News of public

Towards a smarter state

29-03-2025 06:11 The libertarian government seems intent on cutting back a bloated state to its right size without having any clear idea what that size might be.

by Michael Soltys

PENSION PROTEST

Milei government issues public transport threat to demonstators

19-03-2025 11:19 Hours before weekly pension protest, message broadcast at stations across Buenos Aires metropolitan area warns that police “will repress any attempt against the Republic.”

'CRYPTOGATE' SCANDAL

A month on from ‘$LIBRA,’ Milei siblings at centre of judicial tug-of-war

18-03-2025 17:00 Investigation into alleged corruption, influence-trafficking and public ethics rules now the focus of a jurisdictional tussle.

by Alfredo Izaguirre

HEALTH & ECONOMY

Milei government eliminates Argentina's national cancer institute

06-03-2025 21:15 In a statement, Argentina's Health Ministry announced the closure of the Instituto Nacional del Cáncer because of a "duplicity of tasks" and to have "greater control of actions."

public health crisis

Doctors resign from Health Ministry scheme over ‘dismantling’ of programmes

05-03-2025 16:59 Healthcare professionals working on Health Ministry programmes to tackle HIV, leprosy and tuberculosis resign en masse, stating: "We will not be part of a Ministry where essential programmes are unable to meet the basic obligations set by law."

CITY

Línea F – City Hall unveils plan for new Subte underground line

28-02-2025 09:52 Buenos Aires City Mayor Jorge Macri unveils plans for capital's first new subway line in a quarter century; New 'Línea F' route will have 11 stops, connecting Barracas and Palermo.

ECONOMIC INDICATORS

Argentina's GDP shrank less than expected in 2024

26-02-2025 11:44 Argentina beats the World Bank's projection and shrinks GDP by just 1.8 percent as part of Milei's self-proclaimed "largest fiscal adjustment in history."

Constitutional Reform

Maduro sets 'public debate' on constitutional reform

29-01-2025 11:40 Days after his swearing-in for a third term in office amid allegations of electoral fraud, President Nicolás Maduro pledges to "integrate the popular power" into Venezuela's constitution.

POLITICS & MEDIA

Despite ‘no pauta’ rule, Milei finds other ways to reward or punish the media

08-01-2025 15:56 The Milei administration cut state advertising as part of its austerity plan, but quietly, other state bodies and firms continue to distribute cash without transparency.

Latin America

Ecuadorean adolescents still missing as search efforts increase

23-12-2024 20:34 President Daniel Noboa orders intensified search for four boys as public outrage grows ahead of elections. Military officials deny involvement.

PLAN BACKFIRES?

Initial results from Milei’s ‘exam’ for state workers show 96% pass rate

22-12-2024 00:49 Although only 10% of state workers have taken the Milei administration’s new test to date, the good results have led their ATE union to demand employees’ transfer to permanent employment, while calling for ministers, secretaries and directors to be similarly evaluated.

WAR ON THE STATE

Milei’s ‘chainsaw’ cut nearly 35,000 public-sector jobs in 2024

21-12-2024 05:07 Report by the Deregulation & State Transformation Ministry, headed by Milei ally Federico Sturzenegger, details 34,280 dismissals or contract terminations between December 2023 and October 2024, shrinking the state payroll by seven percent.

ECONOMIC POLICY

Milei confirms his ‘chainsaw’ will keep running next year

27-11-2024 15:52 “Full speed ahead,” says Argentina's president, vowing that public spending cuts will continue into 2025.

Labour unrest

Labour tensions erupt as Milei faces three strikes in a week

29-10-2024 21:18 Three strikes this week as union leaders ramp up pressure on President Javier Milei's government. First state workers walk off jobs, followed by transport strikes on consecutive days.

EDUCATION ROW

Students take classes onto streets to protest Milei's university cutbacks

16-10-2024 16:20 Student demonstrators stage open classes on the streets of Buenos Aires as they draw attention to cutbacks on state higher education institutions imposed by President Javier Milei's government.

SELL OFF OF STATE AIRLINE

Milei: Aerolíneas Argentinas could be handed over to employees if not sold

15-10-2024 18:19 Argentina’s president reiterates his government’s desire to sell off flagship state airline through privatisation, complaining that the problem is the workers “do not want it.”

