News of ministry

Amnesty Int’l urges Milei to respect rights after year of ‘confrontation’

19-12-2024 14:18 Data compiled by rights NGO shows more than 1,100 people were injured in protest “repression” during Milei’s first year in office

by James Grainger

POLITICS & ECONOMY

Chau Evita? Milei officials eye demolition of iconic BA building

21-11-2024 19:29 Evita must be trembling in heaven – President Javier Milei’s government is evaluating the future of an iconic building on Avenida 9 de Julio. Will the site, once home to state ministries, face the libertarian chainsaw?

POLITICS & DIPLOMACY

Wanted: Republican-friendly name for post in Washington

07-11-2024 14:11 Reacting to Donald Trump’s victory in Tuesday’s US election, President Javier Milei’s government is on the search for Gerardo Werthein's successor as ambassador to the United States. Top of the wishlist? An individual with good ties to the Republican party.

POLITICS – ANALYSIS

Foreign Ministry set to meet chainsaw after Mondino's failure to cut costs

05-11-2024 10:32 The now former foreign minister not only displeased President Milei, she also failed to cut costs. Mondino’s lack of budget-slashing means La Libertad Avanza’s chainsaw will now descend on the Palacio San Martín.

by Juan Pablo Kavanagh

POLITICS & FOREIGN POLICY

Milei vows purge of ‘traitors’ after vote backing Cuba at UN

04-11-2024 22:16 President Milei lets rip at diplomats, promising to purge Argentina's foreign service of “ traitors to the country.”

POLITICS

New Foreign Minister Gerardo Werthein takes office, orders staff changes

04-11-2024 22:12 Gerardo Werthein, Argentina’s former ambassador to the United States, is sworn-in as nation’s top diplomat; New foreign minister replaces Diana Mondino, who was ousted last week.

PROFILE: GERARDO WERTHEIN

New foreign minister has links, resources and Milei’s trust

04-11-2024 13:51 Businessman Gerardo Werthein has President Javier Milei’s confidence and provided resources for the La Libertad Avanza leader’s campaign, meetings to key figures and advice on foreign policy.

by Pablo Varela

Analysing Argentina

Milei’s magical thinking about a Trump victory

02-11-2024 07:38 Argentina — or Latin America, for that matter — will not be an immediate priority for any incoming US administration, though Milei may leverage his ideological rapport with a potential President Trump.

by Marcelo J. García

EDITORIAL

Another one bites the dust

02-11-2024 06:50 The fiscal and macro-economic stability so obsessively sought by President Milei finds its antithesis in extreme administrative volatility, when political fragmentation could be permitting calmer waters.

TERROR ATTACKS

Argentina names Hezbollah operative behind AMIA, Israeli Embassy attacks

31-10-2024 15:54 Security Minister Patricia Bullrich reveals identity of top Hezbollah leader in Latin America, alleging Hussein Ahmad Karaki was responsible for the AMIA community centre and Israeli Embassy bombings in the 1990s.

PROFILE: Gerardo Werthein

Werthein faces Olympian challenge grading foreign service

31-10-2024 15:13 Argentina's ambassador to the United States moves to the Palacio San Martín after President Milei ousts Diana Mondino.

FOREIGN POLICY & DIPLOMACY

Milei to 'audit' Argentina's Foreign Ministry after Cuba embargo vote

31-10-2024 14:12 Day after sacking of Foreign Minister Diana Mondino, Presidential Spokesperson Manuel Adorni says "President Milei's position is clear" and that all staff unhappy with Argentina's new direction are free to "withdraw from the government."

OPINION & ANALYSIS

Intrigue and secrecy in Mondino’s pre-trailed dismissal

31-10-2024 10:25 President Javier Milei sacks his foreign minister after Argentina’s vote at the UN against the United States’ six-decade embargo imposed against Cuba. Issuing a presidential communiqué aimed at sowing terror in the diplomatic corps, Milei is embarking on a cultural battle to shift the foreign service.

by Walter Curia

GOVERNMENT & POLITICS

Milei sacks foreign minister after Cuba embargo vote

30-10-2024 18:11 President Javier Milei sacks Foreign Minister Diana Mondino for backing a UN vote condemning the United States' six-decade trade embargo of Cuba.

POLITICS

Karina and Santiago Caputo take over the Foreign Ministry

27-10-2024 16:24 President Javier Milei's top two allies have gradually laid siege to Foreign Minister Diana Mondino, taking up every spot that opened at diplomatic head office.

by Juan Pablo Kavanagh

MALVINAS SOVEREIGNTY DISPUTE

Government seeks culprit after paper referencing 'Falklands' slights out

23-10-2024 23:28 Malvinas mishap as Defence Ministry refers to the Malvinas Islands as "Falklands" in a statement, sparking criticism from within and outside the government and a promise to fire culprit allegedly "guided by left-wing ideology."

