaho, US, on Friday, July 10, 2026. The event brings together many of the biggest names in AI, media and technology.

IN FOCUS

Peter Thiel becomes anti-Milei rallying cry for Argentina’s left

28-08-2026 15:11 In Argentina, Peter Thiel has become an avatar for the left’s charge that President Javier Milei is putting the country up for sale.

Tango BA Festival y Mundial 2026 (Buenos Aires Tango Festival and World Cup).

Tango BA Festival & Mundial

How Tango’s Mundial went global – without leaving Buenos Aires

28-08-2026 11:54 More than 800 couples from over 50 countries and thousands of enthusiasts are descending on Buenos Aires to compete and enjoy the Tango Mundial. As the city’s annual championship becomes an increasingly global cultural phenomenon, longtime competition and festival producer Martín Frosio faces a defining challenge: making the event bigger without losing its local identity and style.

by Michelle Edgar, Buenos Aires Times

Cerimedo's connections with SIDE and beyond.

CERIMEDO CASE

Cerimedo’s corporate ties to inner circle of SIDE spy agency

28-08-2026 07:42 Shared addresses and interlocking companies. Corporate records reveal a web of businesses linking Fernando Cerimedo, President Milei’s former adviser, to figures historically associated with Argentina’s intelligence agency, as well as a host of businessmen.

POLITICS & ECONOMY

Free-market Milei to seek unions’ help for one-million-peso wage floor?

27-08-2026 21:49 Proposal is part of President Javier Milei government’s increasingly creative approach to boosting wages...

Javier Milei during a swearing in ceremony at the National Congress in Buenos Aires on December 3, 2025

POLITICS & CONGRESS

Judicial joy for Milei, Mercosur-EFTA deal wins backing

27-08-2026 21:45 Upper chamber backs naming of Pablo Bertuzzi and Pablo Yadarola to key strategic benches, along with 67 judicial appointments in total.

FIFAGATE

Argentine pair in FIFA corruption scandal admit paying bribes

27-08-2026 17:57 Hugo Jinkis and Mariano Jinkis were initially charged after a sprawling 2015 probe that rocked governing body FIFA and continental confederations for South and North America.

Cerimedo scandal

Two new probes opened into political adviser detained in Bolivia

27-08-2026 00:48 Bolivian President Paz distances himself from Fernando Cerimedo, his former adviser facing multiple accusations, including attempted femicide, money-laundering and drug-trafficking.

POLITICS & CONGRESS

Deputies back Milei’s push to reform Central Bank charter

26-08-2026 23:03 Louse house lawmakers back Milei's bid to bar the Central Bank from printing money to fund the Treasury, bill now moves to Senate; Opposition deputies brand reform a "scam" designed to entrench Governor Santiago Bausili.

Images from last year's edition of arteBA.

ART & CULTURE

arteba contemporary art fair returns to La Rural with international eye

26-08-2026 16:41 From November 4 to 8, the arteba contemporary art fair will take over La Rural's Pabellón Amarillo; This year’s event, marking foundation’s 35th anniversary, showcases 70 galleries from 11 countries, includes new areas, international guests and a sweeping exhibition space.

by Rosario Bernasconi

Javier Milei speaks during a Council of the Americas conference in Buenos Aires, on August 20.

ANALYSIS – SHOCK THERAPY

Milei’s magic fades on Argentina’s slowing economic recovery

26-08-2026 13:07 President Javier Milei’s Economists and analysts say economic revival is sputtering, with the recovery not only fading but becoming increasingly uneven.

Roberto Baratta, pictured in a file photo.

COURTS

‘Cuadernos’ case: Former Techint director confirms near US$1m payment to Baratta

25-08-2026 21:11 Former Techint executive Héctor Zabaleta, speaking under oath, confirms money deliveries matched those registered by Oscar Centeno, the driver who kept records on which graft case is based.

ANALYSIS

Argentina’s ‘lost decade’ – formal private employment still at 2016 levels

25-08-2026 18:15 Companies have cut back on their hiring and the search for staff has fallen to its lowest levels in the past year; Surveys warn about an advance of jobs with less labour law protections.

by Gabriel Zorrilla

ECONOMIC OUTLOOK

Argentina's exports set to top US$100 billion this year, LCG says

25-08-2026 12:33 Argentina’s exports could clear the US$100-billion mark this year; Trade surplus, LCG says, will top US$20 billion – almost double last year's total.

Brazil election 2026

Lula’s poll lead over Bolsonaro shrinks as Brazil campaign opens

25-08-2026 09:35 President Lula’s advantage over Flávio Bolsonaro narrows to one point in key poll as official campaigning begins.

Storage tanks aboard the liquified natural gas (LNG) tanker LNG River Niger at the port of Barcelona, Spain, on Thursday, April 30, 2026.