POLITICS

Milei says state universities not under threat as occupations multiply

15-10-2024 17:13 As student takeovers of campuses multiply nationwide, President Milei says Argentina's public university system is “not under discussion” but vows auditing of state institutions will take place.

EDITORIAL

Reducing the issue

12-10-2024 06:16 Both sides fall into the error of reducing this issue to a budget tussle without bringing up the major structural problems of university education.

EDUCATION ROW

Striking teachers, students on war footing against Milei's austerity

10-10-2024 23:11 As students occupy university faculties across the country, the government warns such actions are “a crime” and asks the courts to intervene and order evictions.

education funding row

Congress opens session on Milei's veto of university funding bill

09-10-2024 12:32 Argentina's lower house Chamber of Deputies will on Wednesday decide if President Javier Milei's veto of a law allowing greater funding to state universities will be upheld.

EDITORIAL

It’s the education, stupid

05-10-2024 06:24 When presenting the 2025 Budget in mid-September, Milei defined his fundamental fiscal principle as first defining the available revenue and then adjusting the spending to it – modernising the university system to that end could be an interesting application of that principle. But instead his primitive proposal is literally to cut university spending in half with his chainsaw.

STATE CARRIER

Milei declares Aerolíneas Argentinas 'subject to privatisation'

04-10-2024 20:13 President Javier Milei has formally declared the state airline Aerolíneas Argentinas to be "subject to privatisation" after weeks of union conflict.

POLITICS

Expert says Milei decree restricting access to information is 'unconstitutional'

09-09-2024 15:41 Lawyer Andrés Gil Domínguez says that Javier Milei’s administration is “anti-democratic” and that, after this modification, “trials for damages against journalists will begin.”

EDITORIAL

Making public private

07-09-2024 05:55 Not the first contradiction with its self-image but a government calling itself libertarian and seeking to restrict access to public information is really starting to take the biscuit.

POLITICS

No U-turn on new rules limiting access to public information, says Adorni

06-09-2024 14:06 Presidential Spokesperson Manuel Adorni brushes off criticism from NGOs and rights watchdogs and says government won’t go back on new rules limiting public access to information about state officials.

POLITICS

Milei’s move to limit access to public information condemned

04-09-2024 16:52 Milei’s decree limiting access to public information sparks widespread repudiation in Argentina; Executive Branch introduces changes to current legislation including a redefinition of the concept of “public information” that offers greater “protection” for government officials and prevents publication of "working papers."

POLITICS & ECONOMY

Privatisations, relaunches and retirements – Milei’s plan for state media

26-08-2024 19:14 President Javier Milei has managed to shutter the Télam news agency and is attempting to downsize and sell off a host of Argentina’s state media outlets – but are his plans working? And what is the “relaunch” his administration is planning?

by Julian D'Imperio

EDUCATION

Teaching staff at public universities stage 48-hour strike

20-08-2024 12:06 Strike at state universities gets underway with no classes scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday; Unions claim the government's wage renegotiation proposal is insufficient as Milei administration looks to cut costs.

ECONOMIC INDICATORS

Report: Milei delivers Argentina its biggest public spending cut in 60 years

12-08-2024 16:32 Massive falls in government spending under President Javier Milei’s government to date means the first half of 2024 saw the biggest cutbacks in 60 years, says report.

POLITICS & ECONOMY

Milei moves to replace previous government’s plan for public works

18-06-2024 16:14 Executive Branch draws up guidelines to review ongoing works and assess their continuity and control; Plan put in place by previous government, led by Alberto Fernández, to be ended.

EDITORIAL

Single digit should not mean single issue

18-05-2024 06:13 Single-digit inflation relieves the poor more than anybody but comes at a price – must they also be the ones to pay it?

EDUCATION

Milei says he will keep state universities, attacks the opposition

29-04-2024 15:30 President Javier Milei faced the biggest demonstration of his adminitration yet on April 23 as protesters took to the streets nationwide support of public universities.

EDUCATION

Universities deny claims of funding deal, confirm April 23 strike

19-04-2024 16:18 CIN National Inter-University Council denies government's claim that funding deal has been reached and renews call for April 23 protest.“It’s vital to make the situation we’re going through visible,” they stated.