FOREIGN POLICY & DIPLOMACY

Unease among foreign service over Milei's ‘threatening’ letter

22-10-2024 17:16 President Javier Milei warns Argentina’s foreign service that anyone not committed to his anti-progressive agenda should “step aside.”

COURT ROW

Government files habeas corpus against Venezuela's arrest warrant for Milei

11-10-2024 13:17 Officials in Argentina file pre-emptive habeas corpus writ before the federal courts in response to the issuing of international arrest warrant by Venezuela against President Javier Milei and several members of his government.

HEALTHCARE & ECONOMY

Workers launch vigil to save mental health hospital from cutbacks

08-10-2024 17:31 President Javier Milei’s chainsaw hits Bonaparte Hospital in Parque Patricios; Workers stage vigil against alleged “closure” of hospital as Health Ministry states “restructuring process” has begun.

POLITICS

Lugones to head Health Ministry after Russo steps down

27-09-2024 13:40 After learning about the official’s exit, the government quickly appointed his successor.

FOREIGN POLICY & DIPLOMACY

Mondino faces virtual paralysis of Argentina’s diplomatic corps

21-08-2024 12:48 Union grouping Foreign Service employees launches strike action to press a series of pay demands. Government’s restoration of income tax has a heavy impact on the salaries of those representing the country abroad.

by Pablo Varela

POLITICS & SOCIETY

Gender policies hit by chainsaw in Milei’s Argentina

15-08-2024 07:45 Since assuming office on December 10, 2023, President Javier Milei’s government has slashed and eliminated programmes designed to help women suffering from violence. Among them, the elimination of a ministry, staff lay-offs and cuts to the team staffing the 144 emergency hotline.

by Juan Pablo Kavanagh

HUMAN RIGHTS

Organisations head to courts to request clarity over gender policies

12-07-2024 16:33 Different organisations specialising in gender issues filed a claim in court requesting clarification about the closing of the former Women, Gender & Diversity Ministry. None of the government budget to assist relatives of victims of femicide, transfemicide and transvesticide was touched in the first four months of the year, claim NGOs.

by Agustina Bordigoni

POLITICS

Justice Ministry says 85% of workers at ex-Women's Ministry 'dismissed'

01-07-2024 15:33 Justice Minister Mariano Cúneo Libarona announces that 85% of workers at the former Women, Gender & Diversity Ministry have been dismissed, with remainder to be transferred to Family Protection Directorate.

Disappearance of Loan Danilo Peña

Aunt of missing five-year-old child Loan testifies he was ‘run over’

29-06-2024 15:23 Confession delivers unexpected twist in missing child case; Loan Danilo Peña, last seen two weeks ago, was “run over” by ex-Navy officer Carlos Pérez and ex-municipal employee María Victoria Caillava, says aunt; Police believe body may have been buried in cover-up.

BILATERAL RELATIONS

Milei refuses to apologise to Lula and his ‘inflamed ego’

28-06-2024 14:02 President Javier Milei says he won't apologise to his Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, branding him a"lefty" with an "inflamed ego.”

POLITICS & ECONOMY

Caputo’s number two at Economy Ministry quits government

17-06-2024 16:09 Economic Policy secretary Joaquín Cottani resigns for personal reasons; Likely replace is Argentine-born Chilean economist José Luis Daza, who worked with Luis Caputo at JP Morgan and Deustche Bank.

POLITICS – ANALYSIS

The political commissar, the sister and President Milei’s only friend

08-06-2024 05:32 With the expulsion of Nicolás Posse, Santiago Caputo becomes the only non-family member with a say in President Javier Milei’s inner circle.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

POLITICS

Officials close ranks behind Pettovello as pressure builds

06-06-2024 20:51 Leading figures in government close ranks behind embattled Human Capital Minister Sandra Pettovello; President Milei backs ‘best minister in history’ as foodstuffs scandal rumbles on.

EXPIRED FOOD SCANDAL

Expired food scandal: a chronology of hunger which the government sought to silence

06-06-2024 14:41 Human Capital Ministry’s missteps over more than millions of kilos of food held back at warehouses has exploded into scandal. Audits galore, dismissals, denunciations and an official communiqué overtaken by the facts.

INTERVIEW

Ex-Energy and Mining secretary Flavia Royón: 'RIGI is necessary’

06-06-2024 00:50 Former Energy & Mining secretary in Alberto Fernández and Javier Milei governments says RIGI investment incentive scheme is “necessary to develop LNG, hydrogen and mining projects.”

POLITICS: PROFILE

Guillermo Francos: Political negotiator respected by opposition

28-05-2024 21:27 President Milei’s new Cabinet chief is a lawyer who co-founded the party Acción por la República. He will push for “dialogue” after replacing Nicolás Posse.