ENERGY & GAS

JPMorgan, Santander lead financing of up to US$15 billion for LNG Project

25-08-2026 08:55 JPMorgan Chase and Banco Santander are leading financing talks for Argentina LNG; Unprecedented project to liquefy and export shale gas reserves would create one of the biggest floating facilities in the world.

The logos of Editorial Perfil, OpenAI and Microsoft.

MEDIA BATTLE

Perfil sues OpenAI, Microsoft over unauthorised use of journalism

24-08-2026 19:23 Argentine publisher sues OpenAI and Microsoft over use of news content; Media company accuses tech firms of intellectual property appropriation and unfair competition.

The new National Library of El Salvador (BINAES) in San Salvador was built with the support of donations from China.

economy

Trump fails to loosen China’s economic grip on Latin America

24-08-2026 14:40 For all Washington's political pressure, the economic dimension of Trump’s so-called Donroe Doctrine remains unfulfilled. Economic ties with China, have in general, not been affected.

Buenos Aires half-marathon

Ethiopian Yomif Kejelcha sets world half-marathon record in Buenos Aires

23-08-2026 17:05 Ethiopian Yomif Kejelcha sets new world record in the Buenos Aires half-marathon, winning the race in 56 minutes and 51 seconds.

ANALYSING ARGENTINA

Underground wealth, above ground worries

22-08-2026 08:26 Milei is comfortable ignoring the day-to-day economic agenda of the public. But his inner circle is increasingly wary that this trajectory will make the 2027 electoral year an uphill race.

by Marcelo J. García

BEYOND THE HEADLINES

ASEAN, as in the zone

22-08-2026 08:21 The creation of ASEAN in 1967 saw the region create unity out of division and harmony out of discord.

by Michael Soltys

POLITICS – ANALYSIS

The ‘uncanny valley’ theory meets Milei and Cerimedo

22-08-2026 06:28 The reality of the Milei administration’s near three years in office is even more bizarre than expected.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

INTERVIEW / PERIODISMO PURO

Óscar Martínez: ‘Bukele has neither principles nor ideology – he was after power, any which way’

22-08-2026 06:24 A look at the dictator’s playbook – investigative journalist Óscar Martínez on the rise of Nayib Bukele, the dismantling of democracy in El Salvador and the fight for truth from exile.

by Jorge Fontevecchia

EDITORIAL

March of the trolls

22-08-2026 05:54 Perhaps the most significant development is the government’s implied admission of economic stagnation for the first time when almost two-thirds of the year is over, accompanying a cautious relaxation of monetary policy.

A group of Gandalfs outside Peter Thiel's home in Buenos Aires.

THE WEEK IN REVIEW

Stories that caught our eye: August 14 to 21

21-08-2026 19:01 A selection of the stories that caught our eye over the last seven days in Argentina.

United Nations headquarters in New York.

foreign relations

UN holds second informal poll of secretary-general candidates

21-08-2026 12:49 UN Security Council meets for another straw poll to gauge the popularity of a growing field of contenders to succeed Antonio Guterres as next secretary-general.

President Javier Milei arrives at the Americas Society/Council of the Americas "Political and Economic Perspectives" conference in Buenos Aires on August 20, 2026.

PRESIDENT ON BIRTHRATE

Milei says legal abortion ‘madness’ is ‘costing Argentina dearly’

21-08-2026 12:44 President links Argentina’s falling birth rate to the feminist movement and the legalisation of abortion.

TV & STREAMING

Amazon Prime Video to invest US$2 billion in Latin America productions

21-08-2026 12:26 Amazon announces US$2-billion investment in Latin American productions for its Prime Video streaming service through to 2030.

STRATEGIC INFRASTRUCTURE

USA and China at war over Vaca Muerta, Hidrovía and Patagonia

21-08-2026 11:16 Dispute between Washington and Beijing for global technological influence is alive in Argentina. Huawei lies at the centre of the controversy due to its participation in CALF projects in Neuquén, while the United States demands “networks of confidence” to protect data linked to Vaca Muerta. The Hidrovía waterway and the future AI projects in Bariloche complete a map where US investments co-exist with technology of Chinese origin.

by Carlos Burgueño

Members of the political group Libres del Sur hold a protest against Mercado Libre creator Marcos Galperin due the usurious interest rates over debts of impoverished users within the government of President Javier Milei, next to the Casa Rosada government palace in Buenos Aires on August 20, 2026.

INDEBTED DEMONSTRATION

Protesters rally in Buenos Aires over soaring household debt

20-08-2026 21:21 More than 5.8 million nationwide are behind on loan payments, say protest groups; Unions and left-wing parties call for state action to ease debt burdens and regulate high interest rates.

A man works at a supermarket in Buenos Aires, on February 10, 2026.

economic indicators

INDEC data shows economy improved in June after uneven first half of year

20-08-2026 20:11 Mining and agriculture drive growth but economists warn the recovery remains uneven and should be viewed with caution.