As I see it The Donald and Cristina show 12-08-2022 11:12 While Trump could well benefit from that FBI “raid” on his garish residential complex in Florida, for Cristina the outlook is rather less promising. by James Neilson
AND THAT REMINDS ME… From Batgirl to Superman? 12-08-2022 10:54 Massa’s rise has relegated President Alberto Fernández to a distant third in the ruling troika where Cristina Fernández de Kirchner retains full veto powers even when abstaining from calling the shots. by Michael Soltys
And that reminds me A trail of two (big) chitties 15-07-2022 13:00 Throughout most of this century Argentina has sought to make a virtue out of necessity by demonising debt so that if that was ever a virtue, it has become a deadly vice – the options to an inflationary expansion of the money supply are few and far between. by Michael Soltys
As I see it Devil take the hindmost 15-07-2022 13:00 In an age in which it is assumed that just about everything must change with the times or be thrown on the scrap heap, people who are unable to keep up risk getting swept aside. by James Neilson
As I see it Drifting towards a black hole 09-07-2022 07:30 Hyperinflation looms; Argentina is flat broke, but the people who wield most political power think the only way to solve problems is to throw freshly-printed money at them. by James Neilson
And that reminds me… From Gooseman to Batgirl? 09-07-2022 07:30 Recommended to President Fernández as having “the necessary dose of heterodoxy and the indispensable dose of orthodoxy,” Guzmán was eventually found wanting on both counts with the latter front more fatal. by Michael Soltys
AND THAT REMINDS ME… Crisis, more than a middle name 02-07-2022 07:00 Few keywords have been more constant throughout my 34 years of newsroom experience than “crisis.” by Michael Soltys
As I see it US soft power remains as potent as ever 02-07-2022 07:00 US progressives who support the Democrats wield more influence outside their country than do their conservative foes who tend to vote Republican, but these too have managed to export their attitudes. by James Neilson
As I see it The Supreme Court has Cristina in its sights 25-06-2022 00:01 People are beginning to link the inability of the “political class” to run the country in a reasonably competent manner to the corrupt behaviour of some of its leading members. by James Neilson
AND THAT REMINDS ME… Stick it to the pickets? 25-06-2022 00:01 The standard critique of the picket movement as a public nuisance is wholly valid but it is also incomplete. by Michael Soltys
And that reminds me… Economic questions 18-06-2022 08:15 There is a massive sale of risk financial assets on a global scale, not just Argentine bonds (even if more unattractive than most). by Michael Soltys
As I see it Politics in the age of resentment 18-06-2022 08:00 Argentina’s politicians realised they could turn widespread disgruntlement to their own advantage by encouraging it. by James Neilson
As I see it Turning the world upside-down 11-06-2022 00:01 Reports from the culture-wars front certainly make strange reading. by James Neilson
JOURNALISM Three for one and one for all 09-06-2022 01:09 Argentina’s National Press Academy awards Pluma de Honor prizes to Robert Cox, Elisabetta Piqué and Daniel Enz. by Michael Soltys
As I see it Collaborating with dictators 03-06-2022 11:03 Those who are interested in what Alberto says and does attribute his fondness for unsavoury dictators to his desire to placate the Kirchnerite wing of the ruling coalition.PG 11: Neilson by James Neilson
AND THAT REMINDS ME… Could Bogotá become Petrograd? 03-06-2022 11:01 Argentina’s past might herald Colombia’s present, which might in turn offer clues for our future. by Michael Soltys
And that reminds me… Not getting the hang of it 28-05-2022 01:00 The Kirchnerite wing of the Frente de Todos coalition has come to the final conclusion that the “war on inflation” is irreversibly lost, leading to a refusal to have any official of its kidney attached to that failure. by Michael Soltys
As I see it Jobs for the boys in the patronage state 28-05-2022 00:50 As far as the Kirchnerites are concerned, a cat’s political colour is the only thing that really matters. by James Neilson
BOOK REVIEW The English (non-indicted) witness 21-05-2022 06:00 El Testigo Inglés, Luces y sombras del Buenos Aires Herald (1876-2017), by Sebastián Lacunza; Paidós, 2021, 632 pages. by Michael Soltys
As I see it What a Russian defeat could mean 21-05-2022 00:01 The Ukrainians are not the only ones who think Russia is heading for a historic defeat. Their opinion is shared by many in London and Washington. by James Neilson
As I see it Who has the mandate of heaven? 14-05-2022 00:01 As well as objecting stridently to Alberto’s willingness to come to terms with the International Monetary Fund, Cristina and her supporters are trying to undermine what authority he has by insidiously questioning his government’s right to exist at all. by James Neilson
AND THAT REMINDS ME… The maybes of May 14-05-2022 00:01 Today’s anniversary is nowhere in the current agenda with plenty of issues to absorb our attention, yet stopping to recall the Menem years would not go amiss. by Michael Soltys
As I see it A culture of irresponsibility 07-05-2022 00:02 Much as many dislike the idea, elected politicians have to take full responsibility for managing the country’s economy. by James Neilson
And that reminds me Javier Milei: Might right make right? 07-05-2022 00:01 Some local pollsters and overseas media already tip Javier Milei as a presidential dark horse, but does his support extend beyond an echo chamber for anti-system politics? by Michael Soltys
As I see it The crystal balls are getting cloudier 30-04-2022 01:21 Not only Argentina but most other countries have to decide if it would be better for them to cultivate their relations with what could soon be the top superpower, or to assume that the US will recover from its self-inflicted internal woes. by James Neilson
And that reminds me Supreme Courts are caught, not tort 29-04-2022 17:03 Phobias against independent justice are far from being a uniquely Kirchnerite vice. by Michael Soltys
