News of buenos aires herald

D’(H)ont ask me

18-09-2021 00:01 The autistic power plays now underway are only likely to sustain voting anger against a dysfunctional coalition.

by Michael Soltys

opinion and analysis

Kirchnerites reaping the whirlwind

18-09-2021 00:01 For there to be any chance of the country emerging relatively unscathed from the mess Cristina, with the help of easily bamboozled voters, has got it into, Alberto would have to start behaving like a genuine president.

by James Neilson

As I see it

Closing time in the gardens of the West

11-09-2021 09:48 Perhaps it is premature to talk, as the British essayist Cyril Connolly did soon after World War II, of “closing time in the gardens of the West,” but for many it does feel that something like that is taking place.

by James Neilson

And that reminds me…

Twenty years can be something

11-09-2021 09:35 Just as in the preceding generation everybody seemed to remember exactly what they were doing on the day of John Kennedy’s assassination in 1963, so 9/11 has remained the object of universal recall in the last 20 years.

by Michael Soltys

AND THAT REMINDS ME…

Still currents run deep

04-09-2021 10:23 While the pundits quite rightly remind us that it would be rash to extrapolate local results onto the national arena, the fact that Gustavo Valdés virtually trebled the votes for his veteran Peronist rival should send alarm-bells among the ruling coalition.

by Michael Soltys

As I see it

Playtime for politicians

04-09-2021 10:18 In Argentina, politics has always had more to do with tribal feelings than with anything else.

by James Neilson

As I see it

When weakness is strength

27-08-2021 23:23 In politics, having an unprepossessing alternative at hand can be a big advantage.

by James Neilson

AND THAT REMINDS ME…

Future tense or tense future?

27-08-2021 23:20 Calling either the PASO primaries or the November midterms this year is tantamount to a mission impossible.

by Michael Soltys

As I see it

A most humiliating retreat

21-08-2021 21:36 The United States handed Afghanistan back to the Taliban because years ago most of her political leaders, including Donald Trump and Joe Biden, had come to the conclusion that “nation-building” was utter folly.

by James Neilson

AND THAT REMINDS ME…

Kabul capitulates

21-08-2021 21:34 All too much past and present for Afghanistan but what about the future? The fast forward to the past indicates that nothing is irreversible.

by Michael Soltys

And that reminds me...

Universities Breed Awareness

14-08-2021 07:30 Two centuries ago, UBA was inaugurated in San Ignacio Church next to what is today the Colegio Nacional, giving life to an edict dated August 9, 1821 issued by Buenos Aires Governor Martín Rodríguez – the university was thus pre-presidential.

by Michael Soltys

As I see it

Desperately looking for an exit

14-08-2021 07:27 Though representatives of both sides are only too happy to tell us how much they detest their adversaries, they show little interest in examining their own record.

by James Neilson

As I see it

Journey to an unknown destination

07-08-2021 11:31 If mere facts are anything to go by, Argentina is heading for yet another almighty crash.

by James Neilson

And that reminds me…

Olympic rings and vicious circles

07-08-2021 10:09 The Tokyo Olympics are now entering into their last throes – a total of 11,656 athletes from 205 countries or territories competing for over 1,000 medals.

by Michael Soltys

As I see it

A tragedy in the making

31-07-2021 00:41 The Peronists have little interest in confronting the unions. However, in view of what the country will be up against in the very near future, the more realistic among them must be having second thoughts.

by James Neilson

AND THAT REMINDS ME…

PASO, step by step

31-07-2021 00:39 Plenty of rhetoric about democratising political representation and restoring transparency to politics, but electoral miscalculation was the exclusive reason for the PASO primaries.

by Michael Soltys

As I see it

Taking sides in the new cold war

24-07-2021 00:35 Joe Biden wants his country to lead a coalition of the willing to help him wage what, he hopes, will remain a cold war against China, Russia and other autocracies.

by James Neilson

AND THAT REMINDS ME…

Mightier than the dollar

24-07-2021 00:34 The successive fates of the austral and convertibility would suggest that Argentina’s currency is like Icarus – the closer it flies to the sun, the harder the economy crashes.

by Michael Soltys

As I see it

Cuba’s hard-right dictatorship

17-07-2021 11:12 For fanatics, the cause they are devoted to is infinitely more important than anything else, and there can be no doubt at all that, despite the evident failure of the revolution to deliver the promised goods, there are still plenty of fanatics in Cuba.

by James Neilson

AND THAT REMINDS ME…

Facundo Manes: A nerve specialist for a nervous country?

