Argentina rail crash: avoidable tragedy?
The train crash at Once station in the heart of Buenos Aires, with forty-nine dead and more than six-hundred injured, is the worst in Argentina in more than forty years.
But for many it was an accident waiting to happen. The opposition, rail users and the train unions have for a long time accused the government and the private train companies of under-investing in the rail network. Continue reading »
Fernández: back to work
The news that the Argentina’s president, Cristina Fernández, is suffering from cancer of the thyroid gland has taken the country by surprise, perhaps even shock.
Fernández and her team have been quick to allay concerns by returning to work the day after the announcement. She met governors from the some of the country’s provinces and made statements about the economy. And the country’s markets seems to be responding well – its benchmark index, the Merval, had only fallen 1.4 per cent on Wednesday, in line with global markets. Continue reading »
Mercosur enlargement? Not likely
Heads of state of the Mercosur trade block are meeting in the Uruguayan capital, Montevideo, where high on the agenda is enlarging the four-nation body, currently made up of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay.
But with the global crisis forcing an ever wider wedge between the first two, who want more protectionism, and the last two, who want more trade, the chances of progress look remote. Continue reading »
Argentina’s Lorenzino presents budget, dodges bullets
Hernán Lorenzino, Argentina’s new economy minister, has made his first major public appearance and a key one it was, too.
On Monday he presented the government’s delayed 2012 budget to the Senate, promising a continuation and deepening of the economic policies promoted by the governing Peronist party since it came to power in 2003. Continue reading »
| About this blog | Headlines email | Blog guide |
| Regulars | Series | Archive |
Stefan Wagstyl
Josh Noble
Rob Minto
Pan Kwan Yuk
Jonathan Wheatley
Heba Saleh