News of poverty

CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC

Pandemic intensifies isolation of Huarpe children in Mendoza

16-05-2020 09:27 The Huarpe, numbering little over 1,000 and scattered across 11 communities, live in a remote part of Mendoza Province. For them, social distancing – the only known preventive weapon against coronavirus – is the almost the norm.

Coronavirus pandemic

Infections spike in poverty-stricken Villa 31, worrying authorities

14-05-2020 15:55 Villa 31, one of Buenos Aires' poorest and most densely populated barrios, has shown a spike in the number of Covid-19 infections, worrying authorities hoping to ease the capital's two-month lockdown later this month.

DIEGO DONATES

Maradona autographs shirt to help poor during pandemic

09-05-2020 09:07 Maradona's signed jersey, which reads – “With all my heart and we are all going to get over this” – will be raffled among those who donate food for people at a working class neighbourhood called René Favaloro in José C. Paz.

WEEK IN REVIEW

May 2-May 9: What we learned this week

02-05-2020 09:44 Key stories from the last seven days in Argentina that caught our eyes

Coronavirus Pandemic

City officials: 124 Covid-19 cases confirmed in Buenos Aires' villas

01-05-2020 16:53 Villa 31 de Retiro has the most cases of Covid-19 out of all the City's shantytowns, with 57 infections confirmed. Villa 1-11-14 follows with 48 cases. City government says it has plans to mitigate social circulation of the virus.

Coronavirus Pandemic

Pandemic upends lives of Latin America's domestic servants

28-04-2020 12:34 The coronavirus pandemic in Latin America has hit domestic workers particularly hard, often leaving maids without income or forcing them to be stranded at the homes of their employers.

CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC

UNICEF warns of pandemic’s impact on Argentina’s youngest

25-04-2020 10:19 New survey by UN agency reveals that 59% of households have reported a loss in income thanks to pandemic and nationwide lockdown, though 96.2% agree quarantine measures are necessary.

by Valen Iricibar

ECONOMIC INDICATORS

Poverty will likely climb to 45% as result of lockdown, says UCA

24-04-2020 00:44 Agustín Salvia, director of UCA’s influential Social Debt Observatory, says poverty rate in the first quarter of the year will likely rise to around 45% amid coronavirus pandemic.

TWO HOURS WITH THE PRESIDENT

Alberto Fernández: ‘Every time I speak, I’m saying the truth – I don’t lie’

18-04-2020 08:14 In a feature-length interview, Argentina's president addresses the coronavirus pandemic and opens up about his private life and relationship with both Peronism and Radicalism, explaining why he is more a child of hippie culture than Peronist doctrine.

by Jorge Fontevecchia

Survival during quarantine

Desperate hunt for food by Peru's poor amid virus quarantine

08-04-2020 07:21 Pandemic has spotlighted the wide gap between rich and poor in Peru. Economists say a looming recession worse than any since World War II could push the continent's long-suffering poor into even more dire circumstances.

CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC

Living on the streets during a nationwide lockdown

04-04-2020 11:48 Most Argentines are staying home, but some have nowhere to go. For the homeless of Buenos Aires during the coronavirus pandemic, this is a very different version of isolation.

ECONOMIC INDICATORS

35.5% of Argentines were living in poverty at end of 2019, says INDEC

01-04-2020 23:01 Some 16 million people were considered to be living below the poverty line at the end of 2019, according to official data published Tuesday.

POVERTY IN THE PANDEMIC

Argentina’s poorest faces up to challenges amid shutdown

28-03-2020 10:57 Low-income neighbourhoods are organising themselves against Covid-19, with social organisations playing a key role for those on the breadline.

GUEST VOICE

This is much more than just a health pandemic

28-03-2020 08:47 We are facing not only a health epidemic but a new wave of structural poverty which especially hits the daily lives of the most vulnerable.

by Agustín Salvia

ECONOMIC INDICATORS

Unemployment rate dropped to 8.9% in last quarter of 2019

27-03-2020 00:01 Argentina's unemployment rate fell in the fourth quarter of 2019, the INDEC national statistics bureau revealed Thursday, adding that underemployment rose.

Coronavirus pandemic

Rio's favelas prepare for the worst amid coronavirus fears

23-03-2020 15:26 The usual guidelines for how to protect oneself from the coronavirus – "social distancing" and "barrier gestures" – are difficult to apply in Rio de Janeiro's teeming favelas.