HEALTH & SOCIETY

Government rules out free dengue vaccine despite record deaths

18-03-2024 16:56 Presidential Spokesperson Maneul Adorni says there is no plan to make Dengue vaccine free and compulsory to citizens despite a record number of deaths this year.

HEALTH & SOCIETY

Dengue fever cases in Argentina up 2,153% so far in 2024

07-03-2024 15:30 Data from Health Ministry shows worrying explosion of Denge fever cases, rising to more than 57,000 from 2,500 in the same period last year.

Abortion rights

Abortion protection in French Constitution is 'message of hope' for other nations

05-03-2024 12:41 France's new "guaranteed freedom" to have an abortion may transcend borders and "give a boost to the recognition of this fundamental right" in the world, experts and activists argue.

Abortion rights

France enshrines abortion as constitutional right in world first

04-03-2024 16:39 Lawmakers in Versailles vote to anchor the right to abortion in the constitution, making France the first country in the world to enshrine explicit protection for terminating a pregnancy in basic law.

Bloomberg

US Treasury Secretary Yellen praises Chile’s policies in visit to lithium-rich ally

01-03-2024 16:42 US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Friday lavished praise on Chile during a visit focused on critical minerals.

SOCIAL UNREST ON RISE

Strikes and walkouts multiply as anger against Milei's austerity mounts

22-02-2024 21:05 Social unrest is growing, labour groups protest in response to President Milei’s belt-tightening measures; Railway staff, health workers, teachers and even scientists take to streets in protest.

ECONOMY

Blaming Milei for woes, Argentina’s Clisa asks for debt leniency

10-02-2024 09:30 As one of Argentina’s largest public works companies runs out of cash and asks investors for leniency, it’s pointing the blame squarely at Javier Milei.

POLITICS & ECONOMY

Milei squeezes governors, eliminates transport subsidies to inland provinces

08-02-2024 17:02 In the midst of the war with governors after the failure of his reform bill, president moves to eliminate subsidies overnight; Fares set to soar as provinces face funding shortfall.

Transportation

Porteños told to register SUBE cards with authorities before fare hikes

23-01-2024 14:42 Buenos Aires City Transport Ministry warns porteños that fares will cost more than 400 pesos for those using unregistered cards – how to register your SUBE before April to avoid paying more.

ARMED ATTACK

Gunmen burst into Ecuador television studio live on air

09-01-2024 17:15 Armed men wearing balaclavas burst into studio of public television station in Ecuador's drug violence-torn port city of Guayaquil, taking hostage several journalists and staff members.

Election 2023

Massa's gradual approach versus Milei's radical plans

24-10-2023 13:58 Presidential candidates, set to face off in a run-off election on November 19, have diametrically opposing views on everything from economic to foreign policies, and most notably on the size and role of the state..

PROTEST AGAINST THE FUTURE?

Government ‘protests’ rivals' proposed policies with public works ‘shutdown’

14-09-2023 16:56 Public Works Minister Gabriel Katopodis on Wednesday headed assemblies of construction workers with the aim of "creating awareness" as to the potential post-election changes which the ruling coalition’s rivals would implement in the sector.

OPINION & ANALYSIS

Eduardo Porter: Latin America is waxing nostalgic for dictators

29-08-2023 10:09 Fifty years after Augusto Pinochet infamously squashed democracy in Chile, the false promise of authoritarian rule once again tempts the region’s citizens.

EDUCATION

Lack of classroom days behind drive to private schooling, says polling

03-08-2023 06:15 New survey provides X-ray of Argentina’s education system and reveals teacher strikes are among, main motives for those choosing private education. Women, especially those with lower purchasing-power and living in Greater Buenos Aires, are the most concerned about lost days of classes, with the school syllabus one of the biggest worries.

by Sabrina Chemen

HEALTHCARE & SOCIETY

Briana: six-year-old’s tragic death highlights inequality in Argentina

22-07-2023 06:59 Child mortality is an ongoing tragedy in Argentina’s indigenous communities. The recent death of six-year-old Briana, a member of Salta’s Wichi community, in a hospital waiting-room last March highlights the precarious conditions facing residents in the north of the country and the failure of successive governments to protect the rights of all citizens.

by Sabrina Chemen

ELECTION 2023

Rodríguez Larreta plans spending cuts to help peso

13-07-2023 15:51 Juntos por el Cambio presidential hopeful plans to cut spending by 4% of GDP; Move intends to allow peso to weaken gradually to level between official and parallel rates, reveals Lacunza.