As I see it Argentina still hostage to a psychodrama 23-04-2022 00:02 Cristina’s legal difficulties have dominated Argentine politics for many years. No doubt they will continue to do so for some time to come. by James Neilson
AND THAT REMINDS ME… Windfalls or smokescreens? 23-04-2022 00:01 In proposing to milk any commodity price bonanza arising from the Ukraine war without offering anything to recoup losses, the government is blatantly applying a “heads I win, tails you lose” logic. by Michael Soltys
As I see it The West receives a wake-up call 15-04-2022 00:07 Attitudes towards the war being fought in Ukraine have excited those who, not that long ago, were on the defensive because they feared that the West really was a busted flush. by James Neilson
As I see it Stumbling into the dark 08-04-2022 23:27 Unless the politicians who are currently in opposition come up with a realistic recovery plan and acquire the power and authority to carry it through, the future could be far worse than even the most pessimistic dare to imagine. by James Neilson
And that reminds me… A demonised demon 08-04-2022 23:25 Vaccines against the coronavirus pandemic were discovered within a year but antibodies against inflation are still being sought after almost eight decades. by Michael Soltys
AND THAT REMINDS ME… A small war you do not miss 01-04-2022 19:31 Strictly speaking, the 1982 war does not warrant inclusion in this series of columns relating current topics to newsroom memories but hopefully today’s special anniversary allows me to cheat. by Michael Soltys
As I see it Lingering outside the cemetery 01-04-2022 19:24 For a politician like Sergio Massa, the government is merely a vehicle he boarded because he thought it would take him towards his chosen destination. by James Neilson
AND THAT REMINDS ME… Foreign to the Ministry 25-03-2022 11:48 Caf is to international relations what decaf is to coffee. by Michael Soltys
And that reminds me… We remember thee, Zion 18-03-2022 21:04 The phrase “shock horror” might belong to the cheapest style of tabloid headline writing, yet 30 years on from the 1992 bombing of the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires, I find no better way of describing my reaction. by Michael Soltys
As I see it The country needs a proper government 18-03-2022 08:08 President Alberto Fernández needs the votes of opposition legislators because he can no longer rely on those who obey the whims of Vice-President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner. by James Neilson
as i see it The savage beasts that dreams engender 04-03-2022 12:38 If he still imagines he can turn those Ukrainians who survive his ferocious onslaught into patriotic Russians, Vladimir Putin is surely mistaken. by James Neilson
As I see it Putin’s great gamble 25-02-2022 13:30 Over the centuries some very important things have hardly changed at all. As in ancient times, the strong continue to prey on the weak when they think they can get away with it. by James Neilson
As I see it Things are looking bleaker for Cristina 18-02-2022 22:00 Cristina evidently fears that the austerity programme the government will have to press on with no matter what happens in the coming weeks will cost her the support of the millions of men and women who still kid themselves that she is on their side. by James Neilson
And that reminds me… Chronicles of a horror retold 12-02-2022 09:47 Never attempting to share the fame won by her husband Robert Cox as the Buenos Aires Herald editor defending human rights against the 1976-1983 military dictatorship, Maud Daverio de Cox has forged her own career as an author. by Michael Soltys
As I see it An innocent abroad: Alberto in Russia and China 12-02-2022 09:32 Alberto’s willingness to kowtow to Xi and heap praise on the Chinese Communist regime was by no means as ridiculous as some seem to think, but he could hardly have chosen a worse time in which to cold-shoulder the United States. by James Neilson
As I see it All the time in the world 04-02-2022 23:07 The ill-tempered conflict between those who still hope Alberto will succeed in taming the Kirchnerites and their rivals who want him to remain under Cristina’s thumb confronts the opposition alliance with an awkward dilemma.
As I see it Make or break for Argentina 28-01-2022 18:24 Most serious economists think that what Cristina and her supporters want is utter folly, that telling the IMF where to get off would have a devastating effect on the country. by James Neilson
As I see it Adrift in a world out of kilter 21-01-2022 22:00 Imperfect as the order installed by the United States in the late 1940s may have been, it, or what remains of it, is surely preferable to what seems likely to come next. by James Neilson
As I see it With friends like these… 15-01-2022 00:01 Cristina’s decision, backed dutifully by Alberto, to move Argentina closer to the Latin American dictatorships that are challenging the international status quo has come at an awkward moment. by James Neilson
As I see it Going it alone in limbo 07-01-2022 22:43 It is widely assumed that unless President Alberto Fernández’s government reaches an agreement with the International Monetary Fund very soon, Argentina will sink far deeper into the mire. We could be about to learn if the many who think this way have it right or if they are merely scare-mongering. by James Neilson
As I see it The pros and cons of belonging 31-12-2021 11:19 The willingness of a small but significant minority of opposition politicians to let the Kirchnerite government have its way is driving the leaders of Juntos por el Cambio coalition up the wall. by James Neilson
As I see it A puzzle nobody wants 24-12-2021 08:35 While it is easy for opposition leaders to criticise the Kirchnerites for their handling of the economy and a great many other things, coming clean about what they themselves would do is far more difficult. by James Neilson
As I see it The virus horde strikes back 18-12-2021 08:26 Like it or not, human beings will simply have to learn to live with Covid just as they have with countless other threats, whether natural or man-made.
As I see it Alberto caught between Biden and Xi 10-12-2021 22:23 The Kirchnerite administration does not want to be forced to choose between the United States and China. by James Neilson