News of poverty

The poverty of patronage

02-10-2021 07:47 The defeat of the Frente de Todos government snapped a cruel paradox prevailing all this century whereby rising poverty represented a vicious socio-economic cycle for the nation but a virtuous circle for populist politics.

Poverty in Argentina reached 40.6% in first half of 2021

01-10-2021 21:00 INDEC data shows extreme poverty in Argentina rose to 10.7% of population by end of June; Poverty rate down 1.4 percentage points from the second half of 2020.

Sailing boats and cycle rickshaws in oil-rich, fuel-light Venezuela region

18-08-2021 15:13 Venezuelans are improvising to survive chronic fuel shortages in Zulia, the region that saw the birth of the nation's oil industry.

Study: 7 million children in Argentina live in impoverished households

04-08-2021 15:35 Around seven million, or 63%, of children aged under 14 in Argentina live in low-income households, with social vulnerability especially manifest in the north, a new study has revealed.

Venezuela's public sector surviving on 'starvation salary’

25-06-2021 23:46 Highest monthly salary for someone working in public administration is less than US$10 – many working in the public sector now take second or even third jobs to make ends meet.

Almost half of porteños live in poverty or precariously

25-06-2021 22:48 City Hall data shows rise in poverty. City Hall figures includes all families earning below 97,000 pesos, not even covering the Canasta Total. Upper and middle classes have fallen by eight points over the last 15 months, even among formally employed many have slipped below poverty line.

Pandemic, poverty loom over Mexican elections

02-06-2021 16:38 Mexico's Covid-19 death toll of more than 227,000 is the fourth-highest in the world. On Sunday, citizens will go to the polls to elect 500 members of the lower house of Congress, as well as 15 state governors and thousands of local politicians.

Child labour has soared during pandemic, says new poll

29-05-2021 11:07 Child labour in Argentina now reaches a 10th of all children in the 5-15 years age group and 30 percent of adolescents aged between 16 and 17.

by Clara Fernández Escudero

‘Abandoned’: Pandemic exacerbates poverty in La Matanza

30-04-2021 02:00 In poverty-stricken La Matanza, the economic downturn sparked by the coronavirus pandemic is hitting hard, with more and more people flocking to soup kitchens to feed their families.

Progressive climate policy can reduce extreme poverty, says study

27-04-2021 13:07 Researchers at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) have found that ambitious climate policies could reduce extreme poverty in developing countries if governments opted for robust taxes on emitters that were then fairly distributed to help the poor.

Congress approves ‘ganancias’ reform, raising income tax floor

10-04-2021 09:06 Income tax bill exempts almost 1.3 million taxpayers from qualification; Companies also set to benefit from similar reform.

Back to square one

10-04-2021 08:11 For poorer countries, among them Argentina, salvation is still a long way off.

by James Neilson

Some lessons in elementary Chinese

03-04-2021 08:24 Unfortunately for many millions of people, Argentina has long been programmed to get poorer and the Kirchnerite government is clearly determined to ensure the slide downhill continues.

by James Neilson

On ‘the fear’ and philosopher kings

03-04-2021 08:17 When polarisation and emotional entrenchment reaches the level of a football rivalry, the democratic system begins to fail.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

Francis Fukuyama: ‘There’s similarities between populism of Trump and Kirchnerism’

27-03-2021 07:46 US political scientist Francis Fukuyama – perhaps the most important intellectual of the last 50 years – on ‘The End of History,’ the coronavirus pandemic and populism.

by Jorge Fontevecchia

A year of living dangerously

20-03-2021 08:40 Thursday’s nationwide broadcast was widely criticised and mocked, but in his guarded and indirect manner President Fernández was telling it like it is regarding a central problem which too many ignore.

Luis Naidenoff: ‘Formosa is a model of oppression, domination and patronage’

20-03-2021 06:54 Leading Radical and Senate Minority Leader Luis Naidenoff on Formosa Province, Governor Gildo Insfrán and the Juntos por el Cambio coalition.

by Jorge Fontevecchia

Inflation data casts shadow over government’s target

13-03-2021 09:07 Price increases slowed slightly in February from previous month, but Alberto Fernández administration’s 2021 target of 29% already looks out of reach.

Alberto on the psychiatrist’s couch

06-03-2021 08:28 Is Alberto his own man or just a dutiful servant who is willing to go to any extreme to ingratiate himself with an employer who has plenty of good reasons to despise him?

by James Neilson

Radicalised

06-03-2021 08:11 It is troubling to see how both President Alberto Fernández and certain leaders in the opposition have given up their “post-grieta” posture all too quickly, proving their political and ideological fragility.

by Agustino Fontevecchia