TRANSPORT CHAOS

Massive bus strike sparks transport chaos in the capital

07-07-2023 15:40 A massive bus strike over a pay dispute complicated public transport in and around the capital on Friday, dampening the mood of passengers and causing chaos for commuters in the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area.

News of public

Towards a smarter state

Milei government issues public transport threat to demonstators

A month on from ‘$LIBRA,’ Milei siblings at centre of judicial tug-of-war

Milei government eliminates Argentina's national cancer institute

Doctors resign from Health Ministry scheme over ‘dismantling’ of programmes

Línea F – City Hall unveils plan for new Subte underground line

Argentina's GDP shrank less than expected in 2024

Maduro sets 'public debate' on constitutional reform

Despite ‘no pauta’ rule, Milei finds other ways to reward or punish the media

Ecuadorean adolescents still missing as search efforts increase

Initial results from Milei’s ‘exam’ for state workers show 96% pass rate

Milei’s ‘chainsaw’ cut nearly 35,000 public-sector jobs in 2024

Milei confirms his ‘chainsaw’ will keep running next year

Labour tensions erupt as Milei faces three strikes in a week

Students take classes onto streets to protest Milei's university cutbacks

Milei: Aerolíneas Argentinas could be handed over to employees if not sold

Milei says state universities not under threat as occupations multiply

Reducing the issue

Striking teachers, students on war footing against Milei's austerity

Congress opens session on Milei's veto of university funding bill

It’s the education, stupid

Milei declares Aerolíneas Argentinas 'subject to privatisation'

Expert says Milei decree restricting access to information is 'unconstitutional'

Making public private

No U-turn on new rules limiting access to public information, says Adorni

Milei’s move to limit access to public information condemned

Privatisations, relaunches and retirements – Milei’s plan for state media

Teaching staff at public universities stage 48-hour strike

Report: Milei delivers Argentina its biggest public spending cut in 60 years

Milei moves to replace previous government’s plan for public works

Single digit should not mean single issue

Milei says he will keep state universities, attacks the opposition

Universities deny claims of funding deal, confirm April 23 strike

Government rules out free dengue vaccine despite record deaths

Dengue fever cases in Argentina up 2,153% so far in 2024

Abortion protection in French Constitution is 'message of hope' for other nations

France enshrines abortion as constitutional right in world first

US Treasury Secretary Yellen praises Chile’s policies in visit to lithium-rich ally

Strikes and walkouts multiply as anger against Milei's austerity mounts

Blaming Milei for woes, Argentina’s Clisa asks for debt leniency

Milei squeezes governors, eliminates transport subsidies to inland provinces

Porteños told to register SUBE cards with authorities before fare hikes

Gunmen burst into Ecuador television studio live on air

Massa's gradual approach versus Milei's radical plans

Government ‘protests’ rivals' proposed policies with public works ‘shutdown’

Eduardo Porter: Latin America is waxing nostalgic for dictators

Lack of classroom days behind drive to private schooling, says polling

Briana: six-year-old’s tragic death highlights inequality in Argentina

Rodríguez Larreta plans spending cuts to help peso

Massive bus strike sparks transport chaos in the capital

Trump, Milei and how to lose the trust of markets and voters

Careful Javier, the ‘caste’ smells blood

Midterms 2025: And so it begins

Trump has China in the crosshairs

Argentina lands US$20-billion IMF agreement and eases FX rules

Kicillof, lapidario: "El presidente balbuceó penosamente la confesión de su fracaso"

Fin de semana con lluvias y clima inestable: el pronóstico completo del SMN

Milei, sin pretextos, arranca con su segundo plan económico

¿U$D 100 dólares o "sin límite"? La circular del BCRA a los bancos dejó "grises" y dura discusión en redes

PAMI: estos son los medicamentos que perdieron el 100% de cobertura