17-07-2021 11:09 Lots of excited talk about Facundo Manes as an electoral game-changer, but has he given any hint as to the concrete policy proposals the opposition should be offering?

by Michael Soltys

AND THAT REMINDS ME…

Reutemann: A life in multispeed

09-07-2021 22:26 Although never losing an election, whether for governor or senator, all in his native province of Santa Fe, the abiding memory of Reutemann’s political career will always be ducking a presidential run in 2003, thus effectively bequeathing Kirchnerismo to this country.

by Michael Soltys

As I see it

Let the rest of the world stew in its own juice

09-07-2021 22:22 The United States decided to retreat from Afghanistan after both Trump and his followers and Biden and his asked themselves: what is in it for us? The answer they gave themselves was: nothing much.

by James Neilson

As I see it

A great time for malcontents

03-07-2021 23:17 In the rich Western countries and their cultural offshoots, what was once the fringe has become the centre.

by James Neilson

AND THAT REMINDS ME…

PASO = Pushing A Single Option

03-07-2021 23:13 The attitude that candidacies should be defined by political factions negotiating a single list, rather than the choice of the electorate at large, quite simply insults the citizenry of a democratic society.

by Michael Soltys

AS I SEE IT

Joe Biden and his gaffe-prone doppelganger

26-06-2021 00:25 Before the middle of last year, Biden was widely seen as an elderly man on the verge of retirement who had turned into a gaffe machine.

by James Neilson

And that reminds me

Hugo Chávez, I'll go somewhere else

26-06-2021 00:15 Plenty of opinions on Venezuela here in Argentina, ranging from slavish adoration of the ruling ideology to a rather more prevalent demonisation. Neither is recommended.

by Michael Soltys

As I see it

Asking for the impossible

19-06-2021 09:53 There can be little doubt that those who suspect that Alberto Fernández and Martín Guzmán do not have anything approaching an economic plan are right.

by James Neilson

And that reminds me…

Grabbing the wealth of health by stealth

19-06-2021 09:51 Replacing Argentina’s fragmented system with a comprehensive public health system is highly rational in principle and there are some positive examples abroad – but what are the chances of these being emulated under the current government?

by Michael Soltys

As I see it

Alberto blunders into a political minefield

12-06-2021 00:14 Instead of moving forward with the times, Alberto Fernández took several steps backwards to an epoch in which having European roots was regarded as a good thing. He is by no means the first president to do this.

by James Neilson

And that reminds me…

Perusing Peru

12-06-2021 00:11 Political gridlock and Odebrecht corruption were the main causes of Peru’s downturn accelerated by PPK’s ouster in 2018, but the coronavirus pandemic has turned the decline into a free fall – indeed the worst in the region after Venezuela.

by Michael Soltys

As I see it

Through the foreign-policy looking glass

05-06-2021 00:36 Why does the government led by Alberto Fernández go out of its way to snub the Western powers and their allies, so it can make common cause with the enemies of what, despite everything, still remains of the old international order?

by James Neilson

And that reminds me…

Covid is not the only c-word

05-06-2021 00:29 World Environment Day is upon us and climate change takes centre stage.

by Michael Soltys

As I see it

An extremely sensitive superpower

29-05-2021 11:22 Should the government of a debt-ridden country such as Argentina come up with a statement that raised its hackles, China would have no qualms about doing whatever it would take to make it change its mind.

by James Neilson

AND THAT REMINDS ME…

Germany is the capital of Paris

29-05-2021 11:20 Argentina is an old story for the Paris Club – indeed the oldest story of them all since its very first agreement back in 1956 was with the military regime which had just toppled Peronism.

by Michael Soltys

And that reminds me…

When beef is a beef

22-05-2021 09:51 Back in 2006 the dollars from the commodity price boom perhaps gave Argentina the luxury of being able to sacrifice one of its export markets but that luxury does not exist today.

by Michael Soltys

And that reminds me...