POLITICS

Crisis at Human Capital Ministry: abrupt exits and resignations

24-04-2024 16:18 Legal Secretary Maximiliano Keczeli not the first from Sandra Pettovello’s inner circle to quit post, but he is perhaps the most important figure to have stepped down. Milei’s ‘protective umbrella’ and administrative overspills.

by Ramón Indart

CRIME & SECURITY

Prison breaks in Buenos Aires: 19 inmates escape in 20 days, many convicts at large

23-04-2024 16:04 Fugitives on the run in Argentina – overcrowding at police stations in and across the capital allows detainees to escape from jail.

HUMAN RIGHTS & DICTATORSHIP

NGOs accuse Milei government ‘dismantling’ team investigating military records

12-04-2024 08:45 Injunction against move filed with courts as human rights groups denounce firing of 10 out of 13 researchers that probe archives of Armed Forces to assist investigations into crimes against humanity.

HEALTH & SOCIETY

Desperate to dodge dengue, citizens struggle to find mosquito repellent

07-04-2024 09:34 Argentina is one of the worst hit by the outbreak of dengue sweeping the region – but those in and around Buenos Aires are struggling to find mosquito repellent.

FOREIGN POLICY & DIPLOMACY

Colombia expels Argentine diplomats amid row with Milei

28-03-2024 01:22 Colombia orders expulsion of Argentine diplomats after President Javier Milei describes his counterpart Gustavo Petro as a "terrorist" and "murderer."

JUDICIAL REFORM

Cúneo Libarona outlines plan for ‘absolute transformation’ of justice system

21-03-2024 11:21 Justice Minister Mariano Cúneo Libarona plans overhaul of federal criminal procedural code, including shift to trial by jury system and changes to the Criminal Code.

Argentina peso bond

Argentina peso bond puts balloon, spurring inflation risk

05-03-2024 14:16 Puts on Argentina’s peso debt issued by the Central Bank have surged under Javier Milei’s government, reaching a record and prompting officials to scale back their use amid growing investor concern.

EMPLOYMENT & WELFARE

Government eliminates Potenciar Trabajo job scheme, plans new dual system

29-02-2024 00:08 Human Capital Minister Sandra Pettovello issues decree with President Javier Milei eradicating job aid scheme in bid to cut out intermediaries; New dual system set up to replace it.

POVERTY

More hunger, less money: Soup kitchens count rations

15-02-2024 00:33 At community meal centres across Argentina, a dual crisis is biting: the influx of ever more hungry mouths to feed during an economic crisis, and a decision by President Javier Milei's new government to freeze their aid.

Bloomberg

Goldman, Barclays, Citi get up-close look at Milei’s Argentina

09-02-2024 00:08 Some of Wall Street’s largest banks are set to visit Argentina just as Javier Milei tries to come back from a massive defeat in Congress.

PROTESTERS CHALLENGE PETTOVELLO

Huge 'hunger line' in Buenos Aires challenges Milei's minister

06-02-2024 00:03 Sandra Pettovello’s claim she would attend to the hungry “one by one” backfires as hundreds of demonstrators form long queues outside her Human Capital Ministry, demanding greater state assistance in the face of a food emergency.

Interview

Pablo Moyano: ‘Luis Caputo should be thrown into jail, not the Riachuelo’

31-01-2024 16:10 Camioneros boss and CGT secretary-general lets loose, letting rip at Economy Minister Luis Caputo. “Governance will be complicated,” he warns President Javier Milei.

by Juan Pablo Kavanagh

POLITICS & COURTS

Further judicial setback for Milei: Court suspends repeal of Land Law

30-01-2024 15:43 Ruling signed by judge Ernesto Kreplak, responding to a La Plata war veterans centre, preventively suspends repeal of Ley de Tierras, temporarily blocking limitless purchase of land by foreigners.

by Ariel Stemphelet

POLITICS

Milei’s office confirms resignation, closing of Infrastructure Ministry

27-01-2024 19:25 Infrastructure Minister Guillermo Ferraro will resign due to “personal reasons,” confirms president’s office.

CRIME & SECURITY

‘Plot’ twist: Court frees trio held over ‘terrorist act’ plan

16-01-2024 14:49 Members of “possible terrorist cell” denounced publicly by Security Minister Patricia Bullrich released due to lack of evidence; Accused must appear before the courts once a month and may not leave Argentina.

GENDER VIOLENCE

Femicides up as Milei seeks to weaken protections

13-01-2024 22:18 Argentina registered 322 femicides in 2023, a figure equivalent to almost one murder a day, according to government data.

CRIME & SECURITY

Police arrest three foreigners on terrorism plot suspicions

04-01-2024 13:19 Security Minister Patricia Bullrich assures that suspected members of a terrorist cell arrested were waiting for "a package from Yemen"; Trio detained on December 30 are believed to be from Syria and Lebanon and at least one had multiple Latin American passports in his possession.