News of social gap

Brazil's Vale to pay $7bn in damages for deadly 2019 dam collapse

05-02-2021 13:28 The Brazilian company responsible for the 2019 collapse of a mining waste dam killed 270 people has agreed to compensate victims and their families and fund socio-economic programs and repair projects in the local area, but victims say the amount should have been higher.

by Jordi Miro, AFP

Pandemic costs sent primary fiscal gap to 6.5% of GDP

23-01-2021 09:59 Fiscal deficit skyrocketed last year to highest since 1993, as the pandemic forced increase in social spending.

Domestic worker scandal puts pressure on INADI chief Donda

05-01-2021 23:10 Victoria Donda, head of the government’s anti-discrimination agency INADI, faces allegations she irregularly employed a maid for several years and then sought to solve problem by offering her employee a social plan or a state job.

Hate groups flourish on social networks in Argentina

05-01-2021 05:00 In the first of a two-part series on hate speech and online communication, technology expert Julio López explores how easy it is for messages of discrimination and prejudice to spread on social networks.

by Julio López, via PERFIL

The times have certainly changed

24-10-2020 09:40 The egalitarian ethos that is rapidly consolidating itself in many parts of the world has shaped the response to the challenge posed by Covid-19.

by James Neilson

Fernández extends lockdown for further 14 days

24-10-2020 08:13 Attention switches to eight Covid-19 hotspots; City Mayor Horacio Rodríguez Larreta unveils new loosened rules for capital.

Bolsonaro’s addiction to Covid cash could make Brazil go bust

07-10-2020 16:12 Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro's populist push already has some investors smelling fiscal disaster.

by Mac Margolis

Argentines mourn loss of Quino, beloved creator of Mafalda

03-10-2020 10:05 Nation in mourning as cartoonist Joaquín Salvador Lavado passes away in his native Mendoza, aged 88.

Facebook moves to target misinformation before election

03-09-2020 11:32 Facebook will place new restrictions on political advertising the week before the United States presidential election as a way of targeting misinformation about Covid-19 and voting.

Brazil hands out so much Covid cash that poverty nears a low

02-09-2020 17:45 Some 66 million people are benefitting from the most ambitious social programme ever undertaken in Brazil, a shocking shift under President Jair Bolsonaro who railed against welfare, dismissed the virus – and now finds himself newly popular.

Argentina’s burnout syndrome

29-08-2020 08:28 The lack of social contact, confinement, and a current state of alert given protracted panic is causing anxiety and cognitively wearing down our population, making the future recovery even more uncertain.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

Latin America infrastructure woes add to inequality

10-08-2020 09:25 The poorest workers and households in the region shoulder an inequitable share of the cost of ramshackle transportation, dirty water, serial power outages and patchy communications. Throw in the coronavirus pandemic, and the plight of those at the bottom is even more dire.

by Mac Margolis

Dr. Maureen Birmingham: ‘This is an opportunity to transform Argentina’s health system’

18-07-2020 09:29 The World Health Organisation and Pan American Health Organisation’s representative in Argentina explains how the UN agency is providing support to officials and what post-pandemic changes need to be made to the health system.

by Jennifer Heiman & Anina Hoffman

Coalitions under stress

18-07-2020 08:37 Political rivals are accusing each other of being “haters” – but of course, one person's hater is another person's hero. The pressure, however, is not just external.

by Martín Gambarotta

Argentina: Great at failing miserably at democracy

11-07-2020 08:19 What level of tolerance to dissent are we willing to accept? And at which point does the discussion about who thinks what shut out the underlying debates we should be having?

by Agustino Fontevecchia

CIPPEC: Central Bank main source of Treasury financing during pandemic

20-06-2020 10:27 The Central Bank has become the main source of Treasury funding during the pandemic crisis, passing from 3% to 40% of the total in the past year, the CIPPEC think-tank has revealed.

Ginés González García: ‘This is not a dictatorship of the infectologists’

30-05-2020 08:34 Three-time health minister, veteran doctor and specialist in public healthcare, Ginés González García is leading the country’s fight against the Covid-19 pandemic. In an interview with Jorge Fontevecchia, he discusses the lockdown, the hunt for a vaccine and what comes next for Argentina.

by Jorge Fontevecchia

Eight arrested after police raid orthodox Jewish wedding in Once

26-05-2020 16:07 Eight people – the bridal couple, the rabbi and five of the 150 guests, including the parents of the couple and the best man – were arrested by police after breaching quarantine to host wedding.

Helicopter money won’t ease Latin America’s pandemic pain

08-05-2020 09:25 Along with Covid-19, a fever of wonkery has broken out over how to reverse the collective economic contraction and to carry on once the health emergency has passed. As the worst of the pandemic is yet to come.

by Mac Margolis

In Latin America, face masks become a form of expression

07-05-2020 12:51 Rarely used in Latin America outside hospitals before the coronavirus pandemic hit hard, face masks are now compulsory in many countries — and they're becoming a colourful part of daily life and cultural expression.