The name of the rose

15-05-2021 15:33 All politics is local, it is often said, and socialism does have its pockets in Argentina, of which the late Lifschitz represented by far the largest, the province of Santa Fe.

by Michael Soltys

As I see it

A psychodrama the country could do without

08-05-2021 00:03 The psychodrama starring Alberto and Cristina would be quite entertaining in a novel or a late-night TV show, but unfortunately for tens of millions of people, it is an ongoing real-life tragedy.

by James Neilson

And that reminds me...

Nothing more supreme than uncertainty

08-05-2021 00:01 Guzmán is not the first economy minister to be humiliated by political priorities and nor will he be the last.

by Michael Soltys

AND THAT REMINDS ME…

Death be not proud

01-05-2021 00:46 Mario Meoni was not the first Argentine minister to die in office – my newsroom memories stretch all the way back to the Raúl Alfonsín presidency which lost two successive Defence ministers in just nine months.

by Michael Soltys

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

MEMORIAL SERVICE

British Embassy pays tribute to late journalist Andrew Graham-Yooll

24-10-2019 18:40 Ambassador Mark Kent leads tributes to late journalist, editor and author, with remembrance from former Buenos Aires Herald editor Robert Cox and cousin John Hunter, and a musical tribute.

by Michael Soltys

News of buenos aires herald

D’(H)ont ask me

Kirchnerites reaping the whirlwind

Closing time in the gardens of the West

Twenty years can be something

Still currents run deep

Playtime for politicians

When weakness is strength

Future tense or tense future?

A most humiliating retreat

Kabul capitulates

Universities Breed Awareness

Desperately looking for an exit

Journey to an unknown destination

Olympic rings and vicious circles

A tragedy in the making

PASO, step by step

Taking sides in the new cold war

Mightier than the dollar

Cuba’s hard-right dictatorship

Facundo Manes: A nerve specialist for a nervous country?

Reutemann: A life in multispeed

Let the rest of the world stew in its own juice

A great time for malcontents

PASO = Pushing A Single Option

Joe Biden and his gaffe-prone doppelganger

Hugo Chávez, I'll go somewhere else

Asking for the impossible

Grabbing the wealth of health by stealth

Alberto blunders into a political minefield

Perusing Peru

Through the foreign-policy looking glass

Covid is not the only c-word

An extremely sensitive superpower

Germany is the capital of Paris

When beef is a beef

The name of the rose

A psychodrama the country could do without

Nothing more supreme than uncertainty

Death be not proud

And that reminds me…

British Embassy pays tribute to late journalist Andrew Graham-Yooll

Government unveils plan to ease Covid restrictions, reopen borders

Argentina's economy shrank in second quarter amid worst Covid wave

OECD lowers global growth forecast, but improves Argentina's to 7.6%

Argentina eases travel curbs as midterm campaign ramps up

Canada's Trudeau wins historic third term but falls short of majority

Catarsis oficial en Diputados: en el bloque se impone "sacarle el cuero" a Fernanda Vallejos

Los errores ortográficos en una reunión de JxC que se volvieron virales: "Nobiembre"

El fuerte cruce entre Pablo Duggan y López Murphy: "Duraste 15 días como ministro de Economía"

España: el tremendo video del magma del volcán Cumbre Vieja avanzando sobre las piscinas

Cecilia Moreau marca diferencias con Juan Manzur y cuenta que le perdió el respeto a Fernanda Vallejos