Environment

'Green favela' fights to live sustainably in Brazil

10-03-2020 21:40 On the outskirts of São Paulo, a concrete jungle of 12 million people, the impoverished community of Vila Nova Esperanca is fighting to be a model of sustainable living.

EDITORIAL

Bridging the distance

15-02-2020 10:53 A major actor compounding the appalling neglect suffered by the Wichi indigenous population is the 1,500 kilometres separating them from the corridors of power in an overcentralised country.

POVERTY & HUNGER

Argentina’s double trouble: reducing poverty and debt

06-02-2020 16:42 President Alberto Fernández launches food coupons as a temporary solution to reduce poverty and hunger among vulnerable populations in Argentina.

ALBERTO IN EUROPE

Fernández and Francis try to steer clear of abortion issue

01-02-2020 09:12 Poverty and debt on agenda as president and the pontiff meet at Vatican – but mixed messages emerge over discussions over abortion reform.

by Joseph Charney

2019 IN REVIEW

How the economic crisis came to define 2019

28-12-2019 08:52 As the year draws to a close, Argentina’s economy is in “virtual default,” according to President Alberto Fernández, who has compared the current crisis to the country’s worst-ever in 2001.

NEW ERA IN ARGENTINA

Fernández administration to send recovery package to Congress

16-12-2019 15:21 Legislative package includes, among other measures, a 30 percent surcharge on 'tourist dollar,' increased taxes on exports and plans to make healthcare more accessible and affordable, according to government.

NEW PRESIDENT

Alberto Fernández’s five biggest economic challenges

12-12-2019 08:16 President-elect took power on December 10 facing a challenging economic and social crisis, with a deep recession and runaway inflation.

Transition 2019

Economic crisis looms large as Alberto Fernández assumes office

09-12-2019 17:37 Against a backdrop of near-economic disaster, president-elect's biggest challenges will be leading the country out of recession – and navigating his coalition government.

Transition of Power

Macri and Fernández embrace as Mass as Church calls for unity

09-12-2019 12:47 Church leader calls for "respect, unity and peace" as outgoing and incoming leaders attend Mass at Basilica of Our Lady of Luján,

Poverty

New UCA report puts Argentina's poverty level at 40.8%

06-12-2019 15:06 Some 16 million Argentines now below the poverty line, with 3.6 million living in extreme poverty, reports UCA's Observatorio de la Deuda Social.

NATIONAL STATISTICS BUREAU

Jorge Todesca: 'INDEC's independence was a firm commitment by Macri'

05-12-2019 08:00 Outgoing INDEC chief discusses the changes at the national statistics bureau under his term, his replacement Marco Lavagna and his relationship with his daugther Cecilia – who is an economic advisor to president-elect Alberto Fernández.

by Patricia Valli

POVERTY AND INEQUALITY

Latin America’s poverty trap

30-11-2019 08:44 The real problem is that poverty is on the rise once again, and it’s not just the fault of President Mauricio Macri’s disastrous management of the economy.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

Transition 2019

Fernández lines up Marco Lavagna to head INDEC statistics bureau

27-11-2019 17:02 Lawmaker and son of the former economy minister Roberto Lavagna will lead the national statistics bureau, president-elect confirms.

NATIONAL STATISTICS BUREAU

Government pushes bill to protect INDEC bureau from 'political pressures'

22-11-2019 10:48 Bill sent to Congress would turn bureau into independent and autonomous unit, amid fears Kirchnerite figures may intervene in institution after December 10.

ELECTION 2019

Return of Peronism raises hopes – and expectations – among downtrodden

30-10-2019 17:49 Sunday's election result has created expectations among segments of poor, low-wage workers and excluded groups of better times ahead. But will rolling back the Macri adminstration's austerity measures be as simple as it sounds?

Economic Poor

Meet those hit hardest by Argentina's economic turmoil

25-10-2019 17:56 The ever-present Argentinian economic crisis, characterised by inflation, devaluation, and poverty, has led thousands to live on the streets. These are the faces of some it's hurt the most.

POVERTY

Streets of Buenos Aires the last refuge of those hit hardest by crisis

25-10-2019 15:24 Homelessness has increased markedly during Argentina's worst economic crisis since 2001 and the capital's growing population of street-dwellers are finding it increasingly difficult to get by.

Health and Wellness

Studying, meditation, therapy? Finding a way through Argentina's crisis

15-10-2019 18:02 With presidential elections looming and an the economic downturn dragging on, many are finding their own ways of coping with mental stress.

AS I SEE IT

The phoney war on poverty

12-10-2019 12:19 If rich, welladministered, highlyproductive countries have failed to eliminate poverty, what chance does Argentina have of making a dent in it?

by James Neilson

UNEMPLOYMENT

Bakery in Misiones receives thousands of applicants after job posting

11-10-2019 20:14 Unemployment and underemployment crisis reveals itself at small bakery in Posadas, where a search for 15 workers resulted in a line of applicants stretching almost a kilometre long.

SiPreBA report

94% of freelance press workers in Buenos Aires earn below poverty line

09-10-2019 07:00 New SiPreBA survey reveals concerning data about freelance press workers in the capital, with more than 9 out of 10 saying they earn a salary which places them below INDEC's poverty line.

ELECTION 2019

Alberto Fernández launches plan to tackle hunger in Argentina

07-10-2019 17:55 Presidential hopeful unveils 'Argentina sin Hambre' programme with criticism of Macri administration. Candidate will seek to bring together officials, representatives from companies and leaders of social organisations in order to tamp down prices.

ELECTION 2019

Poverty rate casts shadow over Macri's re-election hopes

04-10-2019 12:22 As INDEC reveals 35.4% of Argentines are living in poverty, President Mauricio Macri is struggling to address another problem casting a shadow over his re-election hopes.

POVERTY

UCA predicts poverty rate will reach '39% or 40%' by end of 2019

01-10-2019 13:34 Head of Catholic University's influential Social Debt Observatory issues warning after INDEC data published Monday showed 35.4% of Argentines are considered poor.

Congress

Senate approves Food Emergency law as demonstrators demand action

19-09-2019 10:35 Lawmakers in the upper house offer unanimous approval for the legislation, which will boost aid packages by roughly eight million pesos.

MINING

Bolivia, with huge untapped reserves, gears up for soaring lithium demand

16-09-2019 11:40 While it sits at the apex of the region's "lithium triangle," along with Chile and Argentina, Bolivia has not had the capacity to produce the metal on a commercial scale. That's about to change.

POVERTY

Food on the table the priority for nation’s poorest

13-09-2019 23:34 Talk of the exchange rate and the dollar is mostly absent in Villa 21-24, the urban face of Argentina’s economic crisis.

'FOOD EMERGENCY'

Chamber of Deputies approves emergency food bill

12-09-2019 18:18 The legislation, which now faces approval by the Senate, would include a 50 percent increase for nutritional programs.

ECONOMIC CRISIS

Church leaders ask Macri to strengthen food assistance for poor

27-08-2019 17:08 President Mauricio Macri and Church leaders agree to "strengthen efforts to provide food assistance" to the poor and look beyond "political speculation," amid the ongoing economic crisis.

KEY STORIES

Aug 19th-25th: What We Learned This Week

24-08-2019 09:14 What has caught out attention the past week?

THE COST OF CRISIS

Argentines continue to pay the price of economic meltdowns

17-08-2019 11:14 While investors, creditors and businesspeople lament the potential departure of Mauricio Macri, many voters – hit by spiralling inflation and the economic downturn – are nostalgic for the days of Cristina Fernández de Kirchner and her late husband.

by Lucas Robinson

ELECTIONS 2019: CAMPAIGN WATCH

Government sells the future, opposition stuck in present

06-07-2019 09:24 This is the year that will define whether Macri's centreright, pro-market presidency is an exception to multi-headed Peronist rule, or if it’s the new norm for 21st century Argentina.

by Marcelo J. Garcia

POVERTY

Bearded but no villains, the charity club helping the poor in BA

29-06-2019 10:52 Don’t judge a book by its cover – as the recession grips, this group of hirsute individuals are providing poverty-stricken porteños with company and sustenance.

POVERTY & INEQUALITY

Brazil's poor are squeezed as inequality grows

28-05-2019 13:50 Study released this month by the Getúlio Vargas Foundation found that the key measure of income inequality has reached its highest level since the series began seven years ago, with Brazil among the most unequal nations in a broader region where the gap between rich and poor is